Paper long abstract:

This study explores the identity reconstruction experiences of the Uyghur immigrants in Canada through the intersection of multiple theoretical lenses, namely identity politics, post-colonialism, critical race theory and "Lost in Translation" (Hoffman, 1989). Methodologically, Critical Narrative Analysis (Souto-manning, 2014)- an organic combination of Critical Discourse Analysis and Narrative Analysis, is used to investigate the discursive formation of Uyghur identity within various Canadian contexts. More specifically, the narratives of 12 participants (six from Quebec, three from British Colombia, two from Ontario, one from Alberta) are studied through thematic analysis, as well as constant comparison method. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted between October 2016-October 2017.

Generally speaking, the findings of this comparative study show both similar and different perspectives and experiences of the Uyghur immigrants living in Quebec and English Canada. In terms of their educational experiences and perspectives, they expressed very common voices over the positive as well as negative influences of the Canadian education system on the Uyghur identity and cultural values. They all began to more deeply value and appreciate their own Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005), while starting to question the Eurocentric cultural capital produced and reproduced in the Canadian education system which they once highly admired. When they all showed dramatically increased consciousness of being Uyghur and Muslim in all Canadian contexts, they felt a significantly deeper sense of being excluded and discriminated in Quebec than in the English provinces. Moreover, there is a possibility that most of them may have internalized or developed an us/Muslim immigrants vs. them/local, white Canadians dichotomy, reflecting the long-existing discourse of Orientalism. But the extent of such a gap may again vary in different provinces, with Quebec exposing a wider and deeper division. At the same time, in English Canada, such a dichotomy seems to be largely cultural rather than political, while in Quebec it appears to be equally political and cultural. In other words, while they unanimously expressed their resistance to the dominant cultures in Canada through highlighting the values and importance of their own cultural wealth, in English provinces their resistance appears to have been unfolding more in the form of "oppositional culture" (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; Mitchell & Feagin, 1995), which could be quite apolitical (Mansbridge, 2001), yet in Quebec, it may have been manifesting itself at the level of what Mansbridge (2001) calls "oppositional consciousness", which can be significantly political (p. 5).