Identity negotiation of Chinese international students in Canada: A study on cosmopolitan post-graduation settlement

This study focuses on analyzing the acculturation of Chinese international students in Canada, emphasizing students' post-graduation settlement in China, Canada, or in other countries. Chinese international students commonly experience a multilayered acculturative adjustment when they are challenged by a new culture. In this process, they develop an identity negotiation that impacts their settlement into a new country. This study mobilizes four notions of acculturation (e.g., assimilation, integration, marginalization, and separation), to evaluate Chinese international students’ identity negotiation after university. This research uses 17 semi-structured interviews to understand how participants' identities were negotiated through their acculturative adjustment. First, the findings highlight the importance of career factors and family values in participants' settlement decisions. Second, the balance between Chinese identity and Canadian identity has some impact on student’s migration plans.

Sugiharti Halim (2008): A Cinematic Portrayal of Chinese Indonesian's Ambiguous Identity

Sugiharti Halim (2008) provides a cinematic insight into the lives of Chinese Indonesians whose identities are perpetually labeled as liyan (other) in the eyes of the inlanders (pribumi). It narrates the story of Sugiharti Halim, a Chinese Indonesian girl, who struggles with her Indonesian sounding name which, instead of successfully assimilating her Chinese identity, makes her even more Chinese than before. This study aims to investigate the cinematic portrayal of Chinese Indonesian’s ambiguous identity as experienced by the female protagonist. The writer employs close textual analysis of the indie film and approaches the issue by the reading of cinematic codes (mise en scene) and the theoretical perspective of name giving developed by Watzlawik in 2016. The conflict highlited in this “indie” criticizes the position of Chinese filmmaker for being pigeoholed on the ground of their ethnicity as portrayed in most commercial films which put Chinese more as a marginalized group. Therefore, the study reveals that films have become a new means of politicizing the interest of certain ethnic group which somehow puts the Chinese Indonesians in their most vulnerable position. The study also concludes that independent films help the young Chinese filmmakers to reconnect with their Chinese heritage as they begin to pick up bits of their Chineseness which were previously miscontrued by the inherited ideals of the New Order regime.

Becoming a Confucian in Contemporary Singapore: The Case of Nanyang Confucian Association

Using the Nanyang Confucian Association (NCA) as a case study, this paper explores the multi-faceted processes through which a segment of Singapore’s Chinese community constructs its self-identity based on an understanding of Confucianism that dismisses its religious attributes while underscoring the ethnic and cultural dimensions. Tracing the history of the association since its formation in 1914, the paper hopes to contribute to recent overseas Chinese studies on the rethinking of the notion of the Chinese diaspora within the context of the formation, circulation, and contest of a global Chinese identity by asking the following questions: Does identifying with the Confucian tradition necessarily require one to acknowledge their connection with China? Would a self-proclaimed Confucian be perceived as someone who looks to China for ethnic and cultural affiliation and thus appears less local? The authors argue that, while still acknowledging the spatial–temporal centrality of China as the origin of Confucianism and Chinese civilization, leaders of the NCA clearly intended to simultaneously position the NCA at the center of global Confucian activism. What emerges from the processes initiated by the NCA in constructing its identity is a complex overlay of history, geography, and culture that gives rise to a vision of multiple centers.

A New Embassy from Taiwan: The Zheng Regime as Extraterritorial Arbiter of Ethnic Peace in Manila, 1662–1683

In 1662, shortly after conquering Taiwan, Zheng Chenggong wrote to the Spanish governor of Manila, threatening to invade the Philippines if the Spanish did not swear vassalage to his new regime. Although the Spanish refused, Chenggong died before he could carry out his threat, and his successor Zheng Jing wrote a second letter offering terms for peace. These exchanges provide some of the only surviving direct recordings of the Zheng leaders’ beliefs regarding the rights, responsibilities, and boundaries of “Chinese” identity, in particular the relationship between Sangleys and Chinese rulers. Both Zhengs claimed rulership over Manila’s Chinese, but where Zheng Chenggong stated a right to direct rule over this population, Zheng Jing compromised by requesting changes to the Spanish laws which governed his “subjects” in the Philippines. These demands recall modern notions of citizenship and extraterritoriality, and provide a rare contemporary Chinese perspective on colonial Manila’s policies of ethnic segregation. The Zheng state’s active pressure, by contrast to Ming and Qing emperors’ customary disinterest in overseas Chinese, forced the Spanish to reduce their oppression of and reliance on the Chinese, but this also involved expelling thousands of migrants and enforcing long-ignored legal limits on immigration. I argue that this period of conflict clarified the Spaniard’s notion of where chinos fit into their empire’s particular ethno-legal system. This episode thus shows how the Chinese experience in the Philippines was shaped not just by European attitudes, but also by the nature of the Sangleys’ political links to China.

The Cultural Creation of the Ethnic Korean Minority in China

Korean-Chinese literature after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) predominantly eulogized the lives of farmers. Such literature portrayed farmers' lives and how, through their work, they could transform both their own livelihoods and that of the nation, this time not in the name of imperialism, but communism. Although such stories reflect themes that one finds in Chinese literature from that period, stories written by Korean-Chinese authors are distinct because they do not shy away from depicting their shared historical experiences under Japanese colonial rule in Manchukuo. Moreover, this colonial experience was in fact highlighted to make it play an important role in the creation and fortification of a Korean-Chinese identity. The Korean-Chinese stories from this period focus exclusively on the local to conjure an image of community. Local problems, however, were often construed as colonial remnants from the Japanese rule in Manchukuo and, in turn, stressed the perceived existence of class differences inside Korean-Chinese communities. While their literature was an attempt to expunge such traits and unify the Korean-Chinese community, they inadvertently created new narratives that exacerbated existing tensions and divisiveness instead.

CULTURAL DISCONTINUITY : THE DISPERSED OF CHINESE DESCENT FROM THE “LITTLE CHINA” CHINATOWNS OF LASEM

This article aims to analyze how fading the Chinese diaspora culture from Lasem Chinatown over several generations. Previous studies show that Chinese descent's identity and orientation disappeared due to assimilation with the local community during the new order. In fact, there was a tendency for them not to show their Chinese identity from the beginning. This did not pay enough attention to the local context, social situation, and the cultural heritage of Chinese descent between generations. This case study is conducted by interviews, observation, and document study. The data is analyzed using the NVivo Program. Bauböck & Faist’s new concept of diaspora is used to review the phenomenon of the spread of Chinese descent from Lasem Chinatown. This research shows that the Indonesian Chinese people in Lasem tend to refer to themselves as 'Indonesian Chinese Peranakan and are increasingly detached from their identity relationship with their referent origin, China. Their Chinese identity is starting to fade since Chinese cultural heritage through religious rituals has been largely abandoned. Young Chinese children scattered out of Lasem Chinatown and lost their Chinese identity. The novelty in this research is that the assimilation and integration of Peranakan Chinese into local society are precisely related to the acceptance of the Lasem community, instead of Chinese culture's fading.Keywords: Chinese, Descent, Diaspora, Discontinuity, Dispersed

Study on Christian Belief and Cultural Exchange of Chinese in Northern Thailand: The Case of the Manchu Village of Chiang Raic'

In the process of integration into Thai society, Manchu Village> a Chinese community, has achieved mutual cooperation between civil autonomy authority and national administrative authority. Gradually accepted Thai culture> villagers in Manchu formed a strong national identity for 'Thailand. Meanwhile> they still inherit Chinese culture and maintained hometown recall and Chinese identity > which have also undergone fission. A variety of beliefs> such as Islam, Christianity? Buddhism> Yitong Taoism,and u Heaven > Earth>Country > Ancestor and Teacher” , coexist in the community. However>the split of the Christian church has not affected the unity and cohesion of the community. The spread and development of Christianity in Manchu presents a macro interaction chain between 'Thailand and Southeast Asia? between China's southeastern coastand southwestern frontiers.

KULINER, TUBUH, DAN IDENTITAS: SEBUAH PEMBACAAN GASTRO-SEMIOTIKA TERHADAP SEPILIHAN PUISI KARYA HANNA FRANSISCA/CULINARY, BODY, AND IDENTITY: A SEMIOTIC-GASTROCRITICAL READING TO HANNA FRANSISCA’S SELECTED POEM

AbstrakMakanan pada era kiwari tidak lagi sekadar hidangan, tetapi menjadi perantara munculnya beragam tafsir. Hanna Fransisca menjadi salah seorang penyair yang memanfaatkan khazanah kuliner dalam puisi. Artikel ini mengulas tiga puisi pilihan karya Hanna Fransisca, yaitu “Bakpao Tionghoa”, “Kambing Guling”, dan “Tumis Paru”. Penelitian ini menyoal kuliner dalam puisi yang dibaca melalui perspektif gastrokritik dengan menggunakan metode semiotika Rolland Barthes. Penelitian ini berusaha mengungkap makna kuliner dalam ketiga puisi. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa kuliner dalam puisi “Bakpao Tionghoa”, “Kambing Guling”, dan “Tumis Paru” menyoal tubuh. Bakpao dan kambing guling menjadi medium penarasian tubuh yang tidak memiliki otoritas gerak di ruang sosial. Tubuh disepadankan bakpao yang cenderung diposisikan sebagai objek konsumtif. Tubuh dalam “Kambing Guling” hadir sebagai tubuh dalam ruang teritori yang cenderung mengekang kebebasan sebagai subjek. “Tumis Paru” menjadi medium penarasian tubuh yang telah terbebas dari penjara badani. Dalam hal identitas, ketiga puisi menarasikan identitas Tionghoa yang identik berkulit cerah dan berada pada ruang-ruang stereotip. Kuliner dalam ketiga puisi tersebut menjadi medium kritik, upaya protes, dan sindiran terhadap praktik-praktik warisan kolonial yang membedakan status dan identitas. Kata kunci: identitas, kuliner, tubuh, Tionghoa, gastrokritik, semiotik AbstractFood in the recent era is no longer just a dish, but an intermediary for various interpretations. One of the poets who have used culinary treasures in the world of poetry is Hanna Fransisca. This article reviews selected poems by Hanna Fransisca entitled "Bakpao Tionghoa", "Kambing Guling", and "Tumis Paru". This research examines culinary in poetry through a gastro-critical perspective using the semiotic method of Rolland Barthes. This research attempts to reveal the culinary meaning in the three poems. The results showed that the culinary in the poetry "Bakpao Tionghoa", "Kambing Guling", and "Tumis Paru" shows body problems. Bakpao and Kambing guling become a medium for body narration which does not have the authority in social space. The body, through bakpao, is to be positioned as a consumptive object. Meanwhile, the body in “Kambing Guling” is present as a body in territorial space which tends to restrain freedom as a subject. “Tumis Paru” becomes a medium for narrating the body that has been freed from physical prison. In terms of identity, the three poems narrate a Chinese identity that is identical with bright skin and exists in stereotypical spaces. The culinary in the three poems is a medium of criticism, protest, and satire against colonial heritage practices that differentiate status and identity. Keywords: identity, culinary, body, Tionghoa, gastrocritics, semiotics