Navigating Cultural Value Differences through Acculturation of a Young Chinese Immigrant on Jean Kwok’s Girl In Translation

Yusra. A, Rahmiatul (2025) Navigating Cultural Value Differences through Acculturation of a Young Chinese Immigrant on Jean Kwok’s Girl In Translation. S1 thesis, Universitas Andalas.

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Abstract

This study aims to provide an overview of the struggles of a young Chinese immigrant in the United States that occurs during the 1980s as reflected in a novel titled Girl in Translation (2010) by Jean Kwok. The focus of this study is to analyze the young Chinese protagonist’s experience in navigating the differences between Chinese and American values through the process of acculturation. The study also analyzed the key factors contributing to the acculturation of Chinese immigrants. The theory used in analyzing the novel is mimetic theory by M.H. Abrams, which sees literary work as a reflection of real events in society. This study also applies the sociological approach proposed by Swingewood and Laurenson. The study is presented in a descriptive method. After analyzing Girl in Translation, the writer argues that immigrants’ struggles are heavily influenced by the economy and cultural value differences. The writer found the immigrants’ struggles often include language barriers, poverty, and labor exploitation. Through the protagonist, the writer observes the interaction, clash, and adaptation of five Confucian values: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, with three core American values: individual freedom, equality, and material wealth and hard work. Chinese immigrants in the novel have to navigate value differences between Chinese Confucianism and American values in order to feel belonging in either world. As a result, when they have to make decisions, many Chinese immigrants have to make a choice between those two different perspectives. This study aims to emphasize that navigating between Chinese and American values allows immigrants to form a balanced identity that allows them to survive and success in a new society.

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