Chinese Americans in China: Ethnicity, Transnationalism
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CHINESE AMERICANS IN CHINA: ETHNICITY, TRANSNATIONALISM, AND ROOTS TOURISM A Dissertation by NAHO UEDA (MARUYAMA) Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2009 Major Subject: Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences CHINESE AMERICANS IN CHINA: ETHNICITY, TRANSNATIONALISM, AND ROOTS TOURISM A Dissertation by NAHO UEDA (MARUYAMA) Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Amanda Stronza Committee Members, William Alex McIntosh Tazim Jamal Cynthia Werner Head of Department, Gary D. Ellis May 2009 Major Subject: Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences iii ABSTRACT Chinese Americans in China: Ethnicity, Transnationalism, and Roots Tourism. (May 2009) Naho Ueda (Maruyama), B.A., Kokugakuin University; M.S., San Jose State University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Amanda Stronza In the era of advanced communication and transportation technology, immigrants and their descendents can be reunited with their ancestral land from where they or their forebears once were displaced. Visiting the ancestral land as tourists, or “roots tourism,” is a major and easily accessible means through which people can recreate and retain the social ties with their ancestral communities. Roots tourism is loosely defined as a type of tourism in which ethnic minorities visit their ancestral lands to discover ethnic roots and culture. Despite the recent popularity of this type of tourism, many gaps remain in the research of roots tourism especially about its influence on ones’ identity and sense of home among second generation of immigrants. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to explore the experiences of visiting ancestral land among second generation immigrants. For the purpose of this study, I focus on experiences of roots tourism among Chinese Americans. By investigating their motivation to visit their ancestral land, experiences and encounters in their ancestral land, and feelings toward the ancestral land and toward the United States after the visit, I attempt to explore how iv roots tourism influences ways in which second generation define and redefine who they are and where they belong under the transnationalism. Face-to-face, in-depth interviews with forty Chinese Americans revealed that, contrary to the idea that roots tourism generates strong feelings of belonging to one’s ancestral land, a majority of the interviewees in this study felt foreign in their ancestral land. Although they felt a certain sense of connection to China or Taiwan, the feeling was overwhelmed by the differences in language, norms, class, culture, upbringing, citizenship, and family and gender composition. Analysis indicated that among forty interviewees, only three interviewees felt a sense of belonging to their ancestral society after their visit, and the rest of the interviewees realized their home is the United States. This study revealed the limitation of roots tourism as a tool to foster an identity and sense of home attached to the tourists’ ancestral land. At the same time, the findings also suggest that roots tourism played a significant role to assist the interviewees to develop a positive sense of being Chinese Americans. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful for the tremendous support that I have received from professors, friends, and family while writing this dissertation. First, I would like to express special thanks to Dr. Amanda Stronza for her guidance, confidence, and invaluable feedback throughout the process of the research. Very special thanks are extended to the members of my doctoral committee, Dr. William Alex McIntosh, Dr. Tazim Jamal, and Dr. Cynthia Werner, for their encouragement and patience in my ability. I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with such a helpful and interested committee. In addition, I owe a great amount of thanks to Dr. Tsu-Hong Yen and Dr. Gonzaga da gama in San Jose State University for their constant support and encouragement that they have given years after I completed my master’s degree. I would like to express special thanks to forty interviewees who kindly participated in this research and shared their thoughts about the roots tourism experiences. Their insights were fascinating and made this research process a rewarding experience. Listening to their stories about what it means to be Chinese Americans made me think and appreciate what it means to be a Japanese person living in the United States. I appreciate my friends in the department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences for their ongoing support. The constant care and pep talks from my friends made the research process endurable and enjoyable. The best thing I have gotten out of my Ph.D. program is definitely the friendship with them. I am also grateful to my best friends in vi Japan for their constant support and e-mail messages even though I often could not respond to them in timely manner. Last, but most definitely not least, I would like to thank my family. My father and mother have constantly given me encouragement, inspiration, and mental and financial support. They have put my needs before theirs and stood on my side in any occasion, which gave me a great sense of confidence. All the years of my graduate work, my strongest motivation was to make them proud of me in response to their tremendous support. They are the greatest role models for me. My sisters, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece have always given me a great sense of purpose to finish the degree. Lastly, it is hard for me to imagine writing the dissertation without the support of my husband, Aki. He constantly made sure that I had enough time for writing, put up with my scrimpy housework, and even offered me a physical space in his office for writing. I thank him for making the dissertation possible and meaningful. Now, I cannot wait to see our first baby in July! vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 Transnationalism, Sense of Home, Ethnic Identity, and Roots Tourism .......................................................................................... 4 Problem of “Home Coming” .......................................................... 8 Purpose and Significance of Study ................................................. 9 Defining “Roots Tourism” ............................................................. 12 Study Methods ................................................................................ 14 Chinese Americans in China: Summary of the Dissertation .......... 19 II METHODOLOGICAL CONCERN: STUDYING ETHNIC “OTHERS” ........................................................................................... 23 Introduction .................................................................................... 23 Being a Japanese, Studying Chinese Americans ............................ 23 Researcher’s Positionality: Which Ethnic Groups Can I study? ........................................................................................... 41 III ROOTS TOURISM AND EXISTENTIAL EXPERIENCE: CASE OF SECOND-GENERATION CHINESE AMERICANS ........................ 45 Introduction .................................................................................... 45 Anthropology of Tourism ............................................................... 47 Phenomenology of Tourism and Roots Tourism: Search for Belonging? ..................................................................................... 53 Study Population: Chinese Americans and Their Ancestral Land . 57 Methods .......................................................................................... 58 Findings .......................................................................................... 59 Discussion ...................................................................................... 74 viii CHAPTER Page IV WHERE IS HOME? WHAT IS HOME? ROOTS TOURISM AND CHINESE AMERICANS .................................................................... 83 Introduction .................................................................................... 83 Homeland and Diaspora ................................................................. 85 Study Population: Chinese Americans and Their “Homeland” ..... 93 Methods .......................................................................................... 96 Findings .......................................................................................... 96 Discussion ...................................................................................... 110 V I AM A “CHINESE AMERICAN”: NEGOTIATING ETHNIC IDENTITY THROUGH ROOTS TOURISM ...................................... 116 Introduction .................................................................................... 116 Transnationalism, Ethnic Identity, and Roots Tourism .................. 118 Study Population: Chinese Americans and Their Identity ............. 127 Methods .........................................................................................