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991022191551603411.Pdf Copyright Undertaking This thesis is protected by copyright, with all rights reserved. By reading and using the thesis, the reader understands and agrees to the following terms: 1. The reader will abide by the rules and legal ordinances governing copyright regarding the use of the thesis. 2. The reader will use the thesis for the purpose of research or private study only and not for distribution or further reproduction or any other purpose. 3. The reader agrees to indemnify and hold the University harmless from and against any loss, damage, cost, liability or expenses arising from copyright infringement or unauthorized usage. IMPORTANT If you have reasons to believe that any materials in this thesis are deemed not suitable to be distributed in this form, or a copyright owner having difficulty with the material being included in our database, please contact [email protected] providing details. The Library will look into your claim and consider taking remedial action upon receipt of the written requests. Pao Yue-kong Library, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong http://www.lib.polyu.edu.hk BEYOND CATEGORIES : CULTURAL IDENTITY PRACTICES OF CHILDREN OF CHINESE MIGRANTS LIVING IN SPAIN PALOMA ROBLES-LLANA PhD The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 2019 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Department of Applied Social Sciences Beyond Categories : Cultural Identity Practices of Children of Chinese Migrants Living in Spain Paloma Robles-Llana A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2018 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it reproduces no material previously published or written, nor material that has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma, except where due acknowledgment has been made in the text. Paloma Robles-Llana Abstract: This dissertation is positioned in the field of migration studies and uses an ethnographic approach to explore the cultural identities of 14 children of Chinese migrants living in Spain. Chinese migration to Spain is a relatively recent phenomenon that has received little scholarly attention to date. Studies conducted in other parts of the world have discussed the cultural identities of migrants and their descendants by stressing cultural tensions and compatibilities, metaphors of mobility, and by drawing on identity categories such as dual, transnational, or in- between. Against this background, my goal and main contribution to knowledge has been, (1) to fill a gap in the literature about Chinese migration to Spain, and (2) to demonstrate how the complexity and diversity of my participants’ cultural identities could not be accurately captured by the identity categories predominantly used by migration scholars. Cultural identity is here defined as a self-reflexive process (Giddens) that is best explored through an engagement with the participants’ identity practices (Hobart), that is, with the specific and dynamic ways in which they reflect upon, engage with and articulate their cultural identities from the perspective of their individual life histories and situated experiences. The use of life narrative interviews as a primary methodological tool was adopted in order to comply with this theoretical perspective. Findings revealed that the participants express cultural identities that resist categorization or bestow upon existing identity categories a much greater degree of complexity than what previous literature has suggested. The first chapter shows that aspects such as attitude, context, power dynamics and opportunities play a more important role in the participants’ development and understanding of their cultural identities than metaphors of mobility. The second chapter shows how the factors that shape the participants’ identities are very diverse and reach beyond cultural dichotomies. It also reveals how dual or in- between identities acquire shifting meanings throughout the participants’ life histories and are better understood not as fixed outcomes but as dynamic responses to their changing environments. The third chapter shows how despite dominant discourses on mobile and fragmented identities, the participants also express fixed Chinese identities that are deeply embedded in both the Spanish context and their individual perceptions. Altogether, these findings suggest the need to approach the cultural identities of children of Chinese migrants living in Spain by transcending categories and cultural dichotomies and through in-depth engagement with their identity practices and individual biographies. Acknowledgments Many thanks to: My supervisor, David Kurt Herold, for his guidance throughout these three years, and for sharing his vision of anthropology. The Research Grants Council (RGC), for providing financial support to pursue this research. The migrant and refugee association COMRADE, and Wang Huan, for smoothing my access to the Chinese community in Madrid. My participants, and all the Chinese people who agreed to talk to me in the field. My friends Rei and Asia, my parents, and especially my brother Daniel, for crucial help during all the stages of this research. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1. FIRST ENCOUNTERS: A STORY IN THE MAKING ...................................................................... 1 1.2. CULTURAL IDENTITY .......................................................................................................... 8 1.3. PARTICIPANTS ................................................................................................................ 10 1.4. METHODOLOGIES AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................. 10 1.5. OUTLINE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................... 11 LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................... 15 2.1. THE CHINESE IN SPAIN ..................................................................................................... 15 2.2. RESEARCH ON CHINESE MIGRANT CHILDREN IN SPAIN ......................................................... 31 2.3. IDENTITY AND IDENTITY PRACTICES ................................................................................... 36 2.4. THEORETICAL ORIENTATION ............................................................................................. 55 2.5. SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 64 METHODOLOGIES ........................................................................................................ 65 3.1. WHY ETHNOGRAPHY? ..................................................................................................... 65 3.2. FIRST ENCOUNTER .......................................................................................................... 69 3.3. METHODOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY ......................................................................................... 70 3.4. IMMERSION IN THE FIELD ................................................................................................. 71 3.5. PARTICIPANTS ................................................................................................................ 76 3.6. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ..................................................................................... 80 3.7. NARRATIVE APPROACH.................................................................................................... 82 3.8. POSITIONALITY ............................................................................................................... 86 3.9. FROM FIELD TO PAPER: ETHNOGRAPHER AS TRANSLATOR .................................................... 94 3.10. VALIDITY ..................................................................................................................... 96 BEYOND IDENTITY LABELS ............................................................................................ 98 4.1. OPPORTUNITIES: MONA, VERA ........................................................................................ 99 4.2. ATTITUDE: BINBIN ........................................................................................................ 109 4.3. CONTEXT: CARLOS ........................................................................................................ 116 4.4. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 122 HERE AND THERE: NEW FORMS OF DUAL IDENTITIES AND IDENTITIES IN BETWEEN ..... 127 5.1. FLUID IDENTITIES: SARA ................................................................................................. 127 5.2. NEW PATTERNS OF IN-BETWEENNESS: YUN ...................................................................... 136 5.3. DUAL IDENTITIES AS DYNAMIC ENGAGEMENTS: MIMI, QI .................................................. 141 5.4. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 148 NEW FORMS OF CHINESE IDENTITIES .......................................................................... 151 6.1. SELF AND OTHER .........................................................................................................
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