‘Forget about returning to our roots; we are global citizens’: Chinese immigrants’ re-construction of culture and identity in Australia

The impact of migration across national borders on migrants’ cultural identity, whether the movement is voluntary or involuntary, has long been studied in various fields that take an interest in human development, intercultural relations and intercultural communication. Literature has shown that in terms of the acculturation process, migrants’ exposure to bi- or multicultural environments may lead to a sense of cultural homelessness when individuals perceive or are subject to conflicting cultural frameworks (Vivero & Jenkins, 1999), or it can bring about a bicultural identity conducive to adaptation success (Berry, 2005). The latter outcome is further expanded on in various forms through some sub-concepts including blended identity, hybrid identity, shifted identity and intercultural identity. However, researchers who depart from the premise of culture as a social and political construction continue to highlight the complexity of cultural identity when culture is seen as a result of co-construction, negotiation, constant interplay and exchange (among others, Dervin & Marchart, 2015; Holliday, 2010; 2015; Zhu, 2015). Along this line, the development of migrants’ identity is inevitably intertwined with the particular contexts in which individuals make choices and experience changes in developing and occupying a multitude of subject position and forms of belonging (Phinney, 2000; BAAL-IC-SIG, 2019). This paper examines the process through which eight first-generation Chinese immigrants in Australia negotiate their experiences and the changes in creating a range of cultural realities within the given contexts of memorable events. Basing on the data collected with in-depth interviews, we seek to interpret what and how aspects of Chinese and Australian cultures are enacted, accepted, or combined to harbour the cultural realities constructed through individual experiences and attempts. This study will contribute to the discussion of migrants’ cultural identity particularly in line with the understanding of cultural identity being complex, unfixed and expansive beyond national borders and predetermined categorization.