Traumatic Memory and Cultural Identity: On the War Writing in Zhang Ling’s “A Single Swallow”

Abstract

Taking the novel “A Single Swallow” written by the Canadian new immigrant author Zhang Ling as our research object, we analyze how she reconstitutes the proposition of cultural identity with a female trauma narrative in the extreme historical context of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Zhang Ling's war writing is not just exposing historical violence; it is also a metaphorical deconstruction and reconstruction of identity. Having suffered from the “triple separation” caused by invaders, compatriots, and even her lover, the protagonist A Yan eventually created a new type of cultural identity via medical redemption which surpassed the hatred and emotional ties across national borders.