The Maintenance And Change In Ethnic Identity Of Semi-hakka

This dissertation is a research on the ethnic identity of Semi-Hakka village.Previous Hakka study has long been attaching more importance to integrated research, such as Hakka culture and spiritual mode, thus disregarded diversified regional differences of Hakka culture. Although in recent years some scholars have paid attention to the specific Hakka culture located in a certain region and based on a particular period, the sites choosen invariably centered in Meizhou, western Fujian, etc, the Semi-Hakka situated in the special borderland between Hakka and Chaoshan region was relatively neglected. This dissertation chooses a Semi-Hakka village as the research object, concentrating on the sustaining and changing of Semi-Hakka ethnic identity. This research can provide an animated ethnographic case, while at the same time explore the dynamics behind the ethnic identity's establishment and development in the context of local people's daily life.The main text is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the distribution of Chaoshan and Semi-Hakka villages where D village is perched on, describes the interaction between D villagers and Chaoshan ethnic group in terms of marriage, economic activities and school education, with the purpose to set the displaying space of ethnic identity, as well as build the base for exploring the sustaining and changing of ethnic identity. The second part inquires into the sustaining and representing of ethnic identity in terms of clan, dialect and custom identity, with the ethnic group's interaction and boundary flow as a background. The third part analyses increasing rates of D villagers'invisible ethnic identity as well as the generational differences of ethnic consciousness, exploring the dynamics behind these changes. The fourth part is a conclusion. It summarizes the characteristics of Semi-Hakka's ethnic identity, explores the dynamics behind the establishment and development of ethnic identity, in the meantime attempts to preliminarily inquire into the ethnic relations reflected by the ethnic identity.This dissertation makes a conclusion that the sustaining and changing of D villagers'ethnic identity is not only connected with the given sentiment condensed by the collective clan, language and custom, but also is driven by the social conditions. It is these two factors that shape the diversified modern formation of D villagers'ethnic identity. It can be viewed from the case of D villager's ethnic identity that the ethnic relation between Semi-Hakka and Chaoshan ethnic group presents a tendency that the former is steadily assimilated by the latter. In other words, the cultural features of Semi-Hakka are gradually blurred, the space of ethnic identity is gradually depressed, and the ethnic consciousness of Semi-Hakka is weaken by degrees.