Previous work on mixed-heritage individuals and language has illustrated that the construction of mixed-heritage identity is complex and multi-faceted (Heller, 1987; Noro, 2009). In the case of mixed-heritage individuals in... [ view full abstract ]
Previous work on mixed-heritage individuals and language has illustrated that the construction of mixed-heritage identity is complex and multi-faceted (Heller, 1987; Noro, 2009). In the case of mixed-heritage individuals in Singapore, the process of identity construction is complicated by government policies that classify individuals into a single racial category for various administrative purposes, ranging from housing to education; most notably, these policies require students to select only one of their two heritage languages to study in school. In this context, the present paper aims to uncover how Chinese-Indian Singaporeans construct their identities in relation to language.
This analysis is informed by semi-structured interviews conducted with fifteen Chinese-Indian Singaporeans currently or recently enrolled in the national education system. Participants were asked about their perceptions of their own identity, their relationships to the Chinese and Indian communities in Singapore, and how they viewed the impact of their heritage language competencies on their identity.
The participants’ responses indicated that four main factors influenced their identity construction: the heritage language they studied in school, their cultural upbringing, their mother’s race, and their mother’s linguistic profile. Although many participants reported that they identified more strongly with one culture than the other, not one participant reported feeling entirely Chinese or Indian, or that they completely belonged to either community. Some participants identified a lack of competency in Mandarin in particular as a barrier to inclusion in the Chinese community. All participants expressed a preference for being identified by both the Chinese and Indian facets of their heritage; some took this notion even further, identifying ‘Chindian’ as a distinctive heritage category and community. This phenomenon suggests that, as inter-marriage between Chinese and Indian Singaporeans increases, ‘Chindian’ is emerging as a novel ethnic identity.
References
Heller, Monica. 1987. The Role of Language in the Formation of Ethnic Identity. Children’s Ethnic Socialization, ed. Jean S. Phinney & Mary Jane Rotheram, 180-200.
Noro, Hiroko. 2009. The role of Japanese as a heritage language in constructing ethnic identity among Hapa Japanese Canadian children. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 30:1. 1-18.
