Changing Macanese identities in the post-handover era

Abstract

On 20 December 1999, Macau closed the chapter of more than four centuries of Portuguese rule and officially became one of the Special Administrative Regions (S.A.R.) of China. During these centuries, a creole culture emerged along with a community of racially mixed individuals, commonly known as the Macanese (Pina Cabral, 2002). While many of them have opted to disaffiliate themselves from the ‘capital of Portugueseness’ (Pina Cabral, 2002:41), for the purpose of conglomerating with and adapting to the major Chinese population in Macau, others remain severely proud of their Macanese identity. By employing a theoretical framework in mixed race studies (Bhabha, 1994; Ali, 2003; Song, 2003), this thesis will explore the Macanese’s identity, language and culture as a consequence of the impact of post‐handover in Macau. The focus will be on how the Macanese, as a racially mixed community, have managed and negotiated their identity, language and culture in this context. The perspectives of positioning will be amplified, since there is an apparent lack of research in Macau.  
By utilising biographical research in qualitative methodology, this thesis examines the Macanese context due to sinicization from the interviews of three sample groups (Category A, Category B and the Category C). The disparities in ages and experiences are specifically arranged to allow their aspirations and perceptions to be explored and discussed as being mixed in the dominating Chinese society.

Despite the consequence of the handover, my results show that younger Macanese are keen to search for new ways to adapt and to preserve their community and cultures from dissipating. Many have acknowledged the significance to look beyond the traditional norms (as previously adopted by the older Macanese generation) and to acquire a receptive attitude with the major Chinese population in order to endure their sustainability in contemporary Macau.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Margarida Cheung Vieira: orcid.org/0000-0003-3766-5236

ORCID for Pauline Leonard: orcid.org/0000-0002-8112-0631

ORCID for Derek P Mcghee: orcid.org/0000-0002-3226-6300

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