Chinese Americans and their immigrant parents : conflict, identity, and values

Author(s)
    • Tung, May Pao-may
Bibliographic Information

Chinese Americans and their immigrant parents : conflict, identity, and values

May Paomay Tung

Haworth Clinical Practice Press, c2000

  • : alk. paper
  • : pbk. : alk. paper

Search this Book/Journal
Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-106) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Based on culture-related themes derived from the author's psychotherapeutic work with young Chinese-American professionals, this important book relates personal problems and conditions to specific sources in Chinese and American cultures and the immigration experience. Unique and practical, this is a nonclinical work that will help Asian Americans connect historical and cultural meanings to their Chinese roots. It will also give educators, mental health professionals, and those working with Chinese populations firsthand insight into the lives and identities of Chinese-American immigrants. Exploring the meaning and arrangement of Chinese family names, the bonds among family members, and the different contexts of "self" to Chinese Americans, this valuable book offers you insight into the dilemma between "self" and "family" that both the younger and older generations must face in American society. In order to help you understand Chinese immigrants or help your clients, Chinese Americans and Their Immigrant Parents provides you with information about several differences found between the two cultures, such as: understanding that words and concepts may not relate to the same emotions or translate exactly between languages realizing that strong family bonds of the Chinese fosters interdependence, unlike Americans who admire self-assertiveness and independence recognizing the fear that Chinese immigrant parents have of losing their strong family ties and seeing their children forsake customs because they do not want to be seen as "different" discovering why risk-taking and adventurous acts are discouraged by many Chinese parents comprehending the great importance to Chinese parents of continuing their family and raising successful children acknowledging the different roles of men and women within several different contexts in American and Chinese societiesWith personal vignettes, humor, and interesting insights, Chinese Americans and Their Immigrant Parents: Conflict, Identity, and Values demonstrates how some Chinese Americans are connecting historical and cultural meanings to their Chinese roots and bridging generational gaps between themselves and their parents to create a truly cross-cultural identity.

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. What Is in a Name? Culture and Personal Boundary What Is in a Chinese Name? Individual Persons in Chinese Context The Great Wall Mentality: Boundary As Reflected in Dwellings Chapter 2. The Environment for Chinese-American Self-Identity The Process of Self-Identification Chinese-American Self-Identity "E. T. Phone Home": Roots of the "Self" Chapter 3. "You Have a Chinese What?!": Internalized Inferiority "Asianness as a Liability" Self-Representation Yes, Even in China Chapter 4. Emotions: Coping Style, Allocation, and Communication Worldviews and Coping Styles Allocation and Communication of Emotions Emotional Awareness for Chinese Americans Chapter 5. Moving Out from the Shadow of the Eclipse: Integration In America In China Chapter 6. Ancestral Ghosts Meet Superman: A New Cycle of Chinese Immigrants References Index

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details
Page Top