After the surge of Hakka movement in 1980s, Hakka identity has become a public issue. As the Commission of Hakka Affairs in every level of government was constructed and Hakka colleges were founded in several universities in the following years, the category of Hakka people has been institutionalized. But in the meantime, less and less young generation of Hakka people lost the proficiency of the Hakka dialect, which was widely seen as a crucial element of the Hakka identity. This thesis aims to explore how Hakka young generation built their ethnic identity under the paradoxical situation in which the rise of Hakka identify in the public domain has been interwoven with the loss of Hakka proficiency. The author focused on three Hakka groups, including the association of young Hakka in Meinon, the organizations of I-Min Temple (Temple of the Righteous) in Kaohsiung City, and a Hakka dialect classes held by Kaohsiung Municipal government. The author also interview with young Hakka who has no affiliation with any group. The research result found the following results. First, all of the interviewees unanimously refer patrimonial lineage as the criteria of Hakka membership. Second, different groups have different understandings of the contents of Hakka culture. The members in the association of Hakka younger generation in Meinon tend to connect the Hakka identity with local identity, while the interviewees of the organizations of I-Min Temple emphasize the religious practices. The members of the Hakka dialect classes are more responsive to the official version of Hakka identity. Those interviewees without affiliation do not have clear patter and Hakka identity is even not meaningful for many. The study shows that although the public version of Hakka identity emphasizes the diverse sources of identity, but the patrimonial lineage is perceived as the main criteria of Hakka identity. On the other hand, the official category of Hakka does not imply a unified understanding of Hakka ethnicity. This thesis shows the limitation of ¡§groupism¡¨ assumption of which ethnic categories are naturally identical with social groups and social practices. Students of Hakka studies should pay more attention to the complicated relationships between ethnic categories and practices.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0211111-151623 |
| Date | 11 February 2011 |
| Creators | Chung, Hsaio-Ching |
| Contributors | none, Li-Hsuan Cheng, none |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | Cholon |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0211111-151623 |
| Rights | unrestricted, Copyright information available at source archive |
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