Transnational Migration, Diaspora and Religion: Inscribing Identity through the Sacred (the Filipino Diaspora in New Zealand and Singapore)

摘要

The thesis is an anthropological exploration of the role of religion in Filipinotransnational migration and diaspora. The thesis takes the interpretiveapproach, drawing from a variety of disciplines such as religious studies,sociology, and geography to frame a holistic view of religion as a “lived”experience that connects religious dispositions, symbols and ritualperformance to the diaspora’s place-making and home-making. It weavestogether anthropology’s conceptual strands of space, place, symbols and ritualto present a view of Filipino migrant sociality and personhood not asconstituted by disparate fragmented experiences but as as a tapestry of wovensymbols and meanings that shape their diasporic life, even as they themselvescontinuously shape their own experiences.The thesis’ ethnography is based on participant observation among Filipinomigrants between 2007 and 2010 in New Zealand and Singapore. It focuses onthe celebration of the Santacruzan and Santo Niño-Sinulog fiesta in NewZealand and Simbang Gabi novena masses in Singapore to examine howFilipino cultural forms of expression connect and mix with notions ofhomeland, family, home, sacred domain and identity as these have beenadapted, recreated, and spatially inscribed in their transnational journeys.6The ethnography examines the interplay and connection between Filipino folkreligiosity, family and social networks. It looks at how the deeply held folkChristian notions of kapalaran (destiny), swerte (luck), bahala na (whateverGod allows will happen /come what may God will take care) and imagery ofmay awa ang Diyos (a compassionate God) are enmeshed in the migrantexercise of agency, reflexive discourse, risk-taking, resilience and meaningmakingin the diaspora. It demonstrates that among Filipino migrants, materialand communication flows are manifestations of religious dispositions thatsupport enduring family commitment and reciprocity. It shows that financialand social capital provided by families and social networks for migrants aresupported by prayers for sacred assistance and blessings, indicating that theFilipino migrants’ exercise of agency is familial and sacral rather thanindividual and secular.As a dominant Philippine lowland tradition, the fiesta is the locus of sacralmateriallinkages constituted by Filipino home symbols, such as sacred icons,costumes, cultural performance, semantic expressions, and food. Byexamining the fiesta, its organisation and structure of power relations, thethesis explores the metaphoric parallels and symbolic articulations betweentwo homes in migrants’ diasporic consciousness, and the significant role ofsacred symbols in aiding and facilitating the maintenance and inscription of‘Filipino’ identity in a foreign land. Diaspora identity is a socially and spatiallyinscribed identity. For Filipinos, it is inscribed through sacred icons and fiestacelebrations in sacred sites.