Self-perception of the Chinese in Tasmania

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.