The 1990s witnessed a sudden, dramatic increase in the number of adoptions of Chinese children, 95% of whom are girls, by U.S. parents. Currently, more foreign born children are adopted from China than any other country. These adoptions, the resulting gendered migration from China to the United States and the children who remain in Chinese social welfare institutes, serve as the basis for this research.
This dissertation is based on nearly three years of multi-sited ethnographic research. Initially, I conducted fieldwork with parents and staff in adoption agencies and support groups in Pittsburgh. I subsequently accompanied a group of parents on their adoption trip to China. The final phase of research was conducted in China. This phase involved extensive participant observation with volunteer groups, local hospitals, and international aid organizations who are working with Chinese social welfare institutes and providing supplemental funding and medical care to resident children. As a volunteer for these groups, I was able to work in a variety of sites (Beijing, Tianjin, Henan Province, and Guangzhou) in both Northern and Southern China which illustrated important regional differences.
In China, red thread, in the form of wall-hangings and ornaments, has a distinctly auspicious meaning and is quite literally woven throughout the fabric of Chinese daily life and rituals. This imagery has also become central to the U.S. community of families with children from China. However, the complex and shifting meanings associated with this imagery as it migrates from China to the United States through the process of adoption are not readily apparent and key questions arise. How did U.S. adopting parents come to know this story? How do meanings of the thread change with the community? How is this sample of Chinese folklore used to promote and encourage adoption? And how does it reflect ideals of bonds not only between adopting parent and child but also between adoption communities in the U.S. and China? In answering these questions, I explore three key aspects of the transnational adoption process: 1) adoptive families and cultural identity; 2) gender, race and citizenship; and 3) adoption and labor in China.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04262007-122338 |
| Date | 20 June 2007 |
| Creators | Cohen, Frayda |
| Contributors | Harry Sanabria, Wenfang Tang, Joseph Alter, Nicole Constable |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04262007-122338/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0021 seconds