Human Nature Mirrored in Society －A Cross-cultural Perspective on Gender Identity and Its Performative Role in Farewell My Concubine and The Crying Game－

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the gender identity and its performative role of the main characters in Farewell My Concubine(1993) and The Crying Game(1992)from the cross-cultural perspective. By this analysis, it speculates on various issues of subjectivity which are caused by the differences between the collective consciousness of the patriarchal China and individual consciousness of modern European society. And by focusing on the performativity of gender identity, it also explores how the characters of these two films deal with the conflicts between social norms and human nature. Thereby, it proves that Douzi in Farewell My Concubine becomes a victim of traditional values of the patriarchal China by sticking to them in vain, while Fergus in The Crying Game represents the sovereignty of the subject which renders gender politics into a naive discourse of humanism.