Mixed Chinese Identity in Britain

leesoph · Joined: 24 Sep 2009 Posts: 3 Location: York University

Hello,

My name is Sophie Lee and I am half Chinese, half English. I am a History student at the University of York and I am currently researching for my History dissertation project.

The project focuses on issues of culture and identity and will examine the experiences of mixed Chinese and Western parentage alongside those of the British Born Chinese in order to investigate the formation of mixed Chinese identities in post-war Britain.

What were attitudes towards people of mixed Chinese parentage in Brtain? Did they have similar experiences to British born Chinese? Does one culture dominate a mixed cultural identity? What were the main foctors influencing the formation of identity? These are just a few of the main questions that I ask in my project.

The Chinese in Britain have been given very little attention compared to other ethnic minorities, and the experiences of mixed Chinese in Britain are largely ignored.

This is something I've always wanted to learn more about and hopefully this project will encourage further discussion on the topic. But I haven't made my life easy by choosing a topic that no one has written about before.

So I'm asking for your help. Whether you are a person of mixed Chinese parentage or a British Born Chinese individual, I would love to hear your views.

If you would like to be involved, please message me or email sophielee8@gmail.com.

It is completely up to you how much you get involved. You could just email me about some of your experiences, or alternatively, I have an quick questionnaire which you could fill out.

Thanks for your time.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Sophie

BBC1 · Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 14

Hello Sophie,

I am a British born Chinese. Both my parents are Chinese. I grew up in the north of England - not too far away from York in fact!

I think you will find that many BBC's who have not grown up within/around a large Chinese community may not really 'know' much of their ethnic identity or where they belong. Many of my friends are non-Chinese. Even though I now live in a big city where there are lots of Chinese people I still do not have that many Chinese friends. I think that might have something to do with general interests - I just do not meet that many Chinese people in my day to day activities to become friends. Even at university the Chinese groupies tended to do things that I had no interest in and so I did not hang out that often with them.

Something that you might want to look at in your project are the different experiences and attitudes towards racism between those who are of mixed parentage and those who are of only Chinese parentage. I think here looks may play a big part in people's experiences. Those who look more Chinese may have experienced more racism as they are growing up. I certainly have had more than my fair share in my childhood. With people of mixed parentage there would be a variation on how 'Chinese' they look. I have met people of Chinese/Caucasian parentage who could easily have passed as of just Caucasian parents. Geographic locations - big/small cities, big/small Chinese community etc - many also have a bearing people's experience's.

Don't know if any of the above is of help to you but good luck with your project. It would be interesting to read the results from your work. Please post a link if you don't mind sharing your work after it has been marked and graded.

leesoph · Joined: 24 Sep 2009 Posts: 3 Location: York University

Thanks sallylily for the support Smile

and BBC1 for the interesting feedback.

Yes from what I have found so far it does seem that physical appearence is an important factor in identity, as participants have commented that they often felt odd that they were discriminated against as Chinese because they looked Chinese, when they felt English and had been brought up completley English. P
ersonally, I look more Western, and it is only when I am in China that people comment on my Chinese eyes, and a couple of times when I was out with my English mum, people assumed I was her translator or guide!

So how far do you think the views of others shape our identity?

In terms of the Chinese in Britain, I am not getting any sense of a Chinese community, and while literature on the subject comments that they were dispersed, 'the silent minority' etc I still did get the impression that there were small enclaves of Chinese support, but I have not found any evidence of this so far...

I'd love to hear your views. I have a 15-20 min questionnaire which I am emploring British Born Chinese and mixed Chinese to fill out. just email me and I can send it on.

Newsfeeds

Latest Posts

	Dimsum Forum Index -> Culture	All times are GMT + 1 Hour
Page 1 of 1