Cultural Curiosity: Thirteen Stories about the Search for Chinese Roots

Cultural Curiosity: Thirteen Stories about the Search for Chinese Roots, edited by Hong Kong University's Josephine M.T. Khu, is a collection of stories written by ethnic Chinese who have encountered China for virtually the first time.

The thirteen accounts included in this book explain why these individuals have made such a trip, their experiences in China, what kind of positive or negative impacts these experiences have had in their lives, and whether these experiences have led them to assess or re-assess their ethnic identity.

The backgrounds of these thirteen individuals vary greatly, and their stories reflect a wide range of experiences in migration. Their families have settled in New Zealand, Denmark, Sri Lanka, England, Indonesia and the United States, just to name a few, for a long or short period of time. Some of them grew up being told that they are Chinese, but many others have lived their lives exactly like those non-Chinese in the West.

Nonetheless, an interesting observation can be made on these individual accounts. No matter how "Chinese" or "non-Chinese" these individuals have perceived themselves, those they meet in China often expect them to be familiar with the Chinese language and culture. This is an expectation often un-fulfilled, particularly in the case of those who are of mixed ethnicity.

We then want to ask the following questions: What are the fundamental elements of "Chineseness", if there is indeed such a thing? What kind of criteria can we safely use as we attempt to judge one person as "Chinese" or "non-Chinese"? Can we say someone is Chinese just because he or she speaks Chinese, eats Chinese food and celebrates Chinese festivals? Or can we consider one as Chinese simply because he or she has Chinese blood?

These are some of the questions asked again and again in Cultural Curiosity: Thirteen Stories about the Search for Chinese Roots. In our increasingly globalized world today, political and cultural boundaries are becoming more ambiguous as we travel and communicate across great geographical distances. Will ethnic boundaries one day become completely irreverent in our attempts to understand each other? Or will we continue to construct all kinds of cultural categories in order to define "them" from "us"?

Readers are welcome to find out their own answers in this book.

Cultural Curiosity: Thirteen Stories about the Search for Chinese Roots is published by the University of California Press in 2001.

Note: When buying Josephine Khu's Cultural Curiosity: Thirteen Stories about the Search for Chinese Roots, please support Taiwan.com.au Portal by using the link provided above.

Copyright: Chrisitne Sun, Taiwan.com.au Portal, 2005. All rights are reserved.