20世纪70年代，华裔美国文学开始在美国本土强势迸发，华裔美国文学因此摆脱了此前的边缘地位，成为美国少数族裔文学的重要组成部分，并引起了文学研究者的关注。然而，尽管对华裔美国文学的研究已经汗牛充栋，关于此类文学中男性气质的研究却寥寥无几。本文以男性研究理论为基础，辅以性别研究、历史研究、戏曲研究、社会学、符号学与哲学等跨学科方法，深入剖析了《中国佬》、《唐老亚》与《蝴蝶君》三部华裔美国文学作品中的男性气质呈现。在对《中国佬》的分析中，本文剖析了汤亭亭如何通过解构的方式瓦解了男性神话。具体而言，即以历史回击神话、以反英雄主义回击英雄主义、以个人历史回击宏大叙事，通过将男性气质定位于中美的历史之中，揭示男性气质的历史建构性。在对《唐老亚》的分析中，本文研究了赵健秀如何通过汲取中国文化的养分来重新塑造华裔男性气质。具体而言，即以更具包容性的君子文化理念代替美国男性文化中的排他主义；以儒家文化中向内的自我实现代替资本主义文化中向外的物质攫取；以重塑“关公”悲剧英雄形象表达华裔“文质彬彬”的男性理想。从而揭示男性气质的文化建构性。在对《蝴蝶君》的分析中，本文分析了黄哲伦如何通过跨性别者的表演来揭示性别身份的操演性。具体而言，即以跨文化的“蝴蝶”隐喻揭示中西方性别观的差异；以男旦的性别扮装瓦解基于本质主义的性别观念；以“女性化”的宋丽伶揭露帝国主义者的男性幻想与施加在东方男性身上的性别政治。从而揭示男性身份的非本质性特征。三部文学呈现男性气质的角度不尽相同，但它们均体现出男性气质的流动性与多元性，以及男性气质的历史建构性与文化建构性。此外，本论文也研究了三部作品中的边缘男性所遭遇的性别政治。这一发现表明，尽管作为整体的男性是性别特权的拥有者与性别政治的压迫者，但作为个体的男性仍可能是性别特权的受害者与性别政治的被压迫者。最后，本论文重点分析了华裔男性气质中的中国文化建构特点，指出传统儒家君子观与阴阳哲学观对建构华裔男性气质的积极影响，并在中西方男性文化的对比中，提出华裔男性文化对建设全球多元男性文化的贡献意义。
Since the 1970s, Chinese American literature has witnessed an upsurge in the US. Getting rid of the marginalized position in the past, Chinese American literature becomes one of the indispensable parts of American ethnic literature, and draws great attention from the literary scholars. However, although countless researches were made on Chinese American literature, few of them took the perspective of masculinity studies. Basing on the theories of masculinity studies, together with the interdisciplinary approaches of gender studies, history studies, drama studies, sociology, semiotics, and philosophy, this dissertation makes an in-depth study of masculinity represented in three Chinese American literary works, namely, China Men, Donald Duk and M. Butterfly.In the analysis of China Men, this dissertation focuses on how Maxine Hong Kingston applies a deconstructive narrative to disrupt men’s myth. To be more specific, by applying history against myth, using anti-heroism against heroism, and writing personal history against grand narration, Kingston locates masculinity in history and reveals how history constructs masculinity. In the analysis of Donald Duk, this dissertation focuses on how Frank Chin reconstructs Chinese American masculinity through absorbing nutrition from Chinese culture. To be more detailed, by adopting a more tolerant conception of Junzi to replace exclusionism in American men’s culture, by applying internal self-realization to replace external material acquisition that characterized by capitalist men’s culture, and by rebuilding a Chinese tragic hero “Guan Gong” to express the Chinese men’s ideal of achieving the balance between nature and culture, Chin demonstrates the cultural construction of masculinity. In the analysis of M. Butterfly, this dissertation focuses on how David Henry Hwang reveals the performativity of gender through transgender performances. To be more precise, by using “butterfly” as a transcultural metaphor to reveal different gender conceptions between China and the West, by demonstrating “drag” to shake the concept of gender essentialism, and by feminizing Song Liling to show the masculine fantasy and the gender politics of the western imperialists imposed on the oriental men, Hwang illustrates the non-essential traits of male’s identity. In short, although these three literary works represent masculinity from different angles, they all demonstrate the fluidity and the diversity of masculinity, as well as the social and historical construction of masculinity. Moreover, this dissertation also reveals the gender politics that the marginalized men encounter in these literary texts. This finding suggests that although men as community are the owners of gender privilege and the oppressors of gender politics, individual man can still be the victim of gender privilege and the oppressed of gender politics. This dissertation focuses on how the Chinese culture influences the constitution of Chinese masculinity, and points out the positive impacts of the traditional Confucian conception of Junzi, and the philosophy of Yin and Yang on the forging of Chinese masculinity. By making a comparison of men’s culture between China and the West, this dissertation demonstrates the contributions that the Chinese men’s culture will make to the formation of diversified global cultures of men.
