The Remigration of Ethnic Chinese in Korea to the u.s. and Their Floating Ethnic Identity (在韓華僑赴美國的再移民及他們漂移的族群認同)

This study focuses on the meiguo hanhua (美國韓華), ethnic Chinese immigrants from Korea who migrated to the u.s., and their ethnic identities, in particular, on how they evolved into meiguo hanhua, a new sub-ethnic group of Chinese, instead of identifying themselves simply as Chinese Americans. By employing the concept of a floating ethnic identity, this study illustrates the specific historical circumstances and situations in which meiguo hanhua ethnic identities were formed, molded and redefined. It especially concerns how such identities continually adopt, struggle, and negotiate within changing global environments such as the rise of the Chinese economy and the Taiwanization of the Republic of China as well as their personal concerns such as aging and emotional attachment to Shandong province, their imagined homeland. (This article is in English.) 本文探討「美國韓華」這一族群認同（ethnic identities）所形成的歷史環境與背景。「美國韓華」指的是移民到美國的韓國華僑。從1975 到1985年之間，有 一萬四千名韓國華僑移民到美國，相當於旅韓華僑的三分之一。目前居住在美國的韓國出身的華僑人口有兩萬人。當他們在韓國被當地政府與社會的壓迫時，仍保持自己的華人身份。移民美國以後，主要來自山東的韓國華僑無法在美國華人既有的廣東系、福建系等的認同結構下找到位置，他們因此發展出自成一格的族群認同。這個族群認同並不是固定的，而是隨著國際環境的變化與個人經濟利益的考量，而在美國人、中國人、韓國人甚至是臺灣人這幾個不同的身份之間擺蕩。本文因此提出「漂移的族群認同」這一概念，來探討具體的環境和歷史條件如何影響他們在這些族群身份上的選擇和調整。