Environment and Social Psychology

Kinship, Territory, and Spirit: A Socio-Psychological Analysis of Resilience and Community Formation in Laurence Yep's Dragonwings

Meichan Zhang

School of Humanities and Social Science, Nanjing University of Science and Technology Zijin College, 210023 Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.

Chuanjia Wu

School of Humanities and Social Science, Nanjing University of Science and Technology Zijin College, 210023 Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v11i1.4155

Keywords: Chinese immigration; ferdinand tönnies; social identity; acculturation; community psychology; dragonwings; immigrant resilience; interdisciplinary analysis.

---

Abstract

Findings from this study highlight the importance of immigrants' social networks as a psychological tool in the struggle against systematic marginalization. The plot revolves around Laurence Yep, the study will investigate the ways in which spiritual devotion, territorial enclaves, and familial ties helped early Chinese immigrants to the United States maintain their cultural identity, culture, and sense of community. This study draws on a variety of academic frameworks, including Social Identity Theory, Community Psychology, Berry's acculturation theory, and Ferdinand Tönnies' concept of community, to look into the social and psychological factors that allowed immigrants to endure and transition. Researchers found that those who have strong kinship ties and a strong sense of in-group solidarity are better able to cope with the psychological stresses of acculturation. Cultural customs could be preserved while assimilation into the host community is fostered in Chinatowns and other territorial groupings, providing a cognitive-emotional home for individuals. Take the rising spiritual communities as an example of how poverty may inspire cross-cultural solidarity and charity via shared goals and interethnic collaboration. The common perception holds that the 1906 San Francisco earthquake shows how prejudice can be turned into opportunities for people from different backgrounds to work together and build stronger communities through the face of hardship.  Using methods from sociology and psychology, this interdisciplinary study posits that immigrant communities arose as a structural reaction to exclusion and a dynamic process of psychosocial maintenance. These examples demonstrate how grassroots groups can strengthen diverse cultures by promoting and preserving their distinctive customs.

---

References

[1]. 1.Qi Y, Liu H, Ruan J. Chinese Literature in American High School World Literature Textbooks. Journal of Beijing Normal University 2011; (04): 54–60.

[2]. 2.Yep L. Dragonwings. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1975.

[3]. 3.Cai M. A Balanced View of Acculturation: Comments on Laurence Yep’s Three Novels. Children’s Literature in Education 1992; 23: 107–118.

[4]. 4.Miller JH. Communities in Fiction. See Translator’s Preface. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2024.

[5]. 5.Coe A. Chop suey: A cultural history of Chinese food in the United States. Oxford University Press; 2009 Jul 16.

[6]. 6.Chu L. Eat a Bowl of Tea. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1979.

[7]. 7.Coolidge M. Chinese Immigration. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1909.

[8]. 8.Kwong P, Miscevic D. Chinese America. New York: The New Press, 2005.

[9]. 9.Li Z, Wang X. On the Word Formation and Theoretical Construction of the Concept of Community. Journal of Yunnan University 2019; (02): 33–34.

[10]. 10.Rosenzweig F. Hegel and the State. Taylor & Francis; 2023 Nov 30.

[11]. 11.Yin Q. Community: A Keyword in Critical Theory. Foreign Literature 2016; (02): 70–79.

[12]. 12.Pu R. Ethnic Experience and Cultural Imaginaries: A Study of Recurring Motifs in Chinese American Fiction. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 2006.

[13]. 13.Bauman Z. Community: Seeking Safety in an Insecure World. Translated by Ouyang Jingen. Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2003.

[14]. 14.Rui Y, Chen X. Studies in Contemporary American Young Adult Literature. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press, 2017.

[15]. 15.Tan F. The Construction of Cultural Identity in Chinese American’s Childhood Narration about Chinatown. Journal of Nanjing Normal University 2023; (01).

[16]. 16.Tönnies F. Community and Civil Society. Ed. Jose Harris. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

[17]. 17.Brink M, Pritsch S. Gemeinschaft in Der Literatur: Zur Aktualitӓt poetisch-politischer Interventionen. Translated by Xie Jianwen, Zhangxiao, et al. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2022.

[18]. 18.Yep L. Dragons I Have Known and Loved. Journal of The Fantastic in the Arts 2010; 21(3): 389.

[19]. 19.Yu M. A Study on Cultural Narrative of Contemporary Chinese-American Children’s Literature. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiaotong University Press, 2023

[20]. 20.Chen J. From “Returning to One’s Roots” to “Taking Root in the Soil”: A Social History of Chinese Americans. Taiwan: Daoxiang Publishing House, 2003.

[21]. 21.Mei J. Socioeconomic Origins of Emigration: Guangdong to California, 1850–1882. Modern China 1979; 5.

[22]. 22.Hui Z. An Overview of Studies in Dragonwings. Frontiers in Educational Research. 2020 Sep 5;3(10):49-53. DOI: 10.25236/FER.2020.031011

[23]. 23.Pu R. Community Imaginaries in Chinese American Literature. Social Sciences in Guangdong 2023; (01): 189.

[24]. 24.Brown R, Hewstone M. An integrative theory of intergroup contact. Advances in experimental social psychology. 2005 Jan 1;37(37):255-343.