Exploring tensions between different levels of identity construction in the narratives of expatriates living and working in Hong Kong

Abstract

In this paper we explore narratives as a site for constructing identities in a multicultural professional context. Our specific focus is the tensions that may arise between different levels of identity construction. In particular, we take as a starting point the assumption that identities are not created in isolation but are always to some extent influenced and shaped by other identities (such as collective identities), and we explore some of the discursive processes through which professional identities are created in the specific tension between the individual and the collective level (Van de Mieroop & Clifton 2012: 1). A lot of research has been done on narratives as sites of identity construction, since “the purpose of narrating is precisely the creation of an autonomous, unique self in discourse” (Johnstone 1996: 56). As Bruner (1991) observes, the uniqueness - or even exceptionality - of this self and of the story makes it tellable, but on the other hand, this happens against the backdrop of canonicity, thus shifting on the interplay between the individual and the ‘culture confirming’ social dimensions of narratives. It is especially interesting to study this interplay in institutional contexts, since here the individual and collective identities themselves are also closely intertwined (Jenkins 2008: 35). By constructing their professional identities , employees not only create their individual identities but at the same time they also portray themselves as a member of their workplace, thus relating themselves to other members and the wider organisation. Drawing on data from a corpus of interviews with professionals in multicultural workplaces in Hong Kong, we provide an in-depth analysis of the ways in which two expatriate senior employees at a large international consulting corporation construct their professional identities in the narratives in their interviews in interaction with the interviewers. Although both interviewees are relatively similar in their seniority , the stances they take towards the company differ substantially and they portray themselves and their workplace very differently. However, in both cases the identity construction takes place in the tension between the interviewees’ individual and various collective identities. More specifically, the interviewees portray themselves as professionals not only by drawing on and putting themselves in relation to their institutional identities (e.g. being a member of the company) but also by evoking certain cultural identities which interact with dominant discourses on being Western expatriates in an Asian country. On this basis, we demonstrate the intricate ways in which the individual and the social feed off each other, both within the interviewees’ narratives and in the way they construct their identities. Bruner, J.S. (1991) Self-making and world-making. Journal of Aesthetic Education 25: 67-78. Jenkins, R. (2008) Social Identity. 3 rd edition. London: Routledge. Johnstone, B. (1996) The linguistic individual. Oxford University Press: New York/Oxford. Van De Mieroop, D., and J. Clifto. ( 2012) The interplay between professional identities and age, gender and ethnicity: Introduction. Pragmatics 22: 193-201.