在余凱恩與簡言詩的首本小說《中國娃娃》中，作者以三個亞美女性M.J. Wyn, Alex Kwan和Lin Cho作為主角，並透過她們的敘述呈現亞美女性一種時髦、自信以及有成就的新形象。這些當代亞美女性在生活中面臨各種交織著種族、性別與階級的問題與刻板印象的掙扎，而作者在書中以幽默、輕鬆的方式呈現這些困境與刻板印象。作為都會小說的次文類，《中國娃娃》一方面融入都會小說特點，另一方面也繼承了亞美女性書寫傳統。為了更深入了解亞美都會小說，此論文先介紹都會小說的歷史與發展，以及它如何吸引族裔作家加入書寫行列。第一章著重在後女性主義論述中討論都會小說文類，並檢視亞美都會小說如何反映後女性主義特性。第二章主要探討都會小說傳統，它與傳統 Harlequin羅曼史的關係，以及白人中心的都會小說與亞美都會小說的差異。第三章則探索《中國娃娃》如何改寫並繼承以黃玉雪、湯亭亭、譚艾美為主的亞美女性書寫傳統。最後，我點出亞美都會小說的未來發展與限制，並肯定此文類不僅挑戰以白人中心為市場的都會小說，也為亞美女性書寫提供一個新方向。

Through narratives of three Asian American female protagonists─M.J. Wyn, Alex Kwan and Lin Cho, Michelle Yu and Blossom Kan present a new image of Asian American women who are chic, confident, and successful in China Dolls. These contemporary Asian American women struggle against difficulties and stereotypes intertwined with ethnicity, gender and class in their daily lives. Yet, the authors deal with these predicaments and stereotypes in a humorous, light-hearted way. As a subgenre of chick lit, China Dolls engages in chick-lit conventions, while at the same time it also inherits Asian American women’s writing traditions. In order to understand Asian American chick lit in depth, this thesis begins with a brief introduction to the history and development of chick lit and how it attracts ethnic writers to join its creation. The first chapter focuses on a postfeminist discourse and how Asian American chick lit reveals postfeminist features. The second chapter explores chick-lit conventions, its relationship with traditional romance(s), especially the Harlequin romance, and the nuance between white chick lit and Asian American chick lit. The third chapter examines how China Dolls rewrites and inherits the Asian American women’s writing traditions led by Jade Snow Wong, Maxine Hong Kingston and Amy Tan. Finally, I point out the future and the limitation of Asian American chick lit, concluding that Asian American chick lit not only challenges chick lit as a white-dominated market but also provides a new direction for Asian American women’s writing.

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