© Yenan Liang, 2020
The Construction of Transnational Identity: A Case
Study of Chinese Immigrants in Quebec City
Mémoire
Yenan Liang
Maîtrise en sociologie - avec mémoire
Maître ès arts (M.A.)
THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRANSNATIONAL IDENTITY
A Case Study of Chinese Immigrants in Quebec City
Mémoire
Yenan Liang
Sous la direction de :
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Résumé
Cette recherche vise à comprendre la construction identitaire d’immigrants dans un monde où les réalités migratoires s’intensifient, en analysant les traits identitaires que ceux-ci associent à leur société d’origine et à la société d’accueil. Elle a également l’ambition d’interroger les théories du nationalisme dans le contexte de la mondialisation, à partir du concept de « nationalisme banal » (Billig, 1995). Dans cette perspective, la recherche explore les liens entre la construction identitaire et les pratiques culturelles de la vie quotidienne, telles que celles liées à l’alimentation et aux voyages transnationaux. Elle sélectionne le cas de Québec et ses immigrants d’origine chinoise. Selon une analyse qualitative de 20 entrevues semi-dirigées avec 21 participants, ce mémoire présente les résultats suivants. Premièrement, l’analyse des marqueurs identitaires constate que les marqueurs primordialistes possèdent de fortes fonctions constructivistes, et leur signification devient cruciale dans l’interaction sociale. Deuxièmement, l’analyse répertorie quatre types d’identité transnationale qui évoluent et se transforment au cours du temps et en fonction des situations sociales rencontrées. Troisièmement, l’étude propose un modèle conceptuel pour expliquer ces changements identitaires. Ce modèle démontre que les changements d’identité sont des réponses aux distinctions entre deux systèmes sociaux, particulièrement deux ensembles de normes sociales, et sont influencés par les facteurs de push et pull impliqués dans le processus de resocialisation. Quatrièmement, un examen plus approfondi des pratiques culturelles des participants souligne la nature complexe de leur rôle dans le processus d’identification nationale. Ces pratiques peuvent soit renforcer, soit réduire les identités nationales des individus en fonction de la façon dont elles sont étroitement liées aux facteurs de push et pull. Ainsi, la recherche suggère qu’il est essentiel de considérer l’implication des pratiques culturelles dans les mécanismes de push et pull pour saisir comment elles modifient le développement de l’identité nationale des individus.
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Abstract
Regarding today’s intensified transnational activities, this research aims to comprehend the identity construction of immigrants and to analyze the identity traits that they associate with their original country and host country. It also intends to interrogate nationalism theories in the context of globalization, as inspired by banal nationalism (Billig, 1995). From this perspective, the research explores the relations between identity construction and cultural practices in everyday life, such as food practices and transnational travel. It selects the case of Quebec City and its Chinese immigrants to proceed with the examination. Based on a qualitative analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews with 21 participants, this thesis presents the following findings. First, the analysis of identity markers shows that primordialist markers possess strong constructivist functions, and their significance only becomes crucial in social interaction. Second, the analysis presents four transnational identity types that can evolve through time and transform into one another in relation to specific social settings. Third, the thesis proposes a conceptual model to explain those identity changes. This model demonstrates that identity changes are responses to the distinction between two social systems, particularly two sets of social norms, and are influenced by the push and pull factors involved in the process of resocialization. Fourth, a further examination of participants’ cultural practices underlines the complex nature of their role in the national identification process. Those practices can either reinforce or reduce individuals’ national identities based on the way they are intertwined with the push and pull factors. Thus, the research suggests that it is vital to investigate the ways everyday life practices are involved in the push and pull mechanisms to understand how they consequently alter the trajectories of individuals’ national identity development.
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Table des matières
Résumé ... ii
Abstract ... iii
Table des matières ... iv
Liste des tableaux ... vii
Liste des figures ... viii
Liste des annexes ... ix
Remerciements... x
Introduction ... 1
Chapitre 1 Theoretical Framework ... 6
1.1 Nationalism, Globalization and Nation-States ... 6
1.1.1 Approaches in Nationalism Studies ... 7
1.1.2 Theoretical Approach of the Research ... 16
1.1.3 Conclusion ... 20
1.2 Theoretical Framework of Identity ... 21
1.2.1 Concept of Identity ... 21
1.2.2 National Identification and Identity Markers ... 23
1.2.3 Identity Boundary ... 24
1.2.4 Conclusion ... 26
1.3 A Cultural Perspective ... 27
1.3.1 Cultural Practices and Identity... 28
1.3.2 Food... 29
1.3.3 Other Cultural Practices ... 46
Chapitre 2 The Quebec Context ... 50
2.1 Immigration in Canada... 50
2.1.1 Contemporary Immigration System ... 50
2.1.2 Two Cultural Policies: Multiculturalism and Interculturalism ... 52
2.2 Quebec Nationalism ... 53
2.3 Demographic Profile of Chinese Communities ... 54
2.3.1 Chinese Communities in Canada ... 54
2.3.2 Chinese Communities in Quebec ... 57
Chapitre 3 Question of the Research ... 63
3.1 Questions ... 63
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3.3 Hypotheses ... 64
Chapitre 4 Methodology ... 65
4.1 Methodological Choices ... 66
4.1.1 Qualitative Approach ... 66
4.1.2 Case Analysis – Quebec City ... 67
4.2 Data Collection Method... 68
4.2.1 Semi-Structured Interviews ... 68
4.2.2 The Scheme of Interviews ... 70
4.2.3 Observation of Activities ... 72
4.3 Sample Participants ... 72
4.3.1 Selection Criteria of Participants ... 73
4.3.2 The Portraits of Participants ... 74
4.3.3 Limitation of the Sample... 79
4.4 Method of Recruitment... 80
4.4.1 Invitation Letter and Consent Form ... 80
4.4.2 Snowball Sampling ... 80
4.5 Analysis Method ... 81
4.5.1 Grounded Theory ... 81
4.5.2 Typology ... 82
Chapitre 5 Identity Analysis ... 83
5.1 Identity Markers ... 84
5.1.1 Participant Demographic Profile ... 84
5.1.2 Participants’ Identity Markers ... 85
5.1.3 Constructivist Function of Identity Markers ... 92
5.1.4 Identity Mechanism: Social Interaction and Social Norm... 96
5.2 Identity Boundary ... 99
5.2.1 A Typology of Transnational Identity ... 99
5.2.2 Changing Identity ... 102
5.3 Identity Change Model ... 105
5.3.1 Comparisons Between Two Different Societies ... 105
5.3.2 Push and Pull Factors ... 109
5.3.3 Identity Change Model ... 119
5.4 Conclusion ... 124
Chapitre 6 Cultural Practices and Identity Construction ... 125
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6.1.1 What Is Chinese Food? ... 125
6.1.2 Changes in Food Practices ... 127
6.2 Language... 137
6.3 Sports ... 142
6.4 Homeland trips ... 145
Conclusion ... 152
Bibliographie ... 156
Annexe A Interview Questionnaire ... 162
Questionnaire (English) ... 162
Questionnaire (French) ... 164
Questionnaire (Chinese) ... 166
Annexe B Letter of Invitation ... 168
Letter of Announcement (French) ... 168
Short Message Diffused on Social Media Platforms (Chinese) ... 169
Annexe C Consent Forms ... 170
Consent Form (English) ... 170
Formulaire de consentement (Français) ... 173
知情同意书 （中文） ... 176
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Liste des tableaux
Table 2-1 Chinese Ethnic Group Population by Selected Metropolitan Areas ... 56
Table 2-2 Chinese Ethnic Group Population by Provinces and Territories ... 57
Table 2-3 Chinese Population in Quebec (CMA), Montreal (CMA) and Quebec (Province) in 2016 ... 58
Table 2-4 Chinese Population in Quebec (CMA) by Immigrant Status ... 61
Table 4-1 Participants’ Demographic Profile ... 78
Table 5-1 Participants’ Demographic Profile ... 84
Table 5-2 Identity Claim Dimensions and Identity Markers, Example Based on David's Discourses ... 94
Table 5-3 A Typology of Transnational Identity ... 102
Table 5-4 Themes of Comparison in Participants’ Discourses ... 105
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Liste des figures
Figure 1-1 Selected Food Photography Designed by the Advertising Agency TBWA ... 37
Figure 2-1 Chinese Immigrant Population in Quebec (CMA) by Period of Immigration ... 61
Figure 4-1 Interview Duration... 70
Figure 4-2 Participants’ Gender Distribution... 74
Figure 4-3 Participants’ Age Distribution ... 75
Figure 4-4 Distribution of Participants’ Immigrant Generation ... 76
Figure 4-5 Participants’ Duration of Residence in Quebec Province ... 77
Figure 4-6 Participants’ Duration of Residence in Canada ... 77
Figure 5-1 Identity Claiming Process in Social Interaction ... 98
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Liste des annexes
Annexe A Interview Questionnaire ... 162
Annexe B Letter of Invitation ... 168
Annexe C Consent Forms ... 170
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Remerciements
I owe the deepest gratitude to my supervisor Professor Sylvie Lacombe, who has always been encouraging and supportive during my long path of study. I am incredibly fortunate to have her as my director. Her precious advice on the theory and methodology has greatly inspired my engagement in nationalism studies. Moreover, I am grateful for her profound wisdom regarding academic knowledge and the values of life. I enjoy our conversations over coffee and croissants in our neighborhood of Limoilou, Quebec City.
I wish to thank my family and my partner for their unconditional support and love during my study. Since my childhood, my parents have put forth their best effort to support my education despite their situation. They offer me all the liberty to pursue my dream, even if it means being far away from them. Thanks to their financial support, I was able to continue my study without excessive stress. I also like to thank my partner Jimmy, who stands beside me from the day I arrived in this country and this city. He is the most loving and caring person I have ever met. For all these years, up or down, he is always there to share my happiness and sadness.
I am also grateful for the support from my colleagues and friends, particularly to Laurent for all the nerdy discussions about sociology and life, to Yuan who offered me constructive academic advice and also took care of my plants in the office, to Siyu and Chloé for their warm and lovely friendship, and to many old friends scattered around the world.
I sincerely thank all the participants in this research and those who helped to advance the research recruitment. Without them, this thesis will not exist. I thank them for finding time in their busy schedule to accept a stranger’s invitation, and for their confidence and trust in me. I appreciate their sharing of personal experiences and emotions. Their detailed discourses in interviews have provided valuable data to this and further research.
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Introduction
As Stephen Zweig (1964, p. 4) recalled in his autobiography, at the end of the 1900s, people “honestly believed that the divergencies and the boundaries between nations and sects would gradually melt away into a common humanity and that peace and security, the highest of treasures, would be shared by all mankind.” Similarly, in the contemporary world, we tend to hold a simple understanding of globalization that it facilitates the interrelationship between countries and regions on a global scale and is viewed as a process to eliminate all national barriers. Transnational interactions and exchanges have become a daily phenomenon. Even amongst scholars, many have claimed that the world is approaching a post-modern society, where modernity is dissipating, and the nation-state, as a product of the modern era, is consequently in its terminal crisis. Two sources are principally responsible for the nation-state’s challenges: the supranational organizations and the subnational identities (Billig, 1995). On the one hand, globalization weakens the nation-state’s formulated national identity as various supranational institutions share the process of political and economic decisions; on the other hand, within the border, the nation-state is questioned by the emergence and reconstruction of new identities (Esteban-Guitart & Vila, 2015).
However, such imagination regarding a universal and homogeneous future may appear fragile. For Zweig, after the age of “peace and security,” soon came the First World War. Today, although it is less intensive than at the beginning of the 20th century, where nationalism was the
dominant ideology worldwide, national conflicts and nationalist movements continuously exist. In recent years, we have witnessed waves of nationalism reviving along with deglobalization. In addition, the decline of nation-states does not necessarily lead to the disappearance of national identities. An evident example is that many oversea populations still preserve their previous identities. It is perhaps still early to affix a particular destiny to the nation-state. In fact, nationalism is continuously being flagged in all kinds of scenarios, either at the macro-level processes regarding political elites and bodies or at the micro-level interactions of ordinary people.
To better understand today’s nationalism, it is necessary to examine national identities in a deterritorialized context. It is vital to learn how national identities are weakened, sustained, or strengthened and how new identities emerge and are constructed at home and overseas. In this
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sense, a case study in a transnational context provides a pertinent occasion to investigate the reproduction of nationalism and reconstruction of national identities.
This research takes a particular interest in the identity construction process of immigrants, a geographically dispersed population from their home state. As a case study, Quebec City is chosen as the research site and its Chinese residents as the target population. For oversea individuals, it is common to encounter situations in everyday life that highlight their transnational identities. Ordinarily, such identities are often associated with individuals’ original country and the host country (Schiller, Basch, & Blanc, 1994; Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006). A growing body of research has examined the transnational identity of Chinese immigrants from various perspectives. They often focus on regional cases with a substantial Chinese population, such as Chinese immigrants in South Asia (Kong & Yeoh, 2003; Tan, 2004) and North America (Satzewich & Wong, 2006). Some of them explore the aspects of cultural and economic performances in a precise manner (Wilcox, 2011; Wong & Ho, 2006; Liu & Lin, 2009). Despite the numerous research that has been widely presented, there is a vacuum regarding Chinese immigrants in Quebec and particularly Quebec City.
Therefore, this research aims to explore the identity construction of Chinese immigrants in Quebec City. First, it is to characterize the identity traits that the Chinese individuals associate with their homeland and host society. The research seeks to demonstrate a general portrait of their identity traits and to show how their national identities are presented in a transnational context. Second, inspired by previous nationalism studies, notably Billig’s Banal Nationalism (1995), this research adopts an everyday life perspective by emphasizing the role of cultural practices in national identification, such as practices of food, language, sports, and migration. Thus, this study is also to analyze the interrelationship between immigrants’ cultural practices and their identity construction processes. Last but not least, in general, this project wishes to contribute to the nationalism theories by providing an alternative approach to examine nationalism and national identities.
This research has adopted qualitative methods to examine Chinese immigrants’ transnational identity construction. First, it has chosen semi-structured interviews as the principal data collection method. All data is derived from 20 open-ended interviews with 21 Chinese
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immigrants, who were either permanent or temporary residents1 in Quebec City when the
interview occurred. The participants involved in this study are of first and 1.5 generation immigrants originally from Mainland China. Their ages vary from 18 to 69 years old. In addition to the interviews, I have also attended various Chinese community activities as field observation, such as celebrations of traditional Chinese festivals, Christmas events, and other social and cultural gatherings. Last, regarding the analysis, the grounded theory was applied as the primary analytical method to process all interview discourses.
In total, this thesis comprises six chapters. Chapter 1 outlines the theoretical framework of this research, focusing on three key concepts: nationalism, identity, and cultural practices. Concerning the nationalism studies, the first section of this chapter reviews the classical debates between the primordialist and the modernist schools to comprehend the origin and the nature of nations and nationalism. It also introduces the concepts of official nationalism and banal nationalism (Billig, 1995) to explain the reproduction of nationalism. Based on the theoretical discussions, I then propose an alternative approach to further the understanding of nationalism. This new perspective holds a modernist position but equally reconsiders the strong representation of primordialist ingredients in nationalist discourses; it underlines the interrelationship between official nationalism and banal nationalism; it highlights the inherent heterogeneous structure of globalization.
Following the first section, the second section of Chapter 1 attempts to find a robust way to approach the multifaceted concept of identity. In the first place, in response to the modernist stand, the research insists on the non-static characteristics of identity and clarifies the concept as a national identification process. Secondly, this section introduces identity markers and identity rules (Kiely et al., 2001; McCrone and Bechhofer, 2010) to advance our understanding of the identification process. Last, to avoid confusion generated by the non-static attributions of
1 In this research, I use the term “immigrants” to refer to participants and the target population regardless of their administrative immigrant status. Therefore, the immigrants of the research include people who reside in Quebec City permanently (such as Canadian citizens and permanent residents) and who temporarily stay in the city (such as international students and workers). In this sense, an international student will be considered as a first-generation immigrant. However, when citing demographic data, the term immigrants will follow the definition given by Statistics Canada or other related institutions.
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identity, the section consults the perspective of the boundary (Barth, 1969; Abbott, 1995), which provides further insights on identity mechanisms.
The last section of Chapter 1 aims to offer a theoretical review of the relations between cultural practices and national identification. I examine in detail the examples of food practices, such as cookbooks, food paintings, food photography, food consumption, and production, to explore how food can reflect and shape national identities. I also discuss other cultural practices, such as language, sports, and tourism, in relation to nationalism.
Next to the theoretical framework, Chapter 2 demonstrates the contextual background in Canada, Quebec Province, and Quebec City. It presents the immigration system in Canada from both federal and provincial scales. It also pays attention to two different public policies regarding immigration and diversity in Canada and the Province of Quebec, namely multiculturalism and
interculturalism. It additionally discusses the persisting nationalism in Quebec. Later, this chapter
presents the demographic profiles of the Chinese communities in the state, the province, and the city.
Chapter 3 announces the questions and objectives of the research. As discussed earlier, this research seeks to explore the identity traits of Chinese immigrants in Quebec City and the dynamics of their transnational identity construction. The research assumes that immigrants’ identities are based on two societies that they are involved with and are closely influenced by their everyday life cultural practices.
Hence, Chapter 4 demonstrates the methodology this research has engaged in. This research is based on a qualitative analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews with 21 participants, who are Chinese immigrants residing temporarily or permanently in Quebec City when the interview was conducted. They are first and 1.5 generation2 immigrants originally from Mainland China, and
their ages vary from 18 to 69 years old. For data analysis, grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was applied as the primary method to process all interview discourses.
2 The research aims to study three immigrant generations: the first-generation, the 1.5 generation, and the second-generation. However, the result of the recruitment does not include participants of the second-second-generation. Further detail can be consulted in Section 4.3 Sample Participants.
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Based on the data collected from interviews, Chapter 5 presents the analysis and results regarding participants’ national identity traits, and moreover, the dynamics of their identity construction. The first section examines various identity markers. It is argued that regardless of the popular dichotomization between civic and ethnic markers, all identity markers fundamentally possess constructivist functions. The significance of primordial markers only becomes crucial when serving to justify one’s identity in the context of social interaction. Moreover, I have observed that markers are involved in different stages of identity claiming processes during social interactions. The second section, Identity Boundary, confirms the non-static attributions of identity. Based on participants’ discourses, the section presents a typology of transnational identities and demonstrates that those identity types can transform into one another in different social settings. To better comprehend how and why identity changes, the third section proposes the Identity
Change Model. In this model, it is argued that identity changes are based on the discrepancy
between two social systems, notably the social norms. In addition, due to certain pull and push factors involved in the process of resocialization, one identity type can develop or transform into other types.
Following the analysis of identity, Chapter 6 hence explores how participants’ cultural practices are involved in the Identity Change Model, as either pull or push factors regarding two societies. The examination of food, language, sports, and homeland trips shows that the relation between cultural practices and national identity construction is inherently complex. Those practices can contribute not only to the weakening but also the strengthening of one’s national identity. The study thus suggests that in order to ascertain the role of cultural practices in the identity construction process, it is crucial to examine how those practices are intertwined with the pull and push mechanisms proposed in the Identity Change Model.
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Chapitre 1 Theoretical Framework
This chapter outlines the theoretical framework of this research. In general, the theoretical scope consists of three main aspects: nationalism studies, identity theories, and cultural practices. The first aspect explores the evolution of nationalism studies in recent decades. It examines the origin of nationalism as well as the way nationalism has been sustained until today. After a brief review of those classical issues in nationalism studies, this chapter proposes an alternative approach to engage our understanding of nationalism. Second, since this study investigates immigrants’ national identities, it is necessary to clarify the concept of identity. The second aspect of this framework thus explains the notion of identity involved in this research, by focusing on specific identity mechanisms, in particular, identity boundaries. Based on the first two aspects, the last one presents an alternative approach, highlighting a cultural perspective to comprehend national identities’ construction. It illustrates how nationalism can be maintained banally in everyday life practices. The last section analyzes the role of cultural practices, notably food, language, sports, and migration in identity construction.
1.1 Nationalism, Globalization and Nation-States
The first section of Chapter 1 aims to examine the evolution of nationalism studies, based on which, it introduces the theoretical approach of this research concerning the part of nationalism. To start with, I will present some general approaches in nationalism studies by examining the classical debates between the modernist and primordialist schools, which are centered on the origin of nations and nationalism. Then, regarding how nationalism is maintained and sustained, I will introduce one representative of contemporary nationalism theories: banal nationalism (Billig, 1995). Banal nationalism is a new approach that has encouraged a large number of scholars to transcend the classical debates and to focus instead on empirical-based studies. The critique and reflection on those theories eventually lead to an alternative approach for studying nationalism in this research project, which can be defined through three key aspects: a) it shares a modernist perspective but acknowledges the strong representation of primordial elements in nationalism; b) it pursues a particular interest in banal forms of nationalism by investigating individuals’ cultural practices in everyday life; c) it examines nationalism in a transnational context and explores the complex relationships between nationalism and globalization.
7 1.1.1 Approaches in Nationalism Studies
In the past decades, nationalism, a term frequently associated with ethnic conflicts and violence, received considerable attention in academia. After witnessing constant cultural conflicts and intense nationalist movements in the twentieth century, notably after the Cold War, many scholars sought to explain those phenomena by examining the very nature of the nation and nationalism. A series of questions were posed concerning “what,” “how,” and “why”: What are nations and nationalisms? Where do they originate? How does nationalism spread? How is nationalism sustained during the process of globalization?
Indeed, nationalism is a complex topic to tackle, and it is hardly possible to go through the whole field of study in one chapter. Instead of scrutinizing each theory in the field, I will constrain the discussion to only a couple of approaches. To begin with, I will investigate the question regarding the origin of nations and nationalism. Although there exist various paradigms of nationalism theories, they can be broadly categorized into two types: one is known as “primordialism,” which claims that nations are natural phenomena of historical continuation; the other is “modernism,” which views nations as products of modernization and artificially constructed in the recent centuries. To further explain how nationalism is spread and sustained in the modern era, two significant theories of nationalism will be reviewed: official nationalism and banal nationalism. After a relatively brief criticism of those approaches, I will then introduce this research’s theoretical perspective concerning the part of nationalism studies.
The Origin: Primordialism or Modernism?
First of all, it is primary to clarify the concepts of nations and nationalism, which are considered as fundamental issues of nationalism studies and viewed as the center of the classical debates in this field of research. Different interpretations of those concepts eventually lead to diverse theories of nationalism. There are two principal arguments for the origin of nations and nationalism: primordialism and modernism. Both of them shall be regarded as “umbrella terms” that comprise various paradigms sharing a common core concerning the nature of nations and nationalism (Harris, 2009; Özkirimli, 2010). To a large extent, the essential discrepancy between these two schools is whether they consider nations and nationalism as products of modernization.
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As Özkirimli (2010, p. 49) puts out, “‘primordialism’ is an umbrella term used to describe the belief that nationality is a ‘natural’ part of human beings, as natural as speech, sight or smell, and that nations have existed from the immemorial.” Primordialism refers to a type of argument attempting to explain the origin of nations and nationalism, a sort of approach characterized by either quasi-genetic permanence or historical continuity. It emphasizes primordial components passed down from generation to generation from the ancient world, notably, elements such as kinship relations, language, religion, common historical traditions, and shared homelands. A primordialist perspective is well presented in the previous work of Anthony Smith (Harris, 2009; Coakley, 2018), although later, his approach of nationalism changes into “ethno-symbolism.” Smith (2010, p. 63) acknowledges the modernity of nationalism but claims that his approach “has focused on the way that prior, and often premodern, ethnic ties and ethnies have influenced, and in some cases formed the basis for, subsequent nations and nationalisms.” According to him (Smith, 2010, pp. 47-63), there exist five paradigms of nationalism: modernism (including varieties of socioeconomic, sociocultural, political, ideological and constructionist paradigms),
perennialism, primordialism, ethno-symbolism, and postmodernism. However, such categorization has
been criticized as those types are not mutually exclusive. To illustrate, Coakley (2018, pp. 332-3) points out that perennialism and primordialism both demonstrate primordialist insights highlighting a historical continuity of nations; and the other positions (modernism, ethno-symbolism, and
postmodernism) are all modernist approaches.
In like manner, as an umbrella term, modernism embraces various paradigms that share a fundamental belief in the modernity of nations and nationalism. In contrast to the primordialist view, modernism claims that nations are modern phenomena related to the emergence of the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution. As mentioned earlier, modernism includes a variety of positions. Apart from their shared belief in modernity, those approaches examine nationalism from different perspectives. For instance, Özkirimli (2010, pp. 72-120) categorizes those approaches as economic, political, or social/cultural transformations. The economic approach, represented by Tom Nairn (1981) with his theory of “uneven development,” analyzes nationalism in post-colonial society as a strategy against imperialism and international capitalism. The political approach is well explored by John Breuilly, Paul Brass, and Eric Hobsbawn. Breuilly (1994) defines nationalism as a form of politics to obtain and use state power, and he hence introduces a typology of nationalist movements. Paul Brass (1991) is known for his
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instrumentalist position. He argues that “ethnic and national attachments are continually redefined and reconstructed in response to changing conditions and the machinations of political elites” (Özkirimli, 2010, p. 88). Hobsbawn, at a constructivist position, also highlights elites’ efforts for nationalism. He (1983) illustrates the nation and nationalism as products of social engineering, emerging from elites’ efforts by their strategies in response to the threat of mass democracy, notably by inventing traditions to create perceptions of the past. Last, Ernest Gellner’s “high culture” and Benedict Anderson’s “imagined communities” are labeled as representatives of the social/cultural transformation approaches. Ernest Gellner is acknowledged as one of the most critical theorists in nationalism studies. He (1983, p. 55) presents as a firm modernist, who insists that “it is nationalism which engenders nations”. Gellner (1983, p. 57) views nationalism as “the general imposition of a high culture on society, where previously low cultures had taken up the lives of the majority, and in some cases of the totality, of the population.” As for Benedict Anderson, who has received a significant reputation for his work “Imagined Communities,” he considers the nation as “an imagined political community—and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign” (2006, p. 6). For him, the construction of nations and nationalism involves sophisticated processes when referring to different stages and regions. Nevertheless, two cultural roots stimulate the origin of nationalism and permit the possibility for people to imagine the nation: one is the continuality with previous cultural systems (the religious communities and the dynastic realms); the other is the change of the conception of time (from a simultaneity of homogenous, empty time to a simultaneity where “meanwhile” becomes possible to imagine). In general, those two cultural roots, together with the development of capitalism (in particular, the print industry) and the homogenization of national languages, conjointly create the imagined communities around the world.
Official Nationalism and Banal Nationalism
Based upon previous interpretations of nations and nationalism, numerous researchers attempt to explain the origin as well as the reproduction of nationalism by categorizing it into different models. A large amount of scholarly literature classifies nationalism based on specific criteria, such as regions and influencing factors. Some follow a manner of binary or non-binary taxonomies, for example, the prevalent dichotomy between “ethnic/eastern” and
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“civic/western” nationalism (Greenfeld, 2016; Kohn, 1967). To illustrate, several scholars have summarized nationalism varieties according to prior research in the field. For example, Smith (1971, pp. 209-29) distinguishes up to 39 types of nationalism “by using a series of binary variables: territorial/ethnic, primitive/developed, failed/successful, heterogeneous/cross-cultural, integration/protection, pre-independence/post-independence, and renewal/expansionist,” and with “several miscellaneous categories, including diaspora nationalism and pan-nationalism” (Maxwell, 2010, p. 868). Although, Smith admits that “a given case of nationalism may well be classified under more than one heading—giving the complexity of most group situations” (1971, p. 227).
As we can see, it is imperative to note that many categorizations remain problematic on the whole of nationalism studies. First, it is because elements of those criteria are not always mutually exclusive, and consequently, the boundaries between types are, in many cases, ambiguous. Second, departing from their conceptual interpretations and research objectives, scholars introduce nationalism models employing various approaches, which are frequently in conflict with each other. It thus generates more confusion in the field of nationalism studies.
The notions of nations and nationalism resemble indeed slippery. Despite all kinds of nationalism proposed by scholars, this part discusses only two of them: official nationalism and banal nationalism. Many may refer to the former one as “top-down nationalism” or “hot nationalism,” and the latter as “bottom-up nationalism” or “everyday nationalism.” However, it must be remembered that, although those concepts share a considerable degree of similarity, those terms do not yield the exact sense of “official nationalism” and “banal nationalism.” Official nationalism cannot be replaced by “top-down nationalism” or “hot nationalism” without considering the context and the same for “banal nationalism.”
According to Benedict Anderson, since the 1820s, old regimes had struggled to sustain their power by adding nation-ness into their fundamental legitimacy, as a reaction to the popular national movements that emerged in Europe. This subsequently led to official nationalism, which can be ideally understood as “a means for combining naturalization with retention of dynastic power, in particular over the huge polyglot domains accumulated since the Middle Ages, or, to put it another way, for stretching the short, tight, skin of the nation over the gigantic body of the empire” (Anderson, 2006, p. 86). Various old regimes soon adopted the official
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nationalism model outside of Europe, notably Japan, during the 19th century. Later, during the
last wave of nationalism, namely “anti-colonial nationalism,” which was characterized by massive independent national movements, multiple colonial territories in Asia and Africa were reformed into nation-states. Those new countries maintained their governments by promoting official nationalism as their primary policy orientation, particularly in public administration and education sectors. In order to maintain the legitimacy of nation-states, patriotism is often applied to generate nationhood sentiments. The self-sacrificing love for one’s nation appears to be such a significant representation that exists in almost every cultural product of nationalism. It is regularly presented through primordial discourses, either in the vocabulary of kinship or that of home, to remind people’s national consciousness.
Such a process of reminding, meanwhile, includes a process of collective forgetting. As Ernest Renan (1882) points out, forgetting acts as a crucial element in the creation of nations. While celebrating nations’ antiquity, the nation’s recent history is for then being forgotten, particularly the violent ones which have brought the nation into existence. Based on Renan’s insight of forgetfulness, Billig (1995) adds that there is also a parallel forgetting process of the present. It ceases to appear as eye-catching nationalism, naturalized into the familiar social environment, separating itself from the hot forms of nationalism. It keeps reproducing nations routinely in a subtle manner. Billig names such a process as “banal nationalism.” Nationalist messages are constantly delivered by subtle flaggings, such as sportive activities and mass communications, in ordinary people’s routine activities. Under the influence of those banal flaggings, nationalism is therefore diffused to the mass and then naturalized into receivers’ consciousness.
The connection between official nationalism and banal nationalism needs to be further discussed. Firstly, it would be questionable to presume an opposite position between those two types of nationalism. As mentioned above, the categorization of nationalism, on the whole, remains problematic. As two individual concepts introduced by different scholars in their research, they serve to answer specific research questions and are adduced through different approaches. It is thus essential to note that official nationalism and banal nationalism are not mutually exclusive. More, it will not be a successful theoretical attempt to define clear boundaries between them in a typological manner. A multitude of examples confirm that official nationalism can be addressed banally, and banal nationalism can be generated by official institutions.
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Secondly, however, it does not necessarily mean that both of them cannot be discussed in the same research. According to Billig, banal nationalism was introduced to criticize sociologists’ over-passion on the “hot” appearance of nationalism. He points out that many analysts were “reserving the term ‘nationalism’ for outbreaks of ‘hot’ nationalist passion, which arise in the time of social disruption and which are reflected in extreme social movements” (Billig, 1995, p. 44). They focused mostly on the apparent forms of nationalism and hence omitted its banal presence. While we always consider official nationalism equal to hot nationalism, the fact does not match our assumption. Many scholars, including Benedict Anderson and Michael Billig, have demonstrated that official nationalism can be diffused into everyday life through banal flaggings, such as the census, map, and museum (Anderson, 2006, pp. 163-85). In this sense, official and banal nationalisms persist in an interrelated manner. In other words, official bodies such as governments and institutions can promote nationalism through either distinctive or unnoticeable routines, which can eventually reach the micro-level interaction of individual receivers. In those daily routines and interactions, national identities are constructed and confirmed by individual receivers. Therefore, rather than trying to define a clear boundary between banal nationalism and official nationalism, it is necessary to examine the continuity between these two types and to inspect how banal nationalism becomes one of the means of official nationalism.
Critiques of Above Approaches
In earlier sections, I have introduced nationalism theories through the debates between primordialist and modernist schools. As a matter of fact, primordialism is nowadays dismissed by most academic scholars. In 1996, Roger Brubaker (p. 15) claimed that primordialism was “a long-dead horse that writers on ethnicity and nationalism continue to flog” and that “no serious scholar today holds the view that is routinely attributed to primordialists in straw-man setups, namely that nations or ethnic groups are primordial, unchanging entities.” A considerable number of scholars have expressed similar attitudes towards primordialism. They have agreed on the fact that the primordialist view had been marginalized in the field of nationalism studies. Primordialism is no longer regarded as a theory, but rather an approach or a perspective. Moreover, this approach has received plenty of criticisms, targeting mainly on four aspects of primordialist explanations, as summarized by Özkirimli (2010, pp. 60-6): “the nature of ethnic
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and national ties, the origins of ethnic and national ties, the date of emergence of nations, and the questions of emotion and affect.” Similarly, Hobsbawn has equally addressed his concerns on the danger of primordialism brought upon historians and sociologists:
It confuses socio-cultural analysis by failing to distinguish between the essentially state-aspiring nineteenth- to twentieth-century “nation” from ensembles of communities politically dispersed by their structure, such as the ancient Hellenes, […]. It confuses socio-political analysis by failing to distinguish, as the nineteenth-century politicians did so clearly, […], between achieved national reality (with or without a recognized group history) and indeterminate national potential (2005, p. 82).
Indeed, rarely considered as a plausible theory, primordialism has lost its leading voice in the research field of nationalism studies. Nevertheless, outside the academic sphere, primordialist ideology persistently exists, particularly in nationalist discourses. The primordialism elements, notably the historical continuity of nations, are often presented as core concepts in nationalist ideology. Such representation of ideology with strong primordial features can be easily found in the discourses of numerous nationalist activists, notably ethnic and political leaders, cultural elites on mainstream mass media, and even everyday social network users. Hence, some scholars have distinguished the nationalist primordialism (as a nationalist thesis or ideology) from the analytical primordialism, in order to better describe “the commitment to belief in primordiality in respect of the nation” (Coakley, 2018, p. 341).
Even though primordialism has not received much reputation as an analytical approach, it is still recognized by many scholars for its significance in nationalism studies. For example, Anthony Smith (2010, p. 61) introduces an approach named “Ethno-symbolism,” which “in contrast to the others, focuses on the subjective elements in the formation of nations, the character and impact of nationalism, and the persistence of ethnies; and thereby seeks to enter into and comprehend the ‘inner worlds’ of ethnicity and nationalism.” Smith (2010, pp. 55-8) presents several researchers who are in the position for primordialism: for example, Pierre van den Berghe (1981) with a socio-biological perspective, Edward Shils (1957) and Glifford Geertz (1963) with a cultural view. Based on Smith’s examination of primordialism, Coakley (2018) illustrates more recent scholars who have accepted the role of primordialism, namely Marco Antonsich (2015) and Diego Muro (2015). Hence, as Coakley (2018, p. 327) suggests, primordialism might better be regarded as “an ingredient in nationalism than as an explanation of nationalism.”
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Although remaining as the most influential approach in nationalism studies, modernism has equally received a significant number of criticisms over the years. For instance, Smith (2010) has provided a critical synthesis of nationalism theories. Özkirimli (2010, pp. 120-37) has explicitly evaluated modernism by arranging those approaches into three categories (economic transformations, political transformations, and social/cultural transformations). As mentioned earlier, modernism functions as an umbrella term to envelop all kinds of theories which believe in the modernity of nations and nationalism. In this case, we are not here to criticize all theories or scholars holding this view. What we observe in the literature is that the criticisms launched on modernism finally led nationalism studies to a new stage, a so-called “post-classical” period, characterized with critical attitudes towards the orthodox theorizations which often associated nationalism with “those who struggle[d] to create new states or with extreme right-wing politics” (Özkirimli, 2010, p. 171). Those new approaches are often applied with new methods of analysis in an interdisciplinary manner. One representative is Michael Billig’s analysis of the form of banal nationalism.
The major contribution of Michael Billig’s banal nationalism is that it offers a new perspective to examine the reproduction of nationalism. As Smith (2010, pp. 82-3) commented, banal nationalism belongs to products that emerged during “the debate between proponents of political and cultural interpretations of nationalism,” more precisely, a movement away from the “grand narratives of ethnicity and nationalism with their concentration on elite projects to a systematic study of the role of popular beliefs, sentiments and practices.” Banal nationalism focus on how ordinary people produce and reproduce nationalism in their everyday life. It acknowledges the significance of the everyday life sphere, which was largely omitted by the classic literature. Moreover, it encourages more researchers to explore the banal forms of nationalism by examining routine practices and discourses.
Nevertheless, despite its valuable contribution to nationalism studies, banal nationalism has been criticized for various reasons. For instance, first, the concept or the term “banal nationalism” is, in fact, questionable. Billig introduces this model as an alternative approach to understand how nationalism is reproduced, based on critiques on conventional nationalism theories. However, the assumption proposed along with the term “banal nationalism” contains a presumed dichotomous relation between “banal nationalism” and “official (hot) nationalism.” Therein lies
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the problem. As discussed above, the boundary between banal nationalism and official nationalism remains slippery: something officials can be presented in banal forms, and what is banal can be generated by official institutions. More, Billig’s analysis largely relies on two democratic countries: America and Britain. It is uncertain that banal nationalism can serve as a universal thesis that can be applied to every country and region. Likewise, as pointed out by Michael Skey (2009, p. 337), one weakness of banal nationalism is that it “does not address how different constituencies might respond to the particular media texts or political speeches used as examples of the nation being flagged in a routine or taken-for-granted manner.” Indeed, banality can be a subjective term: what to one group is banal can be surprisingly hot and apparent to another group. What if people are attentive to the existence of banal flaggings in their everyday life? Are those flaggings still banal? Assuming that banal nationalism theory facilitates individuals’ awareness of existing banal symbols in everyday life, and when the “banal” is no longer banal, is this thesis still pertinent to explain the reproduction of nationalism?
Second, Billig presents a top-down phenomenon by examining the role of mainstream mass media while presuming a group of “uniform, homogeneous national audience” (Skey, 2009, p. 335). The assumptions of the “top-down process” and “a homogeneous audience” are indeed problematic, even though Billig (2009) argues that he does not hold the view that Skey has ascribed to him. It is essential to realize that, during the years, technology has dramatically changed the role of traditional mass media (such as newspapers, TV, and radio programs) and prompted a wide range of new media varieties. The latest technologies and emerging mass media platforms continuously offer ordinary people increasing occasions to gain power in their discourses. In those cases, individuals are no longer passive audiences but active creators of media information. In general, consequently, the mechanism of media transmission shall be more multifaceted than the presumed “one-way” or “top-down” output models, and the role of the audience is rather active, international, and heterogeneous.
Today, a large group of scholars has engaged in various approaches with specific interests in nationalism studies. Despite the classic debates on the nature of nations and nationalism and other mainstream theories, more and more new approaches emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of the subject of nationalism. As Özkirimli (2010, pp. 217-9) suggests, there are several ways to advance the nationalism studies on a theoretical level. First, instead of attempting to
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produce a universal theory on nationalism, it is better to formulate partial theories that concentrate on a specified aspect of nationalism studies. The second requires a change of perspective that it is perhaps more efficient to examine the cases where nationalism does not work. Third, it is equally essential to embrace those empirical studies as well as new epistemological interdisciplinary perspectives.
Based on the reflection on today’s nationalism studies, this research will, therefore, offer an alternative perspective to examine nationalism through a case study. The following section will then introduce the theoretical approach of this research.
1.1.2 Theoretical Approach of the Research
This section presents the theoretical framework of this research concerning nationalism theories. In general, this framework can be understood from three aspects: first, it holds a modernist view but acknowledges as well the strong representation of primordial elements; second, it concentrates on banal forms of nationalism by exploring cultural practices of ordinary people in everyday life; last, it investigates nationalism in a transnational context and analyzes the intricate relationship between nationalism and globalization. Four books on nationalism have initially inspired this framework: Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities, Michael Billig’s Banal
Nationalism, Anne-Marie Thiesse’s La création des identités nationales, and Arjun Appadurai’s Modernity at Large. During the project, this framework has been gradually elaborated according
to further examination of nationalism theories and the data collected from the research field.
Modernist Approach Reserving Primordial Ingredients
In general, this research subscribes to modernist approaches and additionally takes primordial elements into consideration, as they are regarded as critical ingredients for national identification. One fundamental assumption of this research is that nations and nationalism are not historical phenomena that naturally exist since the very beginning. Instead, they are artificial products of modernity. Similarly, national identities do not merely result from history in a primordial manner but are constructed and invented during the past centuries. Mechanisms of such an identification
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process will be later discussed in section 1.2, which explores academic literature of the theories of national identity. It is argued that national identities are largely influenced by nation-states and societies, where everyday life social and cultural practices play a significant role.
I would also like to note that it is crucial to acknowledge the strong representation of primordial elements in all kinds of nationalist discourses as well as everyday conversations among ordinary people, especially when topics are closely related to national identification. Such attention does not necessarily attempt to guide the research to a primordialist perspective. It is more of a reconsideration based on the data collected from the field and the critiques discussed above of nationalism theories. Just as John Coakley (2018) has suggested, it might be more suitable to examine primordialism as an ingredient than as an explanation of nationalism. Similarly, many researchers, for example, Anne-Marie Thiesse (1999), who are mostly modernists, have engaged on alternative approaches to examine the creation of national identities by emphasizing historical or cultural elements, such as invented history, socially constructed culture or objective biological elements.
Banal Nationalism and Cultural Practices
Inspired by Michael Billig’s thesis on banal nationalism, this research takes a specific interest in banal forms of nationalism and everyday life representation of national identities. It examines the relationship between nationalism and culture, between national identities and cultural practices, and more precisely, with a particular focus on the relation between identification and food practices. This perspective from cultural practices will be further discussed in section 1.3. Such research interest is not to undermine the importance of mainstream approaches (which concentrate on political, economic, or cultural explanations from the perspective of elites) in nationalism studies; instead, it tries to offer an alternative view on how ordinary people can confirm and practice their national identities in everyday life.
As argued earlier, Billig’s banal nationalism thesis is considered limited for its “top-down” process of nationalism and the passive role of the “audience.” Therefore, this research regards ordinary people in a more active position where they freely create and receive identity information in daily activities, such as daily food practices and sports activities. It does not either
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assume an opposite relation between banal nationalism and official nationalism. Here, although the research targets the banal routines of everyday practices among ordinary people, it equally acknowledges that those banal routines can be generated or promoted in an official manner.
Globalization: Homogenization or Heterogenization?
We perhaps all have this impression that, due to the rapid development of technology, today’s global cultural system is being established in a homogenous order. Particularly for the last century, the technological explosion, largely in the domains of transportation and information, has facilitated mass communication, the flow of capitals, migration, and all other kinds of transnational activities among nation-states. We witness a transnational landscape being gradually painted through the process of globalization. Nation-states are the main actors in this picture, and their cultural, political, economic systems are influencing each other interactively. It appears that states and nations are harmonically co-existing, and the process of globalization entails fundamentally a process of homogenization.
However, such an impression is inaccurate. Appadurai (1996, p. 29) points out that “if a global cultural system is emerging, it is filled with ironies and resistances, sometimes camouflaged as passivity and a bottomless appetite in the Asian world for things Western.” According to him, underneath the global exchange lies an escalating tension between cultural homogenization and heterogenization. Compared with Billig, who regards globalization mostly as a process of global transmission of American nationalism, Appadurai argues that globalization actually reflects a complex, overlapping, and disjunctive order that can no longer be comprehended in terms of center-periphery models (1996, p. 32). He thus proposes an elementary framework consisting of five types of landscapes (ethnoscapes, mediascapes, technoscapes, financescapes, and ideoscapes) to examine his imagined worlds. Based on this, he discusses the cultural politics that have subverted the hyphen that links the nation to the state and analyzes why nation-states are considered in their terminal crisis.
The crisis of nation-states, or, the future of nationalism, is one of the persistent topics in nationalism studies. Appadurai claims a terminal crisis of nation-states in the context of deterritorialization: “this nation-state system appears poorly equipped to deal with the
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interlinked diasporas of people and images that mark the here and now” and “is not very likely to be the long-term arbiters of the relationships between globality and modernity” (1996, p. 19). We witness an index of disjuncture between nations and states. Hobsbawm (1977) has pointed out that the nationalist movements in the 20th century show a separatist characteristic, aiming to break up large states' unity. Nations attempt to reconstruct their own imagined communities with specific notions of nationhood. Meanwhile, the states seek to monopolize the idea of nationhood and protect themselves from disintegration. The competitions of power between the nations and the states have demonstrated enormous challenges for the territorial sovereignty to maintain its legitimacy. Such a situation escalates, particularly in light of frequent mass migration and transnational commoditization.
Similarly, as suggested by many postmodern theses, the nation-state’s sovereignty is collapsing under pressure both from global and local forces. On the global level, nation-states are compelled to surrender parts of their sovereignty to supranational organizations. Yet an abundance of evidence also indicates that nation-states are equally challenging the organization of supranational bodies. For instance, in the case of the European Union, its existence has been continuously threatened via two ways: a lack of European identity and “a process of fragmentation into micro-nations” (Thiesse, 1999). Additionally, on the internal level, multiple sub-national identities are emerging inside the state’s border. Those smaller nations or minority groups fabricate their own version of national identities, seek for liberty and independence, claim their own territorial homeland and in all manners, contest the homogeneity of the national identity provided by the state. Facing the complex challenges from both supranational organizations and sub-national groups, we notice not only the crisis of nation-states but also the revival of nationalism and localism. The contradictory nature behind those phenomena indicates that contemporary globalization is far more complicated than a presumed homogenization process, just as Tim Edensor (2002, p. 29) points out:
“Globalization and national identity should not be conceived of in binary terms but as two inextricably linked processes … As global cultural flows become more extensive, they [may] facilitate the expansion of national identities and also provide cultural resources which can be domesticated, enfolded within popular and every day national cultures… [Therefore] global processes may diminish a sense of national identity or reinforce it.”
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In recent years, we have witnessed a hot wave of nationalism revivification worldwide. Nationalism undoubtedly remains one of the dominant issues in the contemporary world. To better understand this term, it is vital to review the academic literature, which illustrates a clear image of theoretical developments in this field. This section thus presented how theories of nationalism evolve in recent decades. It started with a classical discussion questioning the nature of the nation and nationalism. Then, concerning how nationalism is sustained in modern times, this section explored banal nationalism as well as official nationalism, as two principal reproduction models of nationalism. Here, I would like again to underline the intricate connection between these two types. I suggest that it would be preferable not to presume an exclusive relation, for that official nationalism can be diffused into the mass by all sorts of banal routines. Also, based on the literature study, the section further introduced an alternative approach to analyze nationalism in this research.
Although this research is significantly influenced by modernist visions, and in particular, the thesis of banal nationalism, my later reflection on those theories has eventually directed my attention to alternative perspectives which are more pertinent to answer the research questions, especially when it comes to investigating the identity construction process of immigrants. The perspective provides three key guidelines concerning this project: a) based on a modernist view, the research reconsiders the value of primordial components in national identification processes; b) it examines banal forms of nationalism in individuals’ everyday cultural practices, and the connection between those banal forms and official nationalism; c) it explores the complex relationship between globalization and nationalism through a case study of the diaspora, as in this research, Chinese immigrants in Quebec City.
Based on this theoretical structure concerning nationalism studies, we will move on to the next topic: identity theories. It is perhaps impossible to speak of nationalism without mentioning the process of identification. The following section will thus examine the theories of identity, particularly those concerning the construction of national identities.
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1.2 Theoretical Framework of Identity
This section explores the theoretical aspects of identity, which are pertinently related to this project. As we question the identity construction of Chinese immigrants in Quebec City, it is essential to narrow down this multifaceted concept of identity through an analytically attainable manner. Thus, this research will assess the concept of identity according to the following steps. First, I will specify the notion of identity in the context of this particular research. The research focuses on national identification processes and confirms the non-static attributions of identities. Second, I will present related discussions on identity markers to understand how individuals claim their identities, which, furthermore, provides insights on the process of national identification. Third, in an effort to deal with identity’s elemental attributions, which appear to be too flexible to grasp, and also regarding the transnational context that this research has engaged into, I will introduce the concept of boundary, which permits us to apprehend better identity mechanisms.
1.2.1 Concept of Identity
Identity might be one of those most ambiguous terms that have been wildly used for either
practical or analytical purposes. As pointed out by a vast number of scholars, in social sciences, it is perhaps futile to conceptualize all things related to “identity” into the idiom of “identity,” for it would create extra restrains by such a “blunt, flat, undifferentiated vocabulary” (Brubaker & Cooper, 2000). In this case, as this term will nevertheless regularly reoccur throughout the whole thesis, I would like to clarify what this term means in this particular research.
To begin with, identity in this research primarily refers to national identity, and more specifically, transnational identity, on account of the transnational context that this project has involved. However, this does not exclude discussions concerning other types of identities, such as ethnic identity, cultural identity, and racial identity. As mentioned earlier in the discussion regarding nationalism, although typological effort has been conducive for conceptualizing theoretical terms, it, in many cases, comes with limitations. It is commonly challenging to ascertain boundaries between different identity categories. For example, Anthony Smith (1986, pp. 149-152) considers that ethnic elements that are vital for national identity formation may blur the
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boundary between ethnic identity and national identity. As he explained, national identity is a “dual attachment” of a sense of affiliation and solidarity with one’s ethnic community and loyalty to the political unit in terms of citizenship rights and obligations. In the case of Chinese identities, a few scholars (for instance, Dikotter, 1992; Duara, 1993; Louie, 2000) demonstrate that the equation of race and nation continually applies to the Chinese people3, whether on the mainland
or abroad; cultural markers are particularly underlined as the basis of Chinese identities beyond national boundaries.
The second aspect of identity is that it is neither a static nor a homogenous concept. Instead, it is, as many scholars (Thiesse, 1999; Satzewich & Liodakis, 2010) have previously claimed, something fluid, constructed, and multiple. However, those “standard qualifiers” were criticized by Brubaker and Cooper (2000) and often considered as “clichéd constructivism.” While acknowledging those fundamental features of identity, I also agree with the reasonable concern that using those qualifiers without deliberation will not advance the theoretical understanding of identity in this project. Moreover, while claiming that identities are usually situational and contextual, we do not deny the existence of categorical identification, which features relatively stable attributes such as race, ethnicity, language, nationality, citizenship, and gender. Just as suggested by Brubaker and Cooper (2000), the distinction between relational and categorical modes of identification needs to be addressed. In that case, researchers can thus proceed with their analysis on a relatively more stable base.
Third, the identity discussed here is close to the meaning of identification4, which underlines the
complex identification processes in identity construction (Hall, 1996; Brubaker & Cooper, 2000). Such processes include internal and external identification. The former refers to how individuals locate themselves vis-à-vis known others in social contexts, while the latter is a process coming from the others (Brubaker & Cooper, 2000, pp. 14-15). From the perspective of identification, we are also allowed to specify the agents of identifying. Unlike other constructivism approaches
3 Particularly for the Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in China. However, it needs to note that China is a multiethnic, multiregional, and multilinguistic country. In this sense, Chinese identity is an extremely complicated concept, and Chinese immigrants are often a group with a high degree of heterogeneity. In this research, we have equally observed the heterogeneous characteristic of Chinese immigrants in participants’ discourses, as they frequently compare different sub-groups among Chinese immigrants.
4 See also, Brubaker and Cooper’s interpretation of identity and the reasons why they suggest the term identification for replacing the idiom of identity (Brubaker & Cooper, 2000, pp. 14-17).
