In the United States, Chinese American students participate in public school string orchestras at a disproportionately high rate. With considerable changes in both mass media and social media landscape throughout their upbringing, as well as the rapid rise of anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic as they were becoming adults, the Chinese American music students in this study possessed unique sets of experiences that affect both their musical and cultural identities. The purpose of this narrative inquiry is to consider the influences of transnational contexts, the processes of Asianization, and Chinese parenting on musical identity and racial identity formation of seven Chinese American former middle school (grades 6 through grade 8) string orchestra students. My stories as an ethnically Chinese immigrant who studied and teach music in the United States are incorporated throughout, to provide perspectives and enrich my understanding of the seven participants’ narratives. I interwove the stories of seven young adult Chinese Americans and my own stories (warp threads) with the social and historical forces at play (weft threads) to create a narrative tapestry. All participants in this study reported being aware of the various Asian stereotypes since elementary school. This awareness had affected their decisions to start or stop playing their string instruments. Being in the string orchestra or playing string instruments and the self-perception of being Asian or Chinese are two factors that often influence one another. The Asianization stereotypes, transnational contexts, and Chinese parenting affected the participants’ sense of identity as Chinese Americans; in turn, the struggle to understand themselves racially affected their musical, social, and emotional lives. / 2024-06-22T00:00:00Z
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/46382 |
| Date | 22 June 2023 |
| Creators | Lung-Grant, Lily Man Lee |
| Contributors | Hendricks, Karin |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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