Abstract
Identity development is essential in all human lives. Adolescents who are members of ethnic minority groups are seemingly more confused about their identity. This paper was to explore Filipino American identity development of the main character, Jasmine de Santos, in Melissa de la Cruz’s Something in Between. It is analyzed within the theoretical framework of Jean Kim’s Asian American Identity Development, the concept of Homi K. Bhabha’s hybridity, and Edward Said’s Otherness. In Something in Between, De la cruz uncovers the issues of ethnic identity development that responds to the modern and multicultural society in the U.S. Although Jasmine acknowledges her minority status at first, cultural conflicts and contacts with the White majority cause Jasmine difficulties in identifying herself and leads her to have negative attitudes toward her ethnicity. However, political involvement helps her overcome her identity conflict and develop a full sense of her ethnic identity. Jasmine represents herself as a Filipino American—the hybrid—who is inseperatedly positioned between American and Filipino standpoint. Hybridity is found as the key concept rendering Jasmine’s new life perspective and enabling Jasmine to merge her strong sense of being Filipino American into other identities.
Author Information
Bussaraporn Macharoen, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand
Supaporn Yimwilai, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand
Paper Information
Conference: ECAH2021
Stream: Literature/Literary Studies
This paper is part of the ECAH2021 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Macharoen B., & Yimwilai S. (2021) Filipino American Identity Development in Something in Between ISSN: 2188-1111 – The European Conference on Arts & Humanities 2021: Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1111.2021.11
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1111.2021.11
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