远亲不如近邻: Identity-Seeking Journey in Maizy Chen’s Last Chance

• In Event: Reading Otherwise: Centering Shared Selves and Collective Knowing in Asian American Youth Adult Literature

Abstract

Purpose
In Maizy Chen’s Last Chance (Yee, 2022), the story explores themes of immigration, intergenerational tensions, racism, and youth identity through the eyes of Maizy, a Chinese-American girl, upon visiting her Opa and Oma in Last Chance, Minnesota. The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of the Chinese concept of collectivism, 远亲不如近邻 (a neighbor who is near is better than a brother far off), as a critical lens to understand the main character’s identity and social interactions.

Theoretical Framework
Asian Critical Theory (Chang 1993; Iftikar & Museus, 2018) provides a lens to explore the nuanced expressions of Asian American identities and experiences. In this paper, AsianCrit helps in examining how Maizy’s experiences, as part of a diaspora, connect with the broader socio-cultural dynamics and her perception of collectivism. The theory's focus on the racialization of Asians in America and the transnational contexts of their experiences provides a deeper understanding of Maizy's interactions and evolving sense of community belonging.

Methods
Employing critical content analysis (Johnson et al., 2017), this paper examined the text to uncover the implicit and explicit cultural, social, and political messages conveyed in relation to 远亲不如近邻, the notion of “a neighbor who is near is better than a brother far off.”

Data Sources and Analysis
The primary data source for this analysis is the novel Maizy Chen’s Last Chance (Yee, 2022). I began the analysis by reading the text and selecting text excerpts that demonstrated 远亲不如近邻 as my unit of analysis. I engaged in repeated readings of the text excerpts, memoing, and coding based on AsianCrit devices such as focalization, power, agency, and closure. As a result of this process, I was able to systematically examine how the text portrays and challenges sociocultural norms and stereotypes (e.g., individualism vs collectivism) from Maizy’s perspective.

Findings
Maizy’s story is not just about finding a place in a new community but also about connecting with her cultural heritage and understanding her identity. Scenes from the text such as the losing and finding of the restaurant bear, Bud, the friendship between Maizy’s Opa and Werner, Maizy’s accidental visit at Lady Macbeth’s house, and the gathering at Opa’s funeral, underscored the notion of how people in the town helped and supported each other, regardless of ethnicity and skin color. As situated in the story, the notion of “a neighbor who is near is better than a brother far off” thus reflects the blending of Maizy’s Chinese cultural values and American upbringing.

Significance
This paper presents an evolving interpretation of the Chinese proverb "a neighbor who is near is better than a brother far off" through the lens of a young protagonist navigating multiple cultural identities. By engaging with this proverb as both cultural inheritance and a living framework for community care, the paper contributes to the conference theme by illuminating how identity construction is shaped by both inherited cultural narratives and present-day contexts.

Author

• Shuling Yang, University of Maryland - Baltimore County