Narratives of Complementarity and Transformation: Chinese Young People Constructing Selves in a Transcultural Context (UK)

Adopting two Chinese Taoist philosophical principles - complementarity and transformation - this thesis aims to explore the process of individuals’ constructions and transformations of selves in a transcultural context, via looking at the second generation Chinese immigrant young people’s narratives regarding their life experiences in the UK.
The principle of complementarity is utilized within a pluralist theoretical framework – social constructionist approaches, object relations theory, and Chinese Taoist philosophy. Empirical data are represented within two narrative case studies.
The principle of transformation is operationalized within the theoretical and methodological framework, the setting of research questions, and in the interpreting the data, all of which have undergone a process of constant change.
Narrative from four participants (Jerry, Sara and their mothers) about their life experiences are collected via free-association interviews as research data. The data are analysed within social constructionist and object relations theories, while the research outcomes arising from data analysis are interpreted within Taoist philosophy.
The originality of this research is that it provides a possible approach to conduct a transcultural research via engaging with pluralist but complementary theories regarding both Western and Chinese cultures.