Transnational Aspects of Identity: The Vietnamese of the 1.5 and Second Generations in Prague
| Název práce v češtině: | Transnacionální aspekty identity: Vietnamci 1,5 a druhé generace v Praze |
|---|---|
| Název v anglickém jazyce: | Transnational Aspects of Identity: The Vietnamese of the 1.5 and Second Generations in Prague |
| Klíčová slova: | Identita, druhá generace, 1,5 generace, transnacionalismus, Vietnamci v České republice, životní běh |
| Klíčová slova anglicky: | Identity, second generation, 1.5 generation, transnationalism, Vietnamese in the Czech Republic, life course |
| Akademický rok vypsání: | 2020/2021 |
| Typ práce: | diplomová práce |
| Jazyk práce: | angličtina |
| Ústav: | Katedra sociologie (23-KS) |
| Vedoucí / školitel: | doc. PhDr. Zdeněk Uherek, CSc. |
| Řešitel: | skrytý - zadáno vedoucím/školitelem |
| Datum přihlášení: | 07.07.2021 |
| Datum zadání: | 07.07.2021 |
| Datum a čas obhajoby: | 24.06.2024 16:00 |
| Místo konání obhajoby: | Areál Jinonice, B228, 228, seminární místnost ISS |
| Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: | 29.04.2024 |
| Datum proběhlé obhajoby: | 24.06.2024 |
| Oponenti: | RNDr. Tereza Freidingerová, Ph.D. |
| Zásady pro vypracování |
| Based on empirical research supported by existing knowledge derived from the literature, the features and social integration of the Vietnamese young generation in Prague will be described and interpreted. One of the basic issues will be enculturation and integration processes. What society are they integrating into? To the Vietnamese community? Are there overlaps of integration into Czech society or rather into a transnational society, which is strongly represented in Prague? Particular attention will be devoted to how a new the 1,5 and second generation of young Vietnamese contributes to people’s cultural repertoires, and the values of the country of origin that they bring along. This thesis mainly employs qualitative research methods, namely semi-structured interviews and participant observation. For the interpretation will be taken into account not only contemporary research results of predominantly Czech academia that study Vietnamese in Prague for several years, but also comparative literature from other European Cities and from Vietnam. |
| Seznam odborné literatury |
| 1. Attias-Donfut, C. & Cook, J. (2017) Intergenerational relationships in migrant families. Theoretical and methodological issues. DOI:10.1007/978-94-024-1141-6_6
2. Brouček, S. (2017). The Visible and Invisible Vietnamese in the Czech Republic. Prague: Institute of Ethnology, Academy of Science. 3. Brouček, S. (2005): Integrační tendence Vietnamského etnika v Českém lokálním prostředí. Český lid. Vol. 92, No. 2 (2005), pp. 129-154 4. Cohen, R. (2001). Global Diasporas. London: Routledge. 5. Choi, Y.; He, M.; Harachi, TW (2008) Intergenerational cultural dissonance, parent-child conflict and bonding, and youth problem behaviors among Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrant families. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-007-9217-z 6. CZSO (Czech Statistical Office) (2017) ‘Births of foreigners in the CR by citizenship in the years 1995–2016’, available at http://tinyurl.com/yxtfqrwg 7. Drbohlav, D. (2001). The Czech Republic. In C. Wallace & S. Dariusz (Eds.), Patterns of Migration in Central Europe (pp. 203–226). New York: Palgrave. 8. Foner, N. (1997) ‘The Immigrant Family: Cultural Legacies and Cultural Changes’, International Migration Review, 31 (4), 961–74, DOI: 10.2307/2547420 9. Foner, N & Dreby, J (2011) Relations between the generations in immigrant families. Annual Review of Sociology 37(1): 545–564. 10. Janská, E. (2007): Adaptace/integrace imigrantů do majoritní společnosti: druhá generace cizinců a jejich rodičů v Česku. Geografie, 112, č. 2, s. 142–160. 11. Hofírek, O. & Nekorjak, M. (2009). “Vietnamští imigranti v českých velkoměstech – integrace přistěhovalců z Vietnamu.” Pp. 160–197 in Sociální integrace přistěhovalců v České republice. 1. vyd. Praha: SLON, 2009. s. 160-197, 37 s. Studie svazek 60. ISBN 978-80-7419-023-0 12. Hřebíčková, M. (2020). The Cultural Orientation of Vietnamese Czechs: A Generational Comparison. Czech Sociological Review 56(2):197-227. DOI: 10.13060/csr.2020.007 13. Kibria, N. (2002). Family Tightrope: The Changing Lives of Vietnamese Americans. Princeton: Princeton University Press 14. Martínková, Š. (2008): Sociabilita vietnamského etnika v Praze. In: Uherek, Z., Korecká, Z., Pojarová, T. a kol.: Cizinecké komunity z antropologické perspektivy: vybrané případy významných imigračních skupin v České republice. Etnologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Praha, s. 167–210. 15. Moskal, M. (2015). ‘When I think home I think family here and there”: translocal and social ideas of home in narratives of migrant children and young people’, Geoforum, 58, 143–52, doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.11.011 16. Phinney, J. S., Ong, A. & Madden, T. (2010) Cultural values and intergenerational value discrepancies in immigrant and non-immigrant families. 17. Rosenthal, D., Ranieri, N., & Klimidis, S. (1996). Vietnamese adolescents in Australia: Relationships between perceptions of self and parental values, intergenerational conflict, and gender dissatisfaction. International Journal of Psychology, 31(2), 81–91. DOI: 10.1080/002075996401106 18. Schwenkel, C. (2017). Vietnamese in Central Europe. Journal of Vietnamese Studies Simons, S. E. (1901). Assimilation Laws. Social Assimilation: Americal Journal of Sociology 1901 – 1902 19. Souralová, A. (2020). Grandparents, kinship ties, and belonging after migration: the perspective of second-generation grandchildren Global networks. Hoboken: Wiley, 2020, roč. 20, č. 2, s. 362-379. ISSN 1470-2266. doi:10.1111/glob.12240 20. Svobodová, A & Janska, E. (2016). Identity Development Among Youth of Vietnamese Descent in the Czech Republic. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-44610-3_7 21. Szyszlak, E. (2016). Vietnamese in the Czech Republic. Between isolation and integration [Wietnamczycy w Republice Czeskiej. Między izolacją a integracją]. Eastern Studies [Wschodnioznawstwo], p. 163-184 22. Tedeschi, M., Vorobeva, E. & Jauhiainen, J.S. Transnationalism: current debates and new perspectives. GeoJournal (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10271-8 23. Uherek, Z. (2003): Cizinecké komunity a městský prostor v České republice. Sociologický časopis, 37, č. 2, s. 193-216. 24. Vertovec, S. (2009). Transnationalism. London: Routledge |
| Předběžná náplň práce |
| INTRODUCTION
The Vietnamese is the third largest immigrant community in the Czech Republic. Despite its initial isolation from the autochthonous society, there has been a change in recent years as the result of the integration of younger generations, i.e. the 1.5 and second generations. In this sense, the 1.5 generation is defined as individuals immigrating to the Czech land before and during their early teens; and the second generation as those born in the Czech Republic. The young Vietnamese in the Czech land are in a transition period. Opposed to the first generation, these young generations are exposed more to local life, such as attending public schools or language centers. Thus, they blend much better into the Czech society and promisingly imply a better integrating Vietnamese community in the future. However, due to the clash of Vietnamese and Czech values, they seem to experience identity problems and are exposed to great cultural conflict (Hřebíčková, 2020; Svobodová & Janska, 2016). In other words, they confront the dilemma between traditional values, e.g. roles of family, inspired by their parents and the new behaviours, values, and life styles that are practiced among the majority of inhabitants in the Czech society. Additionally, in Prague, there are many social patterns possible to follow or to blend with traditional Vietnamese norms and customs, as well as ways to develop specific transnational patterns of communication. The aim of this study is to (i) discover the features and social integration of the Vietnamese young generation in Prague and (ii) understand how they identify themselves in the transnational community. The main part of this paper will be developed as follows: First and foremost, an overview of the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic will be provided. In this section, the thesis will present briefly the Vietnamese diaspora in Europe and the Czech land; the Vietnamese as a Czech national minority; geographic and social background and traits of the Vietnamese migrants to the Czech Republic. Followed will be the empirical part. Firstly, a research on the Vietnamese young generation’s features and an evaluation of their social integration process will be conducted. This assessment will cover the aspects of language, religion, media habits, involvement in social activities, adaptation to local system. Subsequently, an exploration for their identity formation will be carried out by analysing generational solidarity and conflicts between the first and younger generations; the later generation’s attempts to bridge two cultures despite struggles with cultural differences, language barriers, social isolation; how they position themselves in Prague, Czechia or international society and orient their lives and careers. LITERATURE REVIEW As for theoretical framework, the project will discuss how integration and identity are captured in the theories and concepts of transnationalism, diasporas and assimilation. Though there are some argument that transnationalism is ‘from above’, most scholars have agreed that transnationalism is ‘from below’, involving individuals, local and grassroots activity (Tedechi et al., 2020). According to Vertovec (2009), transnationalism concerns ‘the sustained linkages and ongoing exchanges among non-state actors based across national borders’, which affect people’s sense of attachment and belonging. With regard to the concept of diasporas, Cohen (2001) demonstrates that in a global age, ‘diasporas are in a continuous state of formation and reformation’. He argues that diasporic people refer to their country of origin as descent- the law of blood, with fondness and longing; and the host countries as destinations of opportunities, and together with globalisation, migrants become adaptive, ‘deterritorialized, multilingual and capable of bridging the gap between global and local tendencies’. Similarly, assimilation theories are also often addressed when it comes to the discussion of integration of immigrant groups. According to Simons (1901), the prolonged contact between the members of two races engendered assimilation unconsciously. All of the theories and concepts mentioned above serves as a firm basis for this project to be developed on. Undoubtedly, the young generation of migration groups are of high interest among scholars (Attias-Donfut et al., 2017; Choi et al, 2008; Foner, 2011; Moskal, 2015; Svobodová & Janská, 2016; Rosenthal, 1996; Souralová, 2020). However, research on the integration of the Vietnam youth in Czechia is mainly limited to educational aspect; also, not much has been done on their identity formation. Of the published work, it is commonly concluded that the younger generation are better integrated compared to the older one (Brouček, 2005; Svobodová & Janska, 2016; Hřebíčková, 2020). In terms of identity, conclusions slightly diverse. However, two most observed outcomes are either the VNM considered themselves as banana children, i.e. those that think, behave, consider themselves as Czech; or somewhere in between, i.e. considering themselves Czech when it comes to education, lifestyle, but being proud of Vietnamese history or traditional values (Hřebíčková, 2020; Svobodová & Janska, 2016). METHODOLOGY The research will be conducted with both quantitative and qualitative methods. In the introductory part, this paper will study literature and do statistical analysis of available secondary data sets from public institutions, namely the Czech Statistical Office, the Labor Office of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Concerning the empirical part, ethnographic methods will be used, namely semi-structured interview and participant observation. By this means, research participants are able to discuss their personal experiences and insights. The interview includes a wide range of questions of self-assessment, aspirations, life and career trajectories and strategies. 30 interviews are expected to carry out. Interviewees are (i) 1.5G individuals and (ii) second-generation individuals; and possibly, first-generation parents (to better visualise the conflicts between the generations). Respondents must have permanent residence or Czech citizenship, be of 15 years of age and above, of Vietnamese origin or identify Vietnamese as one of their identities. The call/selection for interviews can be done personally or assisted by Vietnamese and Czech organisations and educational institutions in Prague. The names of the interviewees will be changed in order to secure their identities. |
| Předběžná náplň práce v anglickém jazyce |
| INTRODUCTION
The Vietnamese is the third largest immigrant community in the Czech Republic. Despite its initial isolation from the autochthonous society, there has been a change in recent years as the result of the integration of younger generations, i.e. the 1.5 and second generations. In this sense, the 1.5 generation is defined as individuals immigrating to the Czech land before and during their early teens; and the second generation as those born in the Czech Republic. The young Vietnamese in the Czech land are in a transition period. Opposed to the first generation, these young generations are exposed more to local life, such as attending public schools or language centers. Thus, they blend much better into the Czech society and promisingly imply a better integrating Vietnamese community in the future. However, due to the clash of Vietnamese and Czech values, they seem to experience identity problems and are exposed to great cultural conflict (Hřebíčková, 2020; Svobodová & Janska, 2016). In other words, they confront the dilemma between traditional values, e.g. roles of family, inspired by their parents and the new behaviours, values, and life styles that are practiced among the majority of inhabitants in the Czech society. Additionally, in Prague, there are many social patterns possible to follow or to blend with traditional Vietnamese norms and customs, as well as ways to develop specific transnational patterns of communication. The aim of this study is to (i) discover the features and social integration of the Vietnamese young generation in Prague and (ii) understand how they identify themselves in the transnational community. The main part of this paper will be developed as follows: First and foremost, an overview of the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic will be provided. In this section, the thesis will present briefly the Vietnamese diaspora in Europe and the Czech land; the Vietnamese as a Czech national minority; geographic and social background and traits of the Vietnamese migrants to the Czech Republic. Followed will be the empirical part. Firstly, a research on the Vietnamese young generation’s features and an evaluation of their social integration process will be conducted. This assessment will cover the aspects of language, religion, media habits, involvement in social activities, adaptation to local system. Subsequently, an exploration for their identity formation will be carried out by analysing generational solidarity and conflicts between the first and younger generations; the later generation’s attempts to bridge two cultures despite struggles with cultural differences, language barriers, social isolation; how they position themselves in Prague, Czechia or international society and orient their lives and careers. LITERATURE REVIEW As for theoretical framework, the project will discuss how integration and identity are captured in the theories and concepts of transnationalism, diasporas and assimilation. Though there are some argument that transnationalism is ‘from above’, most scholars have agreed that transnationalism is ‘from below’, involving individuals, local and grassroots activity (Tedechi et al., 2020). According to Vertovec (2009), transnationalism concerns ‘the sustained linkages and ongoing exchanges among non-state actors based across national borders’, which affect people’s sense of attachment and belonging. With regard to the concept of diasporas, Cohen (2001) demonstrates that in a global age, ‘diasporas are in a continuous state of formation and reformation’. He argues that diasporic people refer to their country of origin as descent- the law of blood, with fondness and longing; and the host countries as destinations of opportunities, and together with globalisation, migrants become adaptive, ‘deterritorialized, multilingual and capable of bridging the gap between global and local tendencies’. Similarly, assimilation theories are also often addressed when it comes to the discussion of integration of immigrant groups. According to Simons (1901), the prolonged contact between the members of two races engendered assimilation unconsciously. All of the theories and concepts mentioned above serves as a firm basis for this project to be developed on. Undoubtedly, the young generation of migration groups are of high interest among scholars (Attias-Donfut et al., 2017; Choi et al, 2008; Foner, 2011; Moskal, 2015; Svobodová & Janská, 2016; Rosenthal, 1996; Souralová, 2020). However, research on the integration of the Vietnam youth in Czechia is mainly limited to educational aspect; also, not much has been done on their identity formation. Of the published work, it is commonly concluded that the younger generation are better integrated compared to the older one (Brouček, 2005; Svobodová & Janska, 2016; Hřebíčková, 2020). In terms of identity, conclusions slightly diverse. However, two most observed outcomes are either the VNM considered themselves as banana children, i.e. those that think, behave, consider themselves as Czech; or somewhere in between, i.e. considering themselves Czech when it comes to education, lifestyle, but being proud of Vietnamese history or traditional values (Hřebíčková, 2020; Svobodová & Janska, 2016). METHODOLOGY The research will be conducted with both quantitative and qualitative methods. In the introductory part, this paper will study literature and do statistical analysis of available secondary data sets from public institutions, namely the Czech Statistical Office, the Labor Office of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Concerning the empirical part, ethnographic methods will be used, namely semi-structured interview and participant observation. By this means, research participants are able to discuss their personal experiences and insights. The interview includes a wide range of questions of self-assessment, aspirations, life and career trajectories and strategies. 30 interviews are expected to carry out. Interviewees are (i) 1.5G individuals and (ii) second-generation individuals; and possibly, first-generation parents (to better visualise the conflicts between the generations). Respondents must have permanent residence or Czech citizenship, be of 15 years of age and above, of Vietnamese origin or identify Vietnamese as one of their identities. The call/selection for interviews can be done personally or assisted by Vietnamese and Czech organisations and educational institutions in Prague. The names of the interviewees will be changed in order to secure their identities. |