Performing Belonging: Hybridity and Intergenerational Negotiations among Japanese Brazilians Families in Japan: How do Japanese Brazilian children living in Japan negotiate and perform their cultural identities?
Translated title
Performing Belonging: Hybridity and Intergenerational Negotiations among Japanese Brazilian Families in Japan
Author
Taniguchi, Rinta
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-10-14
Pages
65
Abstract
This thesis examines how Japanese Brazilian children living in Japan make sense of and show (perform) who they are in a society shaped by strong ideals of homogeneity. It considers both those born and raised in Japan and those who moved from Brazil as children, to see how feelings of belonging are shaped by different migration histories and across generations. Earlier research has mostly focused on adult migrants or on whether people fit into institutions (structural assimilation), but has said less about how young people actively negotiate identity at school, with peers, and in families. The study uses a grounded theory approach, which builds concepts from the data, based on semi-structured interviews (guided conversations) with three Japanese Brazilian families. The analysis draws on ideas of the third space (in-between cultural spaces), performativity (identity expressed through repeated actions), and the generational contract (implicit expectations of obligation and care between generations). Findings show that participants manage belonging through everyday acts such as silence, mastery of language, and selectively showing Brazilianness that both align with and challenge dominant expectations of Japaneseness (how one is expected to act to be seen as Japanese). Within families, relationships across generations appear as moral spaces where duty, care, and identity are continually renegotiated. By centering these relationships and emotions, the thesis reframes hybridity (mixed cultural identities) as an ongoing moral and performative practice of belonging, offering new insights to migration and diaspora studies.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan japansk-brasilianske børn, der bor i Japan, forstår og viser (iscenesætter) hvem de er i et samfund præget af stærke idealer om homogenitet. Den omfatter både dem, der er født og opvokset i Japan, og dem, der flyttede fra Brasilien som børn, for at se, hvordan tilhørsfølelse formes af forskellige migrationshistorier og på tværs af generationer. Tidligere studier har mest fokuseret på voksne migranter eller på, om folk passer ind i institutioner (strukturel assimilation), men har sagt mindre om, hvordan unge aktivt forhandler identitet i skolen, med venner og i familien. Studiet bruger en grounded theory-tilgang, hvor begreber udvikles ud fra data, baseret på semistrukturerede interviews (styrede samtaler) med tre japansk-brasilianske familier. Analysen trækker på idéer om det tredje rum (mellemrum mellem kulturer), performativitet (identitet udtrykkes gennem gentagne handlinger) og den generationelle kontrakt (uformelle forventninger om pligt og omsorg mellem generationer). Fundene viser, at deltagerne håndterer tilhør gennem hverdagslige handlinger som tavshed, sprogbeherskelse og selektivt at vise brasilianitet, der både tilpasser sig og udfordrer dominerende forventninger om japanitet (hvordan man forventes at være for at blive opfattet som japansk). I familier fremstår relationer på tværs af generationer som moralske rum, hvor pligt, omsorg og identitet løbende genforhandles. Ved at sætte disse relationer og følelsesmæssige processer i centrum gentænker afhandlingen hybriditet (blandede kulturelle identiteter) som en løbende moralsk og performativ praksis for at høre til og bidrager med nye indsigter til migrations- og diasporaforskningen.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]