Asian Australian Citizenship as a Frame of Enactment in the Parliamentary ‘First Speech'

ISSN： 1469-9540

Source： Journal of Intercultural Studies, Vol.27, Iss.1-2, 2006-02, pp. : 187-211

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Abstract

The parliamentary first speech is a site of discursive privilege that offers each parliamentarian an opportunity to articulate the principles and aspirations that underpin her or his entry into public life. When utilised by parliamentarians of Asian Australian backgrounds, these speeches embody a unique opportunity to comprehend how ethnic identity is performed amidst the numerous, competing interests by which legislators are bound and challenged. The construction and representation of Asian Australian identity in these contexts provide a fascinating opportunity to understand the junctures between ethnicity and Australian citizenship. This essay explores how Asian Australians may be subject to forms of ‘coercive mimeticism' in certain social sites, and also how these hegemonic pressures may simultaneously present ‘frames of enactment' through their performance.