Zhang Yi, Hu Xuan^*

College of foreign languages, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Abstract：

This paper examines David Henry Hwang’s "Golden Child" as a theatrical representation of cultural negotiation and intergenerational change within a Chinese family during the early twentieth century. Set in 1918 Fujian, the play uses personal and family memory to stage the tensions arising from the encounter between traditional social structures and emerging modern influences, including new material lifestyles and shifting value systems. Rather than relying on external cultural clichés, Hwang focuses on the intimate domestic sphere, where the pressures of transformation produce both conflict and ambivalence. Through the divergent experiences of key female characters, the play reveals the uneven dynamics of cross-cultural contact and the enduring complexity of cultural self-definition in times of transition. Ultimately, "Golden Child" signals Hwang’s move from addressing external perceptions of Asia toward a more inward-looking inquiry into how Chinese subjectivity can be reconstructed after tradition collapses and modernity fails to take root.

Key Words：

David Henry Hwang; "Golden Child"; Chineseness modernity and tradition; cross-cultural encounter