Suffering, Labor and the Construction of Relationships:An Analysis of Life Narratives of Hakka Women in Northern Taiwan

• Main Authors: Sung, Hua-Min, 宋華敏
• Other Authors: Lee, Chiao-Hung
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/k4494w

碩士 === 國立交通大學 === 客家文化學院客家社會與文化學程 === 101 === Hakka women have long been considered virtuous and obedious owing to the oppression of patriarchal system. The thesis attempts to apply social constructivism and relationship theory to re-examine the image of Hakka women, how they adapt themselves in mainstream discourse and their own understanding of self-identity and self-actualization. Through narrative research with five elder Hakka women living in Hakka community in HsinChu County, the findings are listed below: 1. Hakka women don’t view themselves as a oppressed group. 2. They construct a new self-identity and find great fullfilllment. 3. They construct the fifth labor--filial piety; they transform taking care of husband’s parents into a new element of their own self-identity. 4. They view labor and the norms set by patriarchal system are a stage for self-actualization. 5. They strain to live a better life even in a restricted society, building solider problem-solving system in order to deal with obstacles in life. Keywords: Hakka women, life experience, narrative research, constructivism, vaule of life