The Identity Shaped through Name and Family Language : An Autoethnography of the Grown-up Second Generation of Chinese Immigrant

ナマエ　ト　カゾク　ノ　コトバ　ガ　ツムグ　アイデンティティ

ハク, ヒカリ

Haku, Hikari

Bai, XiaoXiao

The Japanese Society for Mother Tongue, Heritage Language, and Bilingual Education

母語

本名

重要な他者

主体的な位置づけ

Since the late 1980s, the number of Chinese newcomers in Japan has increased, and the second generation has now reached adulthood. However, research on identity and language use in adulthood remains limited, and personal names have been scarcely discussed in the field of language education. This paper presents the impact of my name and family language on personal identity. Using autoethnography, I described the process of experiencing my identity crisis and reconstructing my identity, and explored the connections between language, my name, and identity through emotional records and letters to my parents. The results depicted three narratives: loss, linguistic conflict with my mother, and the recovery of the self. The enforced change of my real name upon acquiring Japanese nationality had a profound impact on my self-perception, leading to a deep sense of existential loss. Meanwhile, being called by my real name by my partner in adulthood facilitated a reaffirmation of myself. Furthermore, writing letters to my parents in my mother tongue contributed to the reconsideration of my relationship with my parents and the redefinition of myself. These findings suggest that one’s real name and mother tongue can function as mediation forces in reconstructing relationships with significant others.