The Root of Excellence: An Interpretive Approach to Understanding Elder Care within Transnational Chinese Families in Canada

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dc.contributor.advisorBailey, Steven C.
dc.contributor.advisorAlan, Blum
dc.creatorHan Zhang
dc.date.accessioned2018-03-01T13:50:30Z
dc.date.available2018-03-01T13:50:30Z
dc.date.copyright2017-06-13
dc.date.issued2018-03-01
dc.date.updated2018-03-01T13:50:30Z
dc.degree.disciplineCommunication & Culture, Joint Program with Ryerson University
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractSituated at the intersection between globalization and demographic aging, this dissertation seeks to add a critical and interdisciplinary voice to the vibrant conversation on the topic of elder care. It weaves the complex conceptual threads of aging, transnational migration, and the ethics of care into a phenomenological inquiry into the lived experiences of the elderly and their adult children in the intimate space of seven transnational Chinese families in Canada. The research conceptualizes old age as a matter out of place in a neoliberal system marked by growth and productivity, and formulates a theoretical framework of sticky ambiguity as a way to reveal the tensions inherent in the discourse on elder care as a social, cultural, and intercultural phenomenon. In order to resist essentialist narratives of Chinese Canadian families, I emphasize the importance of cultural translation as a responsibility and an important means to unsettle meanings and cultural differences. An interpretive and reflexive methodology is used to analyze qualitative data in an attempt to move beyond a surface reading of the texts. In contrast to typical narrative analysis that aims to code, characterize, and thematize qualitative data, this method treats narrative as the subjects attempt to reconcile the divided self as he or she searches for a good way of representing the problem. The analysis makes observable the subjects orientation to values and idealization, and reveals the hidden struggles and conflicts that are often concealed in speech. Through three case studies on the themes of ambivalence, death, and filial piety, I try to understand how the subject orients to each phenomenon as a problem-solving situation in order to produce a dialogue about the meaning and sticky ambiguity of aging and elder care. My analysis shows that the meaning of aging and elder care is far from stable and singular. It is constructed through an evolving process of moral reasoning that is entangled in a continuous struggle with cultural identities, selfhood, gender, class, heritage, intimacy, and morality.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/34284
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectCommunication
dc.subject.keywordsAging
dc.subject.keywordsElder care
dc.subject.keywordsElder abuse
dc.subject.keywordsChinese Canadian
dc.subject.keywordsTransnationalism
dc.subject.keywordsTransnational family
dc.subject.keywordsFamily studies
dc.subject.keywordsFilial piety
dc.subject.keywordsCultural Revolution
dc.subject.keywordsParenting
dc.subject.keywordsParent-child relationship
dc.subject.keywordsEnd of life care
dc.subject.keywordsDeath
dc.subject.keywordsMortality
dc.subject.keywordsAmbivalence
dc.subject.keywordsDiaspora
dc.subject.keywordsPostcolonialism
dc.subject.keywordsNeolibralism
dc.subject.keywordsBiomedicine
dc.subject.keywordsBio-politics
dc.subject.keywordsFoucault
dc.subject.keywordsArendt
dc.subject.keywordsSimmel
dc.subject.keywordsLacan
dc.subject.keywordsSocial psychology
dc.subject.keywordsCultural studies
dc.subject.keywordsCommunication
dc.subject.keywordsCultural identity
dc.subject.keywordsSubjectivity
dc.subject.keywordsGender
dc.subject.keywordsClass
dc.subject.keywordsHeritage
dc.subject.keywordsMorality
dc.subject.keywordsIntimacy
dc.subject.keywordsIdentity
dc.subject.keywordsTranslation
dc.subject.keywordsCultural translation
dc.subject.keywordsHermeneutic
dc.subject.keywordsPhenomenology
dc.subject.keywordsLanguage
dc.subject.keywordsAmbiguity
dc.subject.keywordsMental health
dc.subject.keywordsPublic health
dc.subject.keywordsCare
dc.subject.keywordsCaregiving
dc.subject.keywordsDementia
dc.subject.keywordsGlobalization
dc.subject.keywordsEthics of care
dc.subject.keywordsMigration
dc.subject.keywordsChinese immigrant
dc.subject.keywordsCross-cultural research
dc.subject.keywordsConfucianism
dc.subject.keywordsNeo-Confucianism
dc.subject.keywordsEthnomethodology
dc.subject.keywordsReflexive sociology
dc.subject.keywordsSocial inquiry
dc.subject.keywordsCritical inquiry
dc.subject.keywordsQualitative research
dc.subject.keywordsInterpretive analysis
dc.subject.keywordsNarrative analysis
dc.subject.keywordsStorytelling
dc.titleThe Root of Excellence: An Interpretive Approach to Understanding Elder Care within Transnational Chinese Families in Canada
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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