Language and identity in the poetry of Marilyn chin:  Bilingualism, code-switching, and cultural resistance

This study examines the connection between language and identity in Marilyn Chin's poetry, emphasizing bilingualism and code-switching as key poetic techniques. Chin, a Chinese-American poet, employs both English and Chinese in her poetry to convey themes of cultural clash, grief, and resistance. Through the amalgamation of languages and the subversion of conventional frameworks, Chin articulates a hybrid identity that contests assimilation and honours linguistic diversity. This study illustrates, via meticulous analyses of chosen poems, how language in Chin's poetry serves as a locus of cultural conflict and a mechanism for empowerment and self-identification. This research aims to examine how Chin's employment of bilingualism and code-switching illustrates her negotiation of her Chinese background and American existence, and how these language strategies function as mechanisms of cultural resistance and identity formation within her poetry.