Self-perception of the Chinese in Tasmania
Date
1994
Authors
Mo, Yimei
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Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University
Abstract
Despite worlds of literature on ethnic relations and overseas Chinese
history, little has been systematically written about how the Chinese
outside China see themselves in both the inter- and intra- ethnic
contexts. This thesis seeks to remedy this omission by providing a
combination of empirical research and theoretical analysis with its
setting in Tasmania, an island state off the southern coast of mainland Australia.
Sparsely dispersed amongst the Australians, the Tasmanian Chinese at
present largely originated from five geographical areas: Hong Kong,
Malaysia and Singapore, China, Tasmania and Laos. The thesis first
stresses the heterogeneity in terms of their self-perception in both
inter- and intra- ethnic contexts. Towards an understanding of this, the
study provides an insight into how self-perception is shaped, from an
interdisciplinary approach involving history, sociology, social
psychology and psychological anthropology.
Theoretical study and empirical research indicate two attributes are
essential in the constitution of self-perception: the individual self's
interaction with the other in the inter- and the intra-ethnic contexts;
and all kinds of symbols which enable such interaction to make sense.
The author accordingly proposes that self-perception consists of three
components: the actual self (the person himself), the ideal self (the one
he wants to become), and the denied self (the one he avoids to become);
and that the standard of ideal self is the core of self-perception.
With rich empirical evidence, the study supports the theory of
psychological anthropologists that the self is closely related to the
cultural pattern which an individual belongs to; and that the essential
difference between different cultures lies in the relation between the
self and the other. From this perspective, the shaping of selfperception
of the Chinese in Tasmania is, in essence, the process in which a.n individual re-formulates his relation with the other in
different contexts of ethnic interaction.
This re-formulation of the relation between the self and the other takes
the form of continuity and/ or change of the standard of ideal self. To
those who directly immigrated from China, three sources of stimuli
under which such continuity and change takes place are identified, i.e.,
China, Tasmania and media, and, to those who immigrated indirectly,
one more source of stimuli is added, i.e., the transitional region such as
Hong Kong, Malaysia and Laos.
The study concludes that the heterogeneity of self-perception stems
from the variation of the standard of ideal self throughout the phase of
post-emigration from China. It differs with individuals at the outset of
emigration from China; it undergoes continuity and change after
emigration, under the three or four sources of stimuli. All kinds of
individuals' daily activities, including the relation between the self and
the other, education, race relation, religion and attachment to China,
may contribute to this variation. The study also indicates the
importance of regional backgrounds for providing similar stimuli to
residents within them and the limited power of self-perception in
influencing the individual's cognitive and behavioural activities.
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2033-12-09
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