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

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.