Bifocal Intimacy: Negotiating Diasporic Family Conflicts in The Wedding Banquet and The Farewell

Xiyuan Zhang

doi:10.54254/2753-7064/2025.HT29395

Communications in Humanities ResearchOpen access

Bifocal Intimacy: Negotiating Diasporic Family Conflicts in The Wedding Banquet and The Farewell

Research Article

Open Access

Bifocal Intimacy: Negotiating Diasporic Family Conflicts in The Wedding Banquet and The Farewell

Xiyuan Zhang ^1*

¹ Nanjing Jinling High School Hexi Campus

^*Corresponding author: xiyuanz2007@163.com

Published on 11 November 2025

CHR Vol.97

ISSN (Print): 2753-7072

ISSN (Online): 2753-7064

ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-529-5

ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-530-1

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Abstract

This paper examines how diasporic family conflicts in Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Lulu Wang’s The Farewell (2019) reveal the complex negotiations of intimacy within Sino-American families. Through close textual and cinematic analysis, the study explores how intergenerational tensions, cultural values, and moral codes shape relationships across distance and migration. Drawing on theories of diasporic intimacy and homing desire, the paper proposes the concept of bifocal intimacy to describe how diasporic families sustain care by balancing two moral grammars—truth and silence, duty and autonomy, and homeland and hostland. Rather than resolving conflicts, these families maintain closeness through ongoing negotiation and calibrated compromise. By reframing diasporic intimacy as an active and relational process, this study contributes to broader discussions of transnational identity, intergenerational belonging, and the emotional dynamics of diasporic life.

Keywords:

Bifocal intimacy, diasporic intimacy, The Wedding Banquet, The Farewell

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References

[1]. The Wedding Banquet, screenply by Ang Lee. Dir. Ang Lee. Perf. Ah-Le-Gua, Sihung Lunch, May Chin, Winston Chao, and Michell Lichtenstein. 1993. Amazon Prime Streaming.

[2]. Boym, Svetlana. “On Diasporic Intimacy: Ilya Kabakov’s Installations and Immigrant Homes.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 24, no. 2, 1998, pp. 498–524, https: //www.jstor.org/stable/1344176.

[3]. Brah, Avtar. Cartographies of Diaspora: Contesting Identities. Routledge, 1996.

[4]. Habibi-Kohlen, Delaram. “Intimacy and Its Vicissitudes.” Psychoanalysis Today - Psychoanalysis.Today, www.psychoanalysis.today/en-GB/PT-Articles/Habibi-Kohlen142518/Intimacy-and-its-vicissitudes.aspx. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.

[5]. Fung, Eileen, and Wei Ming Dariotis. “Breaking the Soy Sauce Jar: Diaspora and Displacement in the Films of Ang Lee.” University of Hawai’i Press, edited by Sheldon Hsiao-peng Lu, 1997, pp. 187–220.

References

[1]. The Wedding Banquet, screenply by Ang Lee. Dir. Ang Lee. Perf. Ah-Le-Gua, Sihung Lunch, May Chin, Winston Chao, and Michell Lichtenstein. 1993. Amazon Prime Streaming.

[2]. Boym, Svetlana. “On Diasporic Intimacy: Ilya Kabakov’s Installations and Immigrant Homes.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 24, no. 2, 1998, pp. 498–524, https: //www.jstor.org/stable/1344176.

[3]. Brah, Avtar. Cartographies of Diaspora: Contesting Identities. Routledge, 1996.

Cite this article

Zhang,X. (2025). Bifocal Intimacy: Negotiating Diasporic Family Conflicts in The Wedding Banquet and The Farewell. Communications in Humanities Research,97,34-40.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceeding of ICIHCS 2025 Symposium: The Dialogue Between Tradition and Innovation in Language Learning

ISBN: 978-1-80590-529-5(Print) / 978-1-80590-530-1(Online)

Editor: Enrique Mallen, Heidi Gregory-Mina

Conference website: https://2025.icihcs.org/

Conference date: 17 November 2025

Series: Communications in Humanities Research

Volume number: Vol.97

ISSN: 2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)

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