The thesis is an anthropological exploration of the role of religion in Filipino
transnational migration and diaspora. The thesis takes the interpretive
approach, drawing from a variety of disciplines such as religious studies,
sociology, and geography to frame a holistic view of religion as a “lived”
experience that connects religious dispositions, symbols and ritual
performance to the diaspora’s place-making and home-making. It weaves
together anthropology’s conceptual strands of space, place, symbols and ritual
to present a view of Filipino migrant sociality and personhood not as
constituted by disparate fragmented experiences but as as a tapestry of woven
symbols and meanings that shape their diasporic life, even as they themselves
continuously shape their own experiences.
The thesis’ ethnography is based on participant observation among Filipino
migrants between 2007 and 2010 in New Zealand and Singapore. It focuses on
the celebration of the Santacruzan and Santo Niño-Sinulog fiesta in New
Zealand and Simbang Gabi novena masses in Singapore to examine how
Filipino cultural forms of expression connect and mix with notions of
homeland, family, home, sacred domain and identity as these have been
adapted, recreated, and spatially inscribed in their transnational journeys.
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The ethnography examines the interplay and connection between Filipino folk
religiosity, family and social networks. It looks at how the deeply held folk
Christian notions of kapalaran (destiny), swerte (luck), bahala na (whatever
God allows will happen /come what may God will take care) and imagery of
may awa ang Diyos (a compassionate God) are enmeshed in the migrant
exercise of agency, reflexive discourse, risk-taking, resilience and meaningmaking
in the diaspora. It demonstrates that among Filipino migrants, material
and communication flows are manifestations of religious dispositions that
support enduring family commitment and reciprocity. It shows that financial
and social capital provided by families and social networks for migrants are
supported by prayers for sacred assistance and blessings, indicating that the
Filipino migrants’ exercise of agency is familial and sacral rather than
individual and secular.
As a dominant Philippine lowland tradition, the fiesta is the locus of sacralmaterial
linkages constituted by Filipino home symbols, such as sacred icons,
costumes, cultural performance, semantic expressions, and food. By
examining the fiesta, its organisation and structure of power relations, the
thesis explores the metaphoric parallels and symbolic articulations between
two homes in migrants’ diasporic consciousness, and the significant role of
sacred symbols in aiding and facilitating the maintenance and inscription of
‘Filipino’ identity in a foreign land. Diaspora identity is a socially and spatially
inscribed identity. For Filipinos, it is inscribed through sacred icons and fiesta
celebrations in sacred sites.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:canterbury.ac.nz/oai:ir.canterbury.ac.nz:10092/9241 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Tondo, Josefina Socorro Flores |
| Publisher | University of Canterbury. Social and Political Sciences |
| Source Sets | University of Canterbury |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic thesis or dissertation, Text |
| Rights | Copyright Josefina Socorro Flores Tondo, http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/thesis/etheses_copyright.shtml |
| Relation | NZCU |
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