Reflection of Chinese Elements in American Young Adult Literature

The celebrated cultural diversity and immigration history of the United State of America predicate its young adult literature to contain a considerable number of Chinese elements.To study how these elements are projected into the young adult literature as literary images will provide a glimpse of the involved transformation and representation mechanism,namely,the American values and the knowledge of China.To this end,this article recounts three narratives in which Chinese elements are commonly and repetitively observed:(i) Chinese myths and legends,including legends in the Chinese history and mythology and their following recasts by American writers;(ii) Chinese immigrants in the United States and Chinese-Americans;and(iii) Chinese food,clothing,holidays,and common rituals.