This study is about why and how Taiwanese immigrants construct their cultural
identity through public festivals within Canadian multicultural society. The study stems
from intrigue with prevailing practices in art education, both those characterizing Chinese
as a homogeneous ethnic group and those viewing Chinese culture as a static tradition.
Analyzing cultural representation organized by the Taiwanese community, I argue that
ethnic cultural festivals are not only a site where immigrants inquire into cultural identity,
but also a creative response to the receiving society's social context.
This study does not ask what Taiwanese culture is, but how it is constructed in
Canada. The Taiwanese studied are immigrants who came with a colonial history and a
particular political experience. Two of their cultural festivals demonstrate how the
selectivity of cultural production reveals the immigrants' view of themselves, and how
they wish to be seen. The Taiwanese Cultural Festival and the Lunar New Year Festival
reflect identity construction achieved through the dynamics of choosing and naming
cultural elements which are important to them. Interview data provided by the festivals'
organizers and participants suggest that cultural identity is a creative response to the
multicultural context. In order to justify their place in the Canadian mosaic, the
Taiwanese emphasize their differences from other Chinese descendants. Difference is a
signifier for Taiwanese to select from a variety of ethnic markers and to interpret their
colonial past. The Taiwanese Cultural Festival asserts Taiwanese particularity, congruent
with a socio-political consciousness of the native land. The traditional Lunar New Year
Festival is a cultural statement that reflects immigrant parents and children reaching out
to other Canadians. Both festivals intend to promote cross-cultural understanding among
the general public and the festivals' end products are a showcase of ethnic
representations. For the immigrants themselves, I find that education happens during the
process of constructing the festivals, thereby interpreting cultural heritage through
inquiring into their past. In a multicultural society, festivals are intensive sites raising
questions about cultural identity and social place.
Canada, largely composed of immigrants, is a place where ethnic groups from
different parts of the world coexist. It is a global village in miniature, where ethnic and
cultural identities are becoming a heated topic. The case of Taiwanese festivals in Canada
demonstrates the selective process establishing cultural traditions and the complexities of
identity formation. Particularity is emphasized in order to become a member of a
multicultural society. The assertion of differences allows post-colonial subjects to find
their past and search for means to live in the present. For North American multicultural
educators, this suggests a range of post-colonial issues and the need for an awareness
amongst educators of the evolving nature of cultural tradition at the nexus of Western
cultural impact and irnmigration experiences.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/11249 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Lin, Patricia Yuen-Wan |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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