LOADED WORDS: RACE, ETHNICITY, CULTURE & LANGUAGE IN …

LOADED WORDS: RACE, ETHNICITY, CULTURE & LANGUAGE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF

CHINESE-CANADIAN IDENTITY

by

Kenneth Huynh

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Graduate Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto

? Copyright by Kenneth Huynh 2009

LOADED WORDS: RACE, ETHNICITY, CULTURE & LANGUAGE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF

CHINESE-CANADIAN IDENTITY Master of Arts 2009 Kenneth Huynh

Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education University of Toronto

Abstract This thesis presents an ethnographic study based in the city of Toronto on how ethnic Chinese negotiate their ambivalence towards the category "Chinese-Canadian", particularly in relation to discourses about race, ethnicity and language. It is the finding of this study that second generation, economically privileged ethnic Chinese women are likely to feel most comfortable with the aforementioned category, in relation to their counterparts. This is because they are most likely to be able to speak Chinese and English, as well as seek out a vocabulary that allows them to make sense of their experience. They are also likely to be most comfortable because, as Chinese is a feminized category, they more easily fit into the mold of what a Chinese person is "supposed" to be like. Ethnic Chinese men, however, are less comfortable with the category and assert their masculinity by engaging in humour driven in racial and ethnic stereotypes.

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Acknowledgements The most frustrating thing to me about writing is that there really are times when you, try as you might, you cannot find the words. This is one of those times. Despite my constant and never-ending scribbles throughout the past two years, I really can't seem to conjure up the right words to thank the many people who made this study possible. But I will try. Monica, I thank you first, for your patience and your guidance. This thesis simply wouldn't have happened without your criticism and direction. I thank you for going beyond the call of duty, and also taking the time to teach me the importance of categories and boundaries. Rinaldo, thank you reminding me to relax and have fun with what I'm doing. To my friends, who offered me constant comfort, counsel and (most of all) forgiveness for disappearing weeks, if not months at a time (and never-ending existential crises) ? thank you. Thank you, Yuko. To my parents, thank you. For much more than this thesis ? perpetual and infinite gratitude. Thank you. Finally, I am indebted and grateful for all the people who participated in this study. I thank them for sharing their stories and letting me into their lives. I can only hope that thesis resonates with some of their experiences, and at the very least, provides them with interesting fodder for future conversations.

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE: "I DON'T UNDERSTAND" ? CHINESE LOOKING ALIKE, LOOKING THE PART AND SOUNDING DIFFERENT ........................................1

Introducing the Topic at Hand: Deconstructing and Speaking Chinese (Canadian) ............................ 3 Working with Words: Imagining and Speaking Chinese-Canadian ..................................................... 7 Setting the Stage: Some Discursive Meanings of "Chinese" in Canada ............................................... 9 About the Subject(s) and Site: Why "Young Adult" and Why Toronto ............................................. 12 Misnomers and New Conversations: What This Study Is and What it Hopes to Be........................... 17

CHAPTER TWO: ON AMBIVALENCE AND CHINESE-CANADIANS ..............23

More than Chinese (Canadian): The Limitations of the Category ...................................................... 25 Girls, Geeks and "Go Home!": Stereotypes and Racism..................................................................... 28 Demonstratively Deficient: Lacking Language and Feeling Less Chinese .......................................... 33 Deficiency and Difference: Chinese-Canadians and the other Chinese............................................... 38 I Am: (Chinese) Canadian.................................................................................................................... 40

CHAPTER THREE: SYMBOLIC CONSUMPTION, COMMUNITY, COMPLAINT AND (THE OPPOSITE) OF CRYING .................................................................45

Eat Like Me: Chineseness through Consumption................................................................................ 46 I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends: Mobilizing Difference ............................................... 51 Speaking (About) Types of Chinese: Commentary, Criticism and Complaint ................................... 54 Jesters of the Yellow Emperor: About Laughter and Mockery........................................................... 57

CHAPTER FOUR: WHO SPEAKS, WHO LAUGHS AND WHO JOKES ..........62

Learning How to Speak: On Assets, Deficits and Education ............................................................... 63 Made in (Middle-Class, Chinese) Canada: On Generation and Class................................................. 66 Who's Playing to the Crowd? Women and Men.................................................................................. 69 Who are We Listening To? On Comfort and Discomfort, On Dismissal and Stories ......................... 72

CHAPTER FIVE: NEW TAKE, OLD TALK (NO ILLUSIONS OF GRANDEUR) ? THIS STUDY AND "ON NOT SPEAKING CHINESE".......................................80

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Criticism of Exogenous and Endogenous Factors: They Don't Know How to Speak Chinese (Canadian), and Neither Do We ........................................................................................................... 84 Last Words: On this Text and The Politics of Fuzzy Identities ........................................................... 89 Epilogue: Navigating Their Cities ........................................................................................................ 93

REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................100 CONSENT PROCESS APPENDIXES..............................................................106

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