Constructing a Transnational, Multilocal Sense of Belonging: An Analysis of Ming Pao (West Canadian Edition)

Abstract

Globalization has challenged the traditional conceptualization of the sense of belonging between people and places. This article takes up social theorist Ulrich Beck’s notion of place polygamy as a theoretical departure to understand immigrants and their sense of belonging to multiple places. The author analyzes Ming Pao (West Canadian Edition) , a Cantonese newspaper in Vancouver, Canada, to argue that the immigrant press is constructing two locals, one place oriented and one people oriented, on a daily basis. The notions of multiple homelands and multiple attachments provide a new perspective to study how the community can be imaged and narrated across national borders. It also challenges traditional immigrant scholarship that treats the home country and the host society as an either-or dichotomy for winning immigrants’ affection and loyalty.