The Dance of Identities: Korean Adoptees and Their Journey Toward Empowerment

by Palmer, John D.

• ISBN13: 9780824833718
• ISBN10: 0824833716
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-30
• Publisher: Univ of Hawaii Pr

Summary

The "1.5 generation" (Ilchom ose) refers to Koreans who immigrated to the United States as children. Unlike their first-generation parents and second-generation children born in the United States, 1.5ers have been socialized in both Korean and American cultures and express the cultural values and beliefs of each. In this first extended look at the 1.5 generation in Hawai'i, Mary Yu Danico attempts to fill a void in the research by addressing the social process through which Korean children are transformed from immigrants into 1.5ers. Dozens of informal, in-depth interviews and case studies provide rich data on how family, community, and economic and political factors influence and shape Korean and Korean American identity in Hawai'i.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Dance of Identities	p. 1
Wanting to Be Like White: Dancing with a White Cultural Identity	p. 21
Opening Pandora's Box: Dancing in Between and Nowhere at All	p. 45
Engaging and Reflecting: Dancing with a Racial Identity and Transracial Adoptee Identity	p. 71
Questioning What I Have Done: Dancing with Tensions, Conflicts, and Contradictions	p. 97
Empowering Identities: Dancing with Empowerment and Executing Social Change	p. 133
Linking the Dance of Identities Theory to Life Experiences	p. 165
Notes	p. 175
References	p. 181
Subject Index	p. 191
Index of Korean Transracial Adopted Participants	p. 197
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.