Family Matters: Negotiating Intergenerational Mixed Identities among Eurasian Families in Singapore

Abstract

This paper tracks and explores the generational changes in the dynamics of racial identity and identification of Eurasians in Singapore, as reflected in family life. Eurasians are a historic mixed-descent community originating in the mixing of European and Asian cultures in the region since the 16th century. By analysing the embodied enactment and negotiation of mixed identities intergenerationally in the spheres of marriage and language choices, the paper reveals how families express and construct what it means to be Eurasian in the Singaporean context. This study draws on 30 interviews with self-identified Eurasians over two generations, including six paired intra-family interviews, illustrating intergenerational identity shifts. While the boundedness of racial identification appeared to be the norm for earlier generations, a tempering of race as a boundary marker and an openness to changing familial rhythms have served to encourage a lowering of race consciousness among younger Eurasians in Singapore.