Mixed families: an ethnographic study of Japanese/British families in Edinburgh
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Date
01/07/2015Author
Nakamura, Megumi Esperanza
Metadata
Abstract
Studies on mixed race and/or ethnicity families have tended to focus on the child’s
struggle with identity. Although this topic is very important, in order to better
understand how mixed families function as a whole, and how mixed children are
socialised, my thesis explored the entire family, with a focus on the parents and kin.
Specifically, I looked at the negotiations that take place between the Japanese
mothers’ and British fathers’ differences, and the way in which culture, including
customs, beliefs, and preferences, are then shared and transmitted to the mixed
children. This qualitative, ethnographic study focused on twelve Japanese/British
families in Edinburgh. Because socialisation and the transmission of culture tend to
happen in the midst of doing mixed family, the following areas of the mixed families’
lives were explored: everyday lived culture, language choices, and food habits.
When examining the foods eaten and the languages spoken by the mixed families, it
seems that the mixed families are attempting to transmit both their linguistic and
culinary heritages to their children, with their aspiration being to raise bilingual,
bicultural children. In addition, this study explored the role that extended family
and friends play in the lives of the mixed families as they attempt to form their new
mixed family culture. The data collection was the result of 26 months of fieldwork
consisting of participant observation at three local Japanese mother/toddler
playgroups, interviews with both parents and extended family members, and home
observations. Some major findings from the study were that, while mothers still
tend to carry a heavier burden when it comes to everyday parenting, particularly in
the domestic sphere, the fathers were also found to be involved in many aspects of
everyday parenting. Additionally, both maternal and paternal kin were also found
to offer the mixed families various types of support, with the most frequently
mentioned types of support being practical and emotional. Further, mixed families
were found to complicate this idea of ‘national culture’ because nationality is not
tied to a culture. In this way, the transmission of culture becomes more fluid,
allowing the British man to transmit “Japanese” customs and the Japanese woman
to share her “British” interests with her children. Finally, while focusing on the
intergenerational transmission of culture from parent to child, we find that children
do indeed have agency in the transmission of culture, as they are the ones who
ultimately decide whether their cultural heritage is a gift or a burden. The study thus
offers a nuanced picture of mixed family lives in contemporary UK.