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The Complexities and Uniqueness of Being Chinese American

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The Complexities and Uniqueness of Being Chinese American University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation 2020 NEGOTIATING MY CHINESENESS IN COLLEGE: THE COMPLEXITIES AND UNIQUENESS OF BEING CHINESE AMERICAN Yan Wang University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0876-8981 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2020.147 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Wang, Yan, "NEGOTIATING MY CHINESENESS IN COLLEGE: THE COMPLEXITIES AND UNIQUENESS OF BEING CHINESE AMERICAN" (2020). Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation. 70. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/epe_etds/70 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Yan Wang, Student Dr. Beth L. Goldstein, Major Professor Dr. Jane Jensen, Director of Graduate Studies NEGOTIATING MY CHINESENESS IN COLLEGE: THE COMPLEXITIES AND UNIQUENESS OF BEING CHINESE AMERICAN ________________________________________ DISSERTATION ________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky By Yan Wang Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Beth L. Goldstein, Professor of College of Education Lexington, Kentucky 2020 Copyright © Yan Wang 2020 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0876-8981 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION NEGOTIATING MY CHINESENESS IN COLLEGE: THE COMPLEXITIES AND UNIQUENESS OF BEING CHINESE AMERICAN Chinese Americans are historically perceived as “perpetual foreigners” in the American political, cultural and racial discourses. People of Chinese descent have long been conceived as sharing a same ancestor as those in China. Situated in the global context of China’s rise in the world, culturally, politically and economically, this research looks at how Chinese American college students negotiate their ethnic identity in the Midwest of the United States. The current Coronavirus outbreak brought new waves of anti-Chinese/Asian sentiment into American political and cultural life. This rhetoric makes the discussion of Chinese American college students’ ethnicity construction crucial. Using qualitative research methods, this research followed thirteen Chinese American college students who enrolled in their heritage language class in college to explore their ethnicity construction. It explored how their Chinese identity was developed over time, how higher education contributed to their understanding of who they were and how their literacy in heritage language told us about their ethnicity. In-depth interviews with primary participants along with secondary participants (their friends, siblings and parents) were conducted; language class observations and informal socialization were also documented for data analysis. Results showed that how Chineseness was understood and performed by Chinese American college students was the result of their negation of differences between and within groups. It reflected their constant and active negotiation against the hegemonic whiteness, which was the norm of the society they resided in, and the hegemonic Chineseness defined by China and its people. For all Chinese Americans, higher education provided an opportunity for their understanding of Chineseness to be renegotiated and modified; they have learned to develop a hybrid identity, which incorporated both their Chinese and American identity together. Heritage language literacy facilitated their ethnicity understanding, but lack of it did not necessarily prohibit their ethnicity development for some participants. With the integration of their ethnicity and national identity, this research also observed the intersectionality of their other multiple identities with their ethnicity, such as gender identity, disability, religious identity and regional identity. The lens of intersectionality opened up new perspectives to understand the complex yet unique experiences as Chinese Americans. It also revealed how their unique experiences were structured by the system of privilege and oppression. China, as a country, remained distant yet immediate to them. It was distant because it was the country of their parents and grandparents. It was not their country of birth; America was. It was immediate because the opportunity to visit China facilitated by the convenience of transnational movement as well China’s rise in the world allowed them to increasingly see the importance of incorporating China/Chinese language into their future development. Implications on how to address Chinese Americans in higher education, how to understand Chinese Americans both by American and Chinese public are discussed. KEYWORDS: Ethnicity, higher education, Chinese Americans, intersectionality, hybridity, heritage language Yan Wang (Name of Student) 5/4/2020 Date NEGOTIATING MY CHINESENESS IN COLLEGE: THE COMPLEXITIES AND UNIQUENESS OF BEING CHINESE AMERICAN By Yan Wang Dr. Beth L. Goldstein Director of Dissertation Dr. Jane M. Jensen Director of Graduate Studies 05/04/2020 Date DEDICATION To my father ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people aided me with this dissertation. I received excellent advice and mentorship from Dr. Beth L. Goldstein, my Dissertation Chair. She exemplifies the high quality scholarship to which I aspire. I am thankful for the important insights she provided over the course of writing. I am also grateful for the support of the complete Dissertation Committee, and outside reader, respectively: Dr. Jeffery Bieber, Dr. Liang Luo, Dr. Masamichi Inoue, and Dr. Kun Huang. Each individual provided insights that guided and challenged my thinking, substantially improving the finished manuscript. I am also grateful to have Mrs. Beate Popkin at my side during my doctoral study. She supported me academically and emotionally. It was her love that enabled me to overcome the many difficulties during the process. I also want to extend my thanks to the University of Kentucky Chinese Department for providing the opportunity for me to conduct this research project. My deepest gratitude also goes to my family: my husband, Junhong Han, my two daughters, Yifei Han and Isabel Han. Their support and love motivated me to persist during this process. Both my parents and my parents-in-law also provided enormous support by taking care of us so that I had enough time and energy to devote to this project. iii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................................... iii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Overview of the Dissertation ................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY.................................................... 8 2.1 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 Student Identity Development Theory ......................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Intersectionality .......................................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Literature Review ................................................................................................................ 14 2.2.1 Changing Meaning of Chineseness ............................................................................................
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