The present work is based upon my Ph.-D.dissertation，a thematic study of Chinese-American literature，responding to the recent critical trends of denationalization.Contriving to induce the prefiguration of a different cultural regulating code that views ethnic works in a more universalized and comprehensive way，it points out that many Chinese-American writers have achieved their literary success beyond the bounds of ethnic politics and ethnography.My study starts from and centers on ambivalence and ambiguity，the two literary idiosyncrasies from the perspective of both authors and readers，and attempts to point out that they are among the more intricate elements that enable the literary works to transcend their ethnic boundary.
The study begins with an in-depth analysis of the ambivalence and ambiguity in domestic sphere in the first chapter.As a unique site to transform transnational object into national subject，family is an institution in which national and international interests intersect.Also，for postmodern and diasporic communities “home”stands for a nostalgic ideal，and serves as the primary and restricted domain for women's identity.In this chapter，mother and daughter's metaphorical relation in the Chinese-American fictions is firstly explored.Since that relation involves cultural conflicts and images，marginal experience，Chinese culture in collective unconsciousness and intuition in female discourse，the particular cultural context represented by these works could reveal the attitudes of alienation，reconciliation，rejection，etc.in literary creation.In Amy
Tan's works，the mother-daughter motif gives readers a distinct perspective to explore the hidden and subtle information between cultures and artistic creation.Besides，Jade Snow Wong's and Gish Jen's ways of dealing with mother-daughter relation reveal an unending and ambivalent creative quest in literature.Though mother-daughter relation is a universalized subject in literary writing，the special attitude and cultural approaches in these works engender special literary spell with its uniqueness.Then，literary ambivalence in interracial family found in Chinese-American novels is analyzed.The ethnic elements and cultural contradictions revealed in the works bring forward the question of cultural assimilation and declining sense of ascription.Some works entangle the ambivalent view of cultural evaluation，life attitude and also diasporic tradition，and they reveal the general concern of cultural orientation for every modern human too.Thus，by exploring the couples as an enduring paradigm of human relationships，the study shows that the changes in ideology and views of life in society enrich the content of Chinese-American literature.
Chapter 2 investigates the ambivalence and ambiguity of quest within and beyond ethnic boundary.It begins with an analysis of the double and racial shadow hidden in many related works，trying to present the alter ego and ambivalence variously known in different terms in different literary creations as particular yet universal things in Chinese-American literature.Confronting the ambivalent and ambiguous effect of the texts with the double and racial shadow，we need a mobilization of the knowledge of American realities in historical，racial，economic and other aspects，while prolonging the process of the distinctively aesthetic perception of life.The second part of the chapter mainly introduces and analyzes Gish Jen's novel Mona in the Promised Land（1996）.
Pondering on the author and the characters' cultural quests within and beyond the boundary of ethnicity，it discusses the features of diasporic literature，philosophical fusions of visions and self-certainty between cultures.Besides，the identity quest and the relation between homeland and hostland in the new perspective of diasporic criticism are reconsidered，which offers an insight into the expectation of Chinese-American literature's creation and criticism.In this chapter，the ambivalence and ambiguity in cultural and literary code-switch have brought attention to the implication of self-other and cross-cultural relations different from that of the past purity of European（or Western） culture.Therefore，in literary creation and criticism of Chinese-American literature，a complex “hermeneutics of difference”beyond traditional conceptions of identity and dialectics would be explored.From Jen's works，as well as other Chinese-American writers' creation，we would probably feel that we are in a dynamic process of dispersion and migration textually and metaphorically，which，to some extent，is the resource for polyphony in literature.