Chinese Diaspora and Western Australian Nature (Perth Region): a Study of Material Engagement with the Natural World in Diasporic Culture
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Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 2017 Chinese diaspora and Western Australian nature (Perth region): A study of material engagement with the natural world in diasporic culture Li Chen Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses Part of the Creative Writing Commons, and the Race and Ethnicity Commons Recommended Citation Chen, L. (2017). Chinese diaspora and Western Australian nature (Perth region): A study of material engagement with the natural world in diasporic culture. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2016 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2016 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. 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Chinese diaspora and Western Australian nature (Perth region): A study of material engagement with the natural world in diasporic culture This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Li Chen Edith Cowan University School of Arts and Humanities 2017 ABSTRACT Based on an ethnographic study of the everyday practices of diasporic Chinese residents of Perth, this project focuses on the relationship between the ecologic environment and diasporic Chinese cultures in contemporary Western Australia. With the acceleration of globalization, studies in diaspora have increasingly absorbed geographic ideas. Research on the relationship between ecology and humankind has thrown new light on discussions of diaspora. However, there are few in-depth studies addressing the construction of diasporic place and space with an engagement of the material world. Considering the relative absence of the natural world as a serious subject in contemporary diaspora studies, the starting point of this project is to explore the interactive relationships between place, space, and diasporic people via their everyday experiences. What is the meaning of nature to Chinese people living in Australia? How do they communicate with the natural world in their daily life and what is the dynamic relationship between the people and the environment? In order to find the answers to these research questions, I adopt sensory ethnography, multispecies ethnography and sensory studies of food as the major approaches. As an insider ethnographer, I have examined diasporic multisensoriality through the ethnographic practices of interviews, observation, filed documentation (notes, photos, sound recordings), film documentation (video documentation of abalone harvesting in chapter 8) and self-reflective composition within a dynamic assemblage of human and nonhuman agentic beings. Sensory studies of food provide a way to understand the dynamic relations between the materials in diets and Chinese people on individual, ethnic and diasporic scales. Along with the theoretical themes of place, space, food, perception, memory and imagination, this research traverses diverse ethnographic disciplines as an academic practice. In this research, I present several typical cases of everyday spatial practices, abalone recreational harvesting, and Chinese vegetable gardening. As an ethnographic study, the project has involved more than twenty specific participants. In the last two years, I have interviewed groups, individuals and families, and joined them in wine tasting, cultural celebrations, abalone harvesting and vegetable gardening. In addition, 1 due to my previous background in documentary filmmaking, I have made an illustrative film on the topic of abalone harvesting. Through the research on the cases, I found that there is an intimate, dialogical and reciprocal connection between the Chinese diaspora in Perth and the local physical environment. With the embodied engagement of the natural surroundings in their daily experiences, Chinese people living in Perth have gradually converted their perceptions of nature, which are also under the influence of traditional cultures. Acting as a space and an agent, the ecological environment has become familiar and domestic in the people’s diasporic experiences. Additionally, daily practices in the material surroundings have also transformed the people’s self-perceptions through their senses, reflections and attitudes toward the natural world. At the same time, the natural environment is impacted upon in myriad ways by the activities of diasporic Chinese. 2 DECLARATION I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: (i) incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; (ii) contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text; or (iii) contain any defamatory material. Signed: Date: 18/04/2017 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my principal supervisors Dr. Danielle Brady and Dr. George Karpathakis, for their ongoing support and assistance to this research project. My gratitude is expressed for their guidance, valuable advice, supervision, encouragement and kindness during the last year of my study. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to my previous supervisors, Dr. Rod Giblett and Dr. John Ryan, for their supportive criticism and generous readings of chapter drafts along the way. They were receptive to syncretic and cross-disciplinary approaches to the scholarship of environmental humanities since the beginning of the project. I acknowledge, in particular, their significant and generous contribution of ideas, impressive research and publication on ecocultural studies and environmental humanities. My sincere thankfulness is to Australian Government Research Training Program for granting me a scholarship (RTP). This support enabled me to complete the research project during 2014 to 2017. I would also like to recognise the support of the School of Arts and Humanities at Edith Cowan University (ECU), including the workshops for academic skills in the Graduate Research School (GRS), the seminar series at the Centre for Research in Entertainment, Arts, Technology, Education and Communications (CREATEC), as well as literary learning from the International Centre for Landscape and language (ICLL) and Kurongkurl Katitjin Centre for Indigenous Australian Education and Research. Notably, Dr. Noel Nannup helped me to appreciate the knowledge of local indigenous people. Dr. Jo McFarlane guided me generously in the workshop of English as an Additional Language (EAL). My thanks also go to the staff of ECU who provided sufficient support in library access and media facilities. I owe my deepest gratitude to the passionate participants in my project, especially Richard Wang, Yang Linlin, DuanXin, Yang Chunlong and Hu Xueyou, who contributed generously to my understanding of their perceptions of nature and who have given me permission to quote from their interview transcripts and apply their images into the dissertation and my film. My gratitude also goes to the people of Shandong Association in Perth for their excellent assistance in my investigation into abalone harvesting. I am most indebted to my husband, Sun Youqi, for supporting me throughout this journey, notably as the brave cameraman to film the dangerous abalone harvesting. This 4 dissertation is particularly dedicated to him. I also thank my lovely daughter Abigail Sun. She has always been my inspiration and motivation on this journey of discovery. My heartfelt thanks go to the local natural world of Western Australia, which has transformed my understanding of ecology and humanities. WA’s nature provided the opportunity and continually inspired me to complete this research. 5 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .............................................................................................................................. 1 Declaration ......................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ 4 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... 7 List of Tables .................................................................................................................... 10 List of figures ..................................................................................................................