Chasing the lions: An autobiographical exploration into cultural translation, cultural transfer and identity formation

This project examines the two notions of cultural translation and cultural transfer and their impact on identity formation. In it, I use my family history as a case study to investigate how identity formation is constructed through the experience of two cultures: one being Canadian, therefore more public and mainstream; with the other as Chinese, perhaps more private and embedded in past history. Using the Chinese schema of Wu Xing as a framing device, I attribute a personal characteristic to a family member by connecting it to my memories. In doing so, I wish to reveal how that person’s cultural background affected me as a child growing up in a Canadian setting. In looking at the people that have shaped my life, I posit that my identity has been, to much extent, constructed by my Chinese experience, my Canadian experience, or more likely, the combination of the two experiences.