The Representation of the Changes of Cultural Identity in Kevin Kwan’s Rich People Problem

Abstract

Rich People Problems is a literary work written by Kevin Kwan in 2017. In this book, he tries to tell about a group of rich people who face various problems in their lives. Moreover, in this novel there is a representation of the changes of the cultural identity experienced by the main characters in this novel. Nick was born and raised in Singapore. Nick's extended family still maintains a strong Chinese culture. However, when he grew up, he continued his study in New York, America. When he was in America, he felt that he was compatible with the culture there because he was free to do what he liked and did not have to be bound by strict rules like Chinese culture. This research uses representation theory and cultural identity by Stuart Hall to analyze the changes of the cultural identity on the main character. This research collects the data in the form of words and sentences so it kinds of qualitative research. The goal of the study is to describe how the main character represents the changes of the cultural identity. The result of this research show, that environment plays big role in their cultural identity changing.