TITLE:
From Alienation to Autonomy: Su-Jen’s Negotiation with Spatial Injustice and Search for Self in Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates
AUTHORS:
Wu Xian, Ida Baizura Bahar, Mohammad Ewan Awang
KEYWORDS:
Alienation, Identity, Judy Fong Bates, Midnight at the Dragon Café, Spatial Injustice
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics,
Vol.15 No.6,
November
10,
2025
ABSTRACT: Midnight at the Dragon Café (2004), a novel by the Chinese-Canadian author Judy Fong Bates, recounts the intergenerational experiences of a Chinese immigrant family in Canada, as narrated by the young protagonist, Su-Jen. While previous scholarship has largely concentrated on themes of cultural identity and subjectivity formation within the confines of the domestic space, this study examines the protagonist’s dynamic process of identity formation on how she negotiates spatial limitations and injustices, gradually transforming her sense of alienation into a state of autonomy by resisting the constraints imposed by the social norms and cultural traditions. Thus, the concepts of spatial triad by Henri Lefebvre and alienation by Erich Fromm will be used as the conceptual framework to explore how Su-Jen navigates her identity in response to the spatial injustice and emotional estrangement. Based on a textual analysis of the protagonist’s struggle with being neither constrained by norms and traditions nor restricted within the domestic space, her estrangement serves as a space of reflection and potential, allowing her to critically reassess her identity and assert her agency beyond the domestic sphere. Accordingly, this analysis reveals that Su-Jen’s encounters with alienation and spatial injustice become transformative experiences that enable the formation of an autonomous identity, shedding light on the broader struggles of diasporic individuals to construct identity and meaning within exclusionary socio-cultural and spatial landscapes.