The Harvard Speech Incident: An Analysis from the Perspective of Park’s Marginal Man Theory

Yilian Zhang; Fanling Zeng; Shuangping Chen

doi:10.2991/978-2-38476-597-3_5

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The Harvard Speech Incident: An Analysis from the Perspective of Park’s Marginal Man Theory

Authors

Yilian Zhang¹, Fanling Zeng², Shuangping Chen³^{, *}

¹Doctor of Communication, School of Humanities, Jinan University, Zhuhai, 519000, China

²School of Humanities, Jinan University, Zhuhai, 519000, China

³School of Intelligent Systems Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Zhuhai, 519000, China

^*Corresponding author. Email: csp666@jnu.edu.cn

Corresponding Author

Shuangping Chen

Available Online 13 July 2026.

DOI: 10.2991/978-2-38476-597-3_5 How to use a DOI?
Keywords: Marginal Man Theory; Sino-Western Cultural Differences; Harvard Chinese Female Student Speech Incident; Intercultural Communication
Abstract: Amidst the sweeping tide of globalization, the crossing of geographical and cultural boundaries by individuals and groups has become increasingly commonplace. Robert E. Park’s “Marginal Man” theory, introduced in 1928, conceptualizes the marginal individual as a “cultural hybrid” who “lives in two worlds, in both of which he is a stranger.” Such individuals are neither able to sever ties completely with their past nor gain full acceptance into the new society. This liminal state engenders distinctive personality traits—psychological distress, maladjustment, and heightened self-consciousness—rendering them, in Park’s view, “the crucible of cultural fusion” and “the most ideal resource for observing the process of human civilization.”

Utilizing Park’s Marginal Man theory as its central analytical framework, this study examines the case of a Chinese female undergraduate’s speech at Harvard University. It dissects the complex cultural conflicts, identity dilemmas, and inherent agency experienced by the speaker as a marginal individual. Furthermore, the paper explores potential pathways for bridging cultural divides between China and the West and fostering mutualistic coexistence, viewed through an intercultural lens.
Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access: Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Language and Cultural Communication (ICLCC 2026)
Series: Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date: 13 July 2026
ISBN: 978-2-38476-597-3
ISSN: 2352-5398
DOI: 10.2991/978-2-38476-597-3_5 How to use a DOI?
Open Access: Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

ris enw bib

TY  - CONF
AU  - Yilian Zhang
AU  - Fanling Zeng
AU  - Shuangping Chen
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/13
TI  - The Harvard Speech Incident: An Analysis from the Perspective of Park’s Marginal Man Theory
BT  - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Language and Cultural Communication (ICLCC 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 29
EP  - 36
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-597-3_5
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-597-3_5
ID  - Zhang2026
ER  -

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