Mahjong, Chinese diaspora cinema and identity construction

Abstract

Through a comparative study of two films, The Joy Luck Club and Crazy Rich Asians, the article elaborates how Chinese diaspora films use Mahjong’s cinematic symbolism and cultural significations to negotiate Chineseness in different ways. In particular, three differences between the two films are analysed. The first one is the different attitudes of the female protagonists towards Mahjong as well as the Chineseness embodied by it. The second concerns the disparate presences of Mahjong in films made by mainland China-based filmmakers and Chinese diasporic filmmakers due to Mahjong’s differed historical trajectories and sociocultural implications. The last one is about the distinct goals the two film directors set when they employ Mahjong to (re)construct their identity and Chineseness on the part of the Chinese diaspora. This article concludes that Chineseness is not a monolithic and rigid category, but rather a chameleonic formation that is contextually and individually determined; moreover, in the age of globalization when coexistence and interdependence are valued more than mutual-resistance, the dynamic nature of Chineseness necessitates a more hybrid and critical identity framework: in-betweenness.