The Ambiguity of Identity

Ethnicity Maintenance and Change Among the Straits Chinese Community in Malaysia and Singapore

Bibliographic Data

ID19910544
AuthorsJohn Clammer (0000-0003-3222-9582, corresponding author), John R Clammer
Year1979
Publication date1979-12-31
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueAmbiguity of Identity (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1355/9789814377355
OpenAlexW635934979
Open LibraryOL38384212M
ISBN9789814377355
LanguageEN
Citations received11

The Straits Chinese (otherwise known as Babas or Peranakans) represent a unique blend of Chinese and Malay cultural traits and yet are quite distinct from both these two source cultures. Many rose to the positions of political and social prominence under British rule. The nature of this cultural and political accomodation and its dynamics provide an ideal ethnographic base for an exploration of ethnicity in Southeast Asia. This paper examines the nature of their identity and culture, the changes in the nature of the group and internal and external criteria for identification. The thesis is that the emergence of the Baba community is due to a combination of social and political factors, including the nurturing of a group willing to distinguish themselves from other Chinese migrants by learning English and acting as social and political brokers between the government and the population. Their position becomes ambiguous after 1942, with the decline of British influence. The writer's argument is that the outcome of this situation is not to be explained by factors of choice or perception but by structural factors. The paper concludes with an examination of these structural factors (incuding processes of accomodation, assimilation, and resinification) which have their roots in the colonial past of the area in the present management of ethnicity in Malaysia and Singapore

Aesthetics · Ambiguity · Argument (complex analysis) · Development economics · Ethnic group · Ethnography · Identity (music) · Linguistics · Malay · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Social group · Social identity theory · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Asian Studies and History · Gender Studies · Law · Philippine History and Culture · Socioeconomic Development in Asia

Tools

Open DOILibgen