Transcultural Identity in Tan Twan Eng’s The Garden of Evening Mists

Authors

Zhen Wang, School of Foreign Language Studies, Nanyang Institute of Technology, ChinaFollow
Kean Yew Lee, Department of Chinese Studies and Malaysian Chinese Research Centre (MCRC), University of MalayaFollow
Kee Chye Ho, Department of Chinese Studies and Malaysian Chinese Research Centre (MCRC), University of MalayaFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

0009-0002-9342-4330;0000-0002-2313-4066; 0000-0002-1691-5374

Abstract

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng narrates the progression from apprenticeship of a Malaysian Chinese woman, Teoh Yun Ling, to her romantic relationship with a Japanese gardener, Nakamura Aritomo, expanding the space for identity writing in Malaysian English literature that reflects the interactions among diverse cultures. This article discusses Yun Ling’s adaptation of Japanese culture at the acculturation stage, her rediscovery of Chinese culture at the deculturation stage, and her transcultural practice of different cultures at the neoculturation stage, in light of transculturation theory. It argues that Yun Ling’s ongoing negotiation, while involving a collision between the external Japanese and internal Chinese cultures, forms an important foundation for her determination to practice her transcultural identity within multicultural Malaysia. It offers an alternative perspective for better understanding the mutual connections among diverse cultures and embracing hybridity, a central concept in postcolonial studies.

Recommended Citation

Wang, Zhen; Lee, Kean Yew; and Ho, Kee Chye (2025) "Transcultural Identity in Tan Twan Eng’s The Garden of Evening Mists," Kritika Kultura: No. 46, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13185/1656-152X.2155
Available at: https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss46/6