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The Ambivalent Identitarian: Macanese Metamorphoses in Times of Change

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The Ambivalent Identitarian: Macanese Metamorphoses in Times of Change MARISA C. GASPAR ESTUDOS DE MACAU The Ambivalent Identitarian: Macanese Metamorphoses in Times of Change MARISA C. GASPAR* ABSTRACT: This article examines two different topics related to the concept of ambivalence and its phenomenological experience applied to the Eurasian Macanese community case study. The first section, from an ethnographic point of view, addresses a set of intersubjective dynamics of identification and differentiation developed by a group of friends during an intimate reunion of commensality. During this particular event, the social actors highlight their ambivalent condition, deploying this as an improvised and positive strategy to adapt to changeable external circumstances. Te second section recasts the narrative of Macao’s hybrid history, which lies at the origin of the Macanese community and characterises its permanent redefinition, thus drawing political and cultural dimensions into the discussion alongside the identity-building project implemented in the recently-established Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR). In this case, there is an implicit ambivalence to the Sino-Portuguese negotiation process over the application of the People’s Republic of China nationality law to Macao-born residents, in particular to ethnically mixed Macanese, within the context of the handover of sovereignty to China. KEYWORDS: Eurasian Macanese; Macao SAR (China); Identity ambivalence; Commensality; Citizenship. Introduction Historically, Macao and the Macanese are the As a product of colonial history, the Eurasian result of a daily negotiation. Te Macanese community Macanese emerged out of a complex and prolonged […] was able to adapt constantly […] this is a feature biological and sociocultural blending of Europeans (mainly of Macao itself and [by extent] of the Macanese people.1 Portuguese) and Asian women over centuries in Macao. Tis gave rise to a Eurasian appearance and, even though * Ph.D. holder in Anthropology and researcher as a postdoctoral fellow at SOCIUS/ they have remained Portuguese citizens, primarily Catholic, CSG – ISEG, University of Lisbon, and visiting researcher at the Institute of European Studies of Macau. Current research interests are on cultural and gastronomic tourism and literate in Portuguese, they tend to be fluent in in Macao, Macanese community, social change, identity and ambivalence, intangible Cantonese (the dominant local Chinese spoken language) heritage, anthropology of economy and politics. Gaspar is also the author of the book, Heirs of the Bamboo: Identity & Ambivalence among the Eurasian Macanese (2020), pub- and have developed a distinctive lifestyle. Tis also inspired lished by Berghahn Books, and various academic essays. the development of a series of ‘mixed’ sociocultural Doutorada em Antropologia e a exercer as suas atividades de investigadora de pós-doutoramento no SOCIUS/CSG – ISEG da Universidade de Lisboa e de investigadora visitante no Instituto markers such as a Creole language and a specific type of de Estudos Europeus de Macau. Os seus actuais interesses de pesquisa são sobre turismo cultural e gastronómico em Macau, comunidade macaense, mudança social, património imaterial, identi- ‘fusion cuisine’, and also managed to establish their own dade e ambivalência, antropologia económica e política. É autora do livro, Heirs of the Bamboo: professional occupations, serving as intermediaries between Identity & Ambivalence among the Eurasian Macanese (2020), publicado pela Berghahn Books, entre vários outros textos académicos. Chinese interests and the Portuguese administration. 60 Revista de Cultura • 65 • 2021 THE AMBIVALENT IDENTITARIAN: MACANESE METAMORPHOSES IN TIMES OF CHANGE MACAO STUDIES Ethnic relations in Macao, in contrast to those life (Connidis and Mcmullin 2002), and of family of the British Empire in neighbouring Hong Kong, separation and reunification across time and space for instance, largely resulted from the personal identity (Puppa 2016, Sun 2017). options of individuals and were not externally imposed In all possible formulations across the extensive on Eurasians due to their physical appearance (Pina- applications of the ambivalence concept, we may Cabral 2002: 22). However, the Macanese community, note the emphasis on its usage as an analytical tool which itself gave rise to this particular identity, embedded in a theoretical framework that allows us to still remains marked by an ambivalent dimension: deal with situations of manifest contradictions in which resulting from procedures of inclusion and exclusion there is no observed correspondence between cultural according to individual interests and motivations that assignments, verbal formulations and shared actions. developed over time and history in relation to external Nevertheless, no one conceptualises ambivalence as a environments; and with their boundaries remaining permanent condition of identity, which individuals both undefined and fluid as they constantly moved make use of as an improvised strategy for positive between distinct social universes. manipulation, motivated by the personal and/or Te literature conceptualises ambivalence as re- collective benefits they might obtain while dependent gards to its meanings and sociological applications as on their suitable and appropriate adaptation to external an individual experience, which embodies the quality conditions. Long-term ethnographic fieldwork and of that with two values (opposite or different), the co- in-depth interviews with Eurasian Macanese returns existence of contradictory and mixed feelings or emo- experiences of these inconsistent attitudes and tions stemming in part from countervailing expecta- informant discursive uncertainties, their evolution and tions about appropriate individual actions (Smelser the sophistication deployed whenever unexpectedly 1998, Weigert 1991). At a social level, the ambivalence confronted by their multiple identity affiliations. approach serves to explain the ambivalence of subjects Based on a more extensive research project in accordance with their structural features, rather (Gaspar 2015), the ethnographic research for this than with their personal characteristics, by revealing article took place in Lisbon between 2010 and 2011, inconsistencies and ambiguities in those social struc- within an informal group of relatives, friends and tures. Much of the ambivalence concept’s sociologi- former classmates from Macao.2 Te article explores cal application implies these conflicting denotations, the condition of ambivalence inherent to individual and this volatile experience is mostly treated as the identities as critical and affirmative strategies by social result of contrasting social pressures exerted on social actors permanently negotiating and redefining their actors (Coser 1966, Merton 1976, Yair 2007). More place within the constraints of social structures. To recent attempts to reformulate the existing conceptu- illustrate how Macanese people actively produce this alisation of ambivalence places the emphasis on both ambivalence, rather than covering it up as an inability social relations and individual agency, as structurally to decide and act, I begin by describing an intimate created contradictions experienced by individuals in social interaction between old friends during a meal in their ongoing interactions with others. Specifically, which I participated. research about intergenerational family ties points Considering the fact that commensality and out the advances made in treating ambivalence as a food practices may serve as strong cultural and ‘multilevel phenomenon that requires ongoing ne- ethnic identity markers (Anderson 2005; Belasco gotiation’ (Connidis 2015: 91) to understand the 2008; Johnston and Baumann 2010; Kershen 2002; intricate dynamics and contradictions of family Sutton 2001), which may reflect ongoing group 2021 • 65 • Review of Culture 61 MARISA C. GASPAR ESTUDOS DE MACAU and individual attachments to multiple identities as well as to various social positions within a contemporary situation (Chapman and Beagan 2013), they constitute a privileged field for observing simultaneous ambiguities such as those expressed during this particular reunion of Macanese friends. Te event illuminates how through the manipulation of various actions, individuals developed a ‘dynamic situation of identification and differentiation’ (Pina- Cabral 2010: 176). We furthermore experienced two phenomena during the meal: (a) that the Macanese, ethnically and culturally, are neither Portuguese nor Chinese; (b) despite not belonging to either of these Francisco’s welcome dinner at the restaurant Repasto das Flores, Lisbon 2011. Photo by the author. two categories, the Macanese share affinities with both and correspondingly know how to interact with both, which enables them to access these two different social from Macao. Francisco’s visits to Lisbon are always circumstances. anticipated with great expectation in keeping with In the final section, the ambivalence analysis his role as a leading figure within the community, extends to the evolutionary narrative of historical succeeding his father, and involved in the leadership continuity applied to the current context of of the main association activities in Macao, which are transient values and hierarchies in the Macao Special the most visible expression of this small community. Administrative Region (SAR), which reinforces the Victoria — my ‘host mother’ within the group — Macanese identity by legitimising it in symbolic, took over organising the meeting
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