Living In-Between: Hybrid identities among Long-Established Australian-Born Chinese in Sydney
Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: The old western idea of 'being Chinese' always entailed some form of common racial collectivism.It imagined that 'Chinese' inhabited a single cultural space and that Chinese people shared stereotypical physical characteristics.If this one dimensional notion of a uniform 'Chinese' identity long satisfied western political and philosophical needs to categorize a foreign people, it was never adequate to encompass the variety of identities it sought to define, especially within a diasporic context.The 'Chinese' could equally be qualified historically by internal geographical markers (north, south, east and west) as well as by 'Australian', 'Malaysian', 'Philippine' or 'American', with little or no underlying shared consciousness or unified opinions regarding ethnic or cultural identity.2 More important in the formation of diasporic communities were differences among Chinese people themselves, as revealed by sub-ethnic markers like dialect, dietary preference, and parochial ties to particular provinces or districts within provinces.These are old differences that predate the transnational influences of the contemporary era.Where long-established diasporic Chinese are concerned, other factors have also influenced their formation of identities.These have included varying perceptions of culture and class, strategic accommodations, at different times, at local, national and transnational levels, and the length of settlement in the host country.As an added complexity, in the modern era of emerging transnational communities globally, cultural practices that help formulate a sense of identity can often intersect to blur the boundaries of place.3 The interaction of all these factors has created a situation where the construction of identity for migrants and their children often occurs in a state of liminality-that is, of feeling suspended in-between cultures or in borderlands.This factor further undermines any collective notion of a shared Chinese identity among diasporic communities, often imparting "a sense of being a people with historical roots and destinies outside the time/space of the host nation".4Where Australia is concerned, diasporic Chinese settlement has a long and varied history, with the first large-scale immigration occurring after the discovery of gold in the mid-nineteenth century.In contrast to the largely Cantonese origins of migrants for the first hundred years, in the second half of the twentieth century sub-ethnic diversity spread with growing migrant numbers.5 Today, Chinese-Australians are highly diverse: Taiwanese, Hong Kong Chinese and Shanghainese are among the fastest growing segments of the Chinese-Australian population.There has also been a general shift 1
Author: NGAN, Lucille
Institution: The University of Sydney
Language: English
Subfield: Demography
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7135313990