一、引言及文化背景作为在华裔美国文学和美国黑人文学作品中最重要的主题,文化身份及其建设问题一直以来经常被世人提出而引发热烈讨论。本文将研究文化认同这一主题,具体来说,将会探索两部小说中的主要人物在努力追求获得文化认同的路途中面临的自我挣扎。除此之外,通过分析主流文化和弱势文化对文化身份建设的影响[1],本文会总结华裔美国人和非裔美国人在他们个人身份建构过程中的共性和特性,从而找出最好的方法帮助那些少数族裔在美国建立自己的身份——接受 I. Introduction and Cultural Background As the most important topic in Chinese American literature and Afro-American literary works, the issue of cultural identity and its construction has always been raised by the world and led to heated discussions. This article examines the theme of cultural identity, specifically, the exploration of the self-struggles faced by the leading characters in both novels on their quest to gain cultural identity. In addition, by analyzing the influence of mainstream culture and disadvantaged cultures on the construction of cultural identity [1], this article will summarize the commonalities and characteristics of Chinese-Americans and African-Americans in the process of constructing their personal identities so as to find out the best Approach to helping those minorities build their identity in the United States - accepted