Heirs of the Bamboo: Identity and Ambivalence among the Eurasian Macanese 9781789208924

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Heirs of the Bamboo

European Anthropology in Translation Published in Association with the Society for the Anthropology of Europe (AAA) General Editor: Nicolette Makovicky, University of Oxford This series introduces English-language versions of significant works on the Anthropology of Europe that were originally published in other languages. These include books produced recently by a new generation of scholars as well as older works that have not previously appeared in English. Volume 8 Heirs of the Bamboo: Identity and Ambivalence among the Eurasian Macanese Marisa C. Gaspar Volume 7 Raccomandazione: Clientelism and Connections in Italy Dorothy Louise Zinn Volume 6 Hunters, Gatherers, and Practitioners of Powerlessness: An Ethnography of the Degraded in Postsocialist Poland Tomasz Rakowski Volume 5 Two Sides of One River: Nationalism and Ethnography in Galicia and Portugal António Medeiros Volume 4 The Colours of Empire: Racialized Representations during Portuguese Colonialism Patrícia Ferraz de Matos Volume 3 Developing Skill, Developing Vision: Practices of Locality at the Foot of the Alps Cristina Grasseni Volume 2 Strangers Either Way: The Lives of Croatian Refugees in Their New Home Jasna Čapo Žmegač Volume 1 Disenchantment with Market Economics: East Germans and Western Capitalism Birgit Müller

Heirs of the Bamboo Identity and Ambivalence among the Eurasian Macanese

Marisa C. Gaspar Translated from Portuguese by Roopanjali Roy

berghahn NEW YORK • OXFORD www.berghahnbooks.com

Published in 2020 by Berghahn Books www.berghahnbooks.com English-language edition © 2020 Berghahn Books This book was originally published in Portugal by Instituto do Oriente. Instituto de Ciências Sociais e Políticas da Universidade de Lisboa under the title No Tempo do Bambu: Identidade e Ambivalência entre Macaenses, © 2015 Intituto do Oriente. Instituto de Ciências Sociais e Políticas da Universidade de Lisboa.

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any informationw storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Names: Gaspar, Marisa C., author. | Roy, Roopanjali, translator. | Chun, Allen John Uck Lun, 1952– writer of foreword. Title: Heirs of the Bamboo : Identity and Ambivalence among the Eurasian Macanese / Marisa C. Gaspar ; Translated from Portuguese by Roopanjali Roy. Other titles: No Tempo Do Bambu. English | Identity and Ambivalence among the Eurasian Macanese Description: New York : Berghahn Books, 2020. | Series: European anthropology in translation; Volume 8 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020017480 (print) | LCCN 2020017481 (ebook) | ISBN 9781789208917 (hardback) | ISBN 9781789208924 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Macanese—Portugal—Ethnic identity. | Macau (China : Special Administrative Region)—Civilization. Classification: LCC DP534.M33 G37 2020 (print) | LCC DP534.M33 (ebook) | DDC 305.8/0595106910469—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020017480 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020017481 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-78920-891-7 hardback ISBN 978-1-78920-892-4 ebook

Contents

List of Illustrations Foreword Allen Chun

vi viii

Acknowledgements

xi

List of Abbreviations

xii

Introduction

1

Chapter 1. The Eurasians of Macao: Celebrating the Macanese Difference

13

Chapter 2. Macanese Mnemonics: Genealogies and Palaces of Virtual Memory

53

Chapter 3. Eating the Past: Expressions of Nostalgia at PCB Events

85

Chapter 4. Our Cultural Heritage: Macanese Cuisine and the Patuá Theatre

117

Chapter 5. (De)Constructing the Macanese Self-Identity: A Strategic Ambivalence

149

Conclusion. Macao (Still) My Land ?

181

References

192

Index

208

Illustrations

Figures Figure 0.1. Panoramic view of the Nam Van lake, Macao 2010.

2

Figure 0.2. Panoramic view of Republic Avenue and the Sai Van lake, Macao 2010.

3

Figure 1.1. Macao Pavilion at the EXPO’98 in Lisbon.

39

Figure 2.1. Anok family in the 1950s.

59

Figure 2.2. Badaraco family in 1967.

61

Figure 2.3. Boyol family in the 1950s.

62

Figure 2.4. Pedro Nolasco Commercial School classmates in 1960.

70

Figure 2.5. Procession of Our Lady of Fátima in the 1950s, Macao.

79

Figure 2.6. Procession of Our Lord the God Jesus in the 1950s, Macao.

80

Figure 3.1. PCB Moon Party 2010, Lisbon.

87

Figure 3.2. ‘Macao Terra Galante’, PCB anthem and ‘Macao Sã Assi’ song lyrics.

88

Figure 3.3. Karaoke with famous songs of the sixties.

89

Figure 3.4. Dancing the twist.

90

Illustrations

vii

Figure 4.1. Macanese Gastronomy and Patuá Theatre applications to intangible cultural heritage of Macao.

128

Figure 4.2. Macanese cooking demonstration, Lisbon.

134

Figure 4.3. Special newspaper report on Macao Week (18–23 July 2011).

138

Figure 5.1. The Leal Senado building in the Senado square, Macao.

159

Figure 5.2. The Holy House of Mercy adjoining the Leal Senado building, Macao.

160

Figure 5.3. Group photograph of the Encontro of Macanese communities, Macao 2010.

165

Map Map 1.1. Map of the Macao Special Administrative Region in 2008.

14

Foreword Allen Chun

In a global context, and even in Portugal’s imprint on the history of imperial trade, Macau has been relegated to somewhat marginal status. When the British colonized Hong Kong in the mid-nineteenth century, Macau was already an anachronistic ghost of a mercantile colonialism that had been eclipsed within the Portuguese empire by other ports. Its decline accelerated along with the remnants of other Dutch and Spanish outposts. One of the overlooked phenomena in this regard was the cumulative effect of that history and cultural interaction on the ongoing population there. Marisa Gaspar’s analysis of the Macanese aims to highlight the hybridity of their social experience and cultural outlook, but I would argue that this cultural interaction reflects to a large extent the uniqueness of its coloniality and assimilation as ongoing process. Methodologically, Gaspar defines the Macanese in literal, ethnic terms, from the ground up and the inside out to society and cultureat-large. The emphasis on the socially tangible and culturally concrete aspects of those experiences prioritizes at the same time the subjective nature of her interpretive inquiry. I highlight this to depict how it differs from the literature on Macau and its hybridity. Jonathan Porter’s Macau: The Imaginary City describes Macau largely as civilizational encounters between East and West, as inscribed in text and sacralized in historical memory. Christina Cheng’s Macau: A Cultural Janus recasts the same cultural ambivalence as an abstraction of ideological conflicts rooted in coloniality, politics, religion and literary imagination in ways that contrast with other Chinese-speaking polities. Cathryn Clayton’s Sovereignty at the Edge: Macau and the Question of Chineseness examines cultural ambiguity and marginality in Macau and their complicated meanings and ramifications for a changing community but in ways that are prompted largely by our current notion of identity, defined paradigmatically by its modernity, assumptions of inherent borders and ethnic

Foreword

ix

content but muddled ultimately by contradictions and overlaps created between national and regional levels. Ambiguities of place reflect in turn on social experience, but starting with subjective narrative sheds a different light on hybridity as process. Is hybridity really ethnic by nature? Unlike the term Hong Konger, which tends to represent its settled residents (of Chinese ethnic origin, if not other Asians as well who have adopted it as a home), Macanese here refers less to the overall local population of Macau than those of Portuguese and Chinese ‘heritage’ who have identified with Macau as a primary abode. It literally includes socalled mestizos but without the various racial ramifications of that association. Nonetheless, Gaspar argues that their culturally hybrid lifestyle or ethos is in effect less a refraction of the hybrid nature of Macau’s society per se than how the Macanese as a people have subjectively negotiated it. In this sense, the fact that the Macanese constitute no more than 5 per cent of the population and cannot justifiably represent Macauat-large thus invokes the more important question of what frame of reference or comparison one should really adopt in this regard. As a hybrid community, one should not really compare it to Hong Kong’s cultural hybridity, which was the product of transnationalism and the colonial government’s efforts to use its free trade port status to bring about a market society to deflect nationalist tensions in a previous era. Racial stratification became a systemic political order in late nineteenthcentury colonialism, more so than in Spanish and Portuguese colonialisms. Thus, from a modern perspective, Macanese hybridity should be seen more as a historical norm than an oddity. In this sense, it should be more comparable to the experiences of the Anglo-Indians and even Peranakan Chinese. The fact that the Macanese have not attracted scrutiny in this respect, then, is testament to the concrete contribution of the current ethnography. It should shine relevant light on a staple paradigm. In matters of ethnographic content, I concur largely with the observations of the author. In its description, it articulates the various nuanced aspects of ‘person, culture and emotion’ reflected in complexities of Macanese identity and identification, past and present, in a way that complements Pina-Cabral’s more encyclopaedic compilation of the same. As interethnic relations, the changing meanings and overlapping affiliations that have been invoked in the course of sociopolitical mobility and as a function of life choices are rich and will continue to incite further discussion. Gaspar argues that Macanese hybridity is less a product of how Portugueseness has imposed itself onto the local than the way place centeredness is core to its overall experience. Seen in this light, nineteenth-century colonialism is a paradigmatic exception.

x

Foreword

All things considered, however, I would still argue that the Macanese experience can be explained from the top down or outside in. We characterize Macau by its weak Portuguese colonial rule only because recent history has already been reshaped by colonialisms that have redefined the norm. Ashis Nandy noted that, during the early colonial rule of India, Britons lived like Indians at home and work; they wore Indian dress, observed Indian customs and married Indian women. Missionary activity was banned, and Indian laws dominated both the courts and schools. Macau’s colonial regime was shaped more by its integrative relationship with China and local Cantonese as well as by its mode of rentier capitalism. This is closer to the Peranakan assimilation of Malay customs and lifestyle. Internally, the duality of Portuguese and Cantonese mainstreams was really a division driven by class aspiration and mobility. In sum, the push and pull of culture and class is the basis of ambiguity, ambivalence and tension that underlies this or any intercultural experience. Subjective narrative and local experience are essential, but one should not neglect the larger processual context that influences the mix. Allen Chun was Research Fellow in the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and is now Chair Professor at the Institute of Social Research and Cultural Studies, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan. He is the author of three major monographs: Unstructuring Chinese Society: The Fictions of Colonial Practice and the Changing Realities of ‘Land’ in the New Territories of Hong Kong (Routledge, 2000), Forget Chineseness: On the Geopolitics of Cultural Identification (SUNY Press, 2017) and On The Geopragmatics of Anthropological Identification (Berghahn, 2019).

Acknowledgements

My feeling is that a cycle is now closed; and what a brilliant way to do it, with an English language edition published by Berghahn Books. It has been a long journey, and throughout I have had the most incredible people that someone could possible have. I was encouraged, educated, supported, challenged and trusted. In the end, I must say that my gratitude to them is as enormous as the wisdom and intellectual generosity that they have all shared with me. Many thanks to my dear Macanese, tutors, colleagues, family and friends; once again, all of you are (in) this book. A special thanks to those who, without any hesitation, believed in this project since the very beginning and gave their best contributions to make it real: Brian Juan O’Neill, João de Pina-Cabral, José Manuel Sobral, Carlos Manuel Piteira, Daniel Seabra Lopes, João Peixoto, and José Luís Sales Marques. I would also like to thank Nicolette Makovicky and the Berghahn Books editorial team, who were very helpful and patient throughout the whole process. The same for my translator, Roopanjali Roy, who worked hard and was diligent in attending to my many demands. Thank you all. Finally, I want to thank Allen Chun who accepted my invitation to write the book’s foreword. The book’s translation, updates, reviews and so on would not have been possible without the support of my host institutions: CSG/ SOCIUS-Research Centre in Economic and Organizational Sociology of the ISEG-Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; and the Institute of European Studies of Macao (IEEM), China. The main funding for the book was provided by FCT, I.P., the Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology, under the CSG-Research in Social Sciences and Management (UID/04521).

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are used in the main text and in endnotes: ADM AL

Associação dos Macaenses / Macanese Association Assembleia Legislativa / Legislative Assembly

APIM

Associação Promotora da Instrução dos Macaenses / Association to Promote Education for the Macanese

APOMAC Associação dos Aposentados, Reformados e Pensionistas de Macau / Association of Retired People and Pensioners of Macao CCCM

Centro Científico e Cultural de Macau / Macao Scientific and Cultural Centre

CCM

Conselho das Comunidades Macaenses / Council for Macanese Communities

CGM

Confraria da Gastronomia Macaense / Macanese Gastronomic Association

DICJ

Direção de Inspeção e Coordenação de Jogos de Macau / Gambling Inspection and Coordination Bureau

DSEC

Direção dos Serviços de Estatística e Censos / Statistics and Census Bureau

DSEJ

Direção dos Serviços de Educação e Juventude / Education and Youth Affairs Bureau

FM

Fundação Macau / Macao Foundation

IAM

Instituto para os Assuntos Municipais / Municipal Affairs Bureau

IC

Instituto Cultural / Cultural Affairs Bureau

Abbreviations

xiii

ICH

Intangible Cultural Heritage

IIM

International Institute of Macao

IPOR

Instituto Português do Oriente / Portuguese Orient Institute

JTM

Jornal Tribuna de Macau

MAF

Macao Arts Festival

MGTO

Macao Government Tourism Office

MITO

Macao International Tourism Office (Lisbon)

MOP

Macao Pataca (currency)

MSAR

Macao Special Administrative Region

MWH

Macao World Heritage

PCB

Partido dos Comes e Bebes / Food and Drinks Party

PRC

People’s Republic of China

SAR

Special Administrative Region

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

USD

United States Dollar

Introduction

Nothing is more curious and awkward than the relationship between people who only know each other by sight, who meet each other daily and all the time, who observe each other and who, owing to social considerations or mere caprice, are obliged to maintain the appearance of mutual indifference. Among them there is a restlessness and a pent-up curiosity, the hysteria of an unsatisfied and artificially suppressed need for exchange, as well as a kind of tense respect. —Thomas Mann, Death in Venice1

The final chapter of this book ends by observing the strangeness of the Macanese and their ambivalent identity, which reflects the disturbing image of ambivalent terrains on which, at the end of the day, all ‘imagined communities’ are built. This book begins with the same fascinating incongruity of Macao’s history and model of sovereignty: this is a territory that was administered by Portugal from the sixteenth century until 1999, the year when the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established. Macao has a land area of less than 30 km2 and a resident population approaching 600,000 inhabitants, which continues to growth rapidly, making it the most densely populated territory in the world. Additionally, thousands of visitors cross its borders every day, attracted by Macao’s great gambling amusement park and all related entertainment in an ambiance dominated by kitsch, which is awash with money, allowing flights of fancy. As colossal and extravagant complexes of casinos and resorts sprang up on land reclamations, a kind of Las Vegas Strip emerged in Macao from 2002 onward, when the gambling market opened up to foreign investments, mostly coming from the USA. This increased the curiosity of tourists, and tourism exploded in 2005 due to China’s more flexible procedures in granting individual visas to travel to the MSAR, and local gambling industry revenues soon exceeded those of Las Vegas. In the same year, the Historical Centre of Macao, consisting of a set of monuments, buildings, streets and squares, a legacy of the Portuguese

2

Heirs of the Bamboo

presence in the territory over the course of 450 years, was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From then on, this ‘exotic image’ of being a harmonious meeting point between the East and the West, launched by the Portuguese and the Chinese states during the pretransition period, became more visible inside Macao and abroad. In its quest to gain an identity based on this premise, the MSAR has sought to legitimize itself as a platform to China, both as part of the PRC’s relations with Portuguese-speaking nations, by recognizing and respecting heritage and the Portuguese language and culture in Macao, as well as at an international level, by converting Macao into a World Centre for Tourism and Leisure and by building the largest Advanced Education and Training Centre and Industrial and Technology Park for Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Pearl River Delta region in southern China. The MSAR’s connection with Portugal has been emphasized over the course of the last twenty years, and this began, as mentioned, before the handover, with a massive campaign by the two nations showcasing Macao’s glorious past and re-creating it as a unique place in China, a

Figure 0.1. Panoramic view of the Nam Van lake, Macao 2010. Several casinos and resorts can be seen, along with one end of the Governor Nobre de Carvalho bridge (built in 1974) – which provides a road link between the Macao peninsula and Taipa island – and newly reclaimed land near the Macao Tower area. The Macao Tower was built in 2001 and with a height of 338 metres offers a panoramic 360º view of the Macao peninsula and the islands of Taipa and Coloane. Photo by the author.

Introduction

3

symbol and product of cultural intermingling between Europeans and Asians. This connection can be seen in the promotion of a tangible and intangible heritage, which has become an ‘authentic’ tourist attraction, with groups of visitors flooding the narrow alleys of the historic downtown area, or in the numerous restaurants hawking Portuguese food and the long lines to sample Portuguese egg tarts at the small kiosk on the Senado square. Macao is also witnessing a dual process of commoditization and folklorization of a ‘uniquely Macanese identity’ in a very particular context: that of the most lucrative global gambling Disneyland. The gambling industry sustains Macao, attracting hordes of visitors and ensuring its place as one of the top five most visited destinations in the world. It has triggered inflation, animated the real estate market and transformed this diminutive territory into a concrete jungle, with towering skyscrapers and a constantly changing skyline. The gambling industry also allows the MSAR government to earn millions in taxes and to emphasize that it is making economic development and constant improvements for Macao’s inhabitants a priority.2 By implementing a social security scheme, which provides old-age

Figure 0.2. Panoramic view of Republic Avenue and the Sai Van lake, Macao 2010. The image shows one end of the eponymous third and final bridge linking Macao and Taipa. Concluded in 2004, it is the only suspension bridge in Macao and has two levels, an upper and a lower level, which operate even during bad weather and has set up the infrastructure to accommodate Macao’s light rail metro system currently operating just in Taipa. Photo by the author.

4

Heirs of the Bamboo

pensions and a monetary subsidy plan with annual allowances for all permanent and non-permanent residents of the MSAR and is adjusted annually according to the budget, the government has also guaranteed its legitimacy domestically, by demonstrating its constant concern for the inhabitants of Macao. The strategic dimensions and quest for legitimacy reflected in the project to create a unique cultural identity for Macao are not, however, exclusively the domain of the MSAR or central PRC governments, in the context of expanding the PRC’s economic and symbolic interests. The Eurasian Macanese ethnic minority, which enjoys a set of ‘privileges’ derived from its ‘ethnic monopoly’ (Pina-Cabral and Lourenço 1993; and Pina-Cabral 2000) and its intermediary role during the Portuguese administration, has also sensed the opportunity to try and maintain the same systems of perks – on a far more modest scale – by continuing to show it is still useful in cultural mediation between the PRC and Portuguese-speaking countries. This community has staked its claim to the model of historic and cultural identity envisaged for Macao. This study examines the Eurasian Macanese community – the local offspring – and its network of actors and social interactions in the context of building identities against the backdrop of complex political and economic processes that are simultaneously local and global, in the imagined cultural and social space of Macao. Using an anthropological approach focusing on ethnographic descriptions, in a certain sense this study is akin to Latour’s vision and the ‘actor-network theory’ (2005), which reformulate the ‘social’, ‘cultural’ and ‘technical’ categories. In the actor-network theory, the notion of network refers to flows, circulations, alliances and movements of a heterogeneous series of human and non-human elements, connected with each other and playing the role of agents. As the main proponents of this theory, Callon et al. (1999) and Latour (2005) have argued that the sociological category of actor-network must be differentiated from the traditional semiotic meaning of an actor as an individual, institution or thing causing an action – that is, having an effect in and on the world, which excludes any non-human component. It also cannot be confused with a type of bond that links stable and perfectly defined elements in a predictable manner, since the entities that comprise the network – whether natural or social entities – can at any time redefine their identity and mutual relations, leading to the production of new elements. A network of actors is, concomitantly, an actor – or actant, a term Latour also employs – aiming to establish alliances with new elements and a network that is capable of affording its members new qualities. To form such a union, it is necessary to translate, transpose and divert relevant interests to mobilize

Introduction

5

other actors. The notion of translation is fundamental to understanding developments at the level of networks of actors. In this regard, translation does not only mean a change in vocabulary but expresses, above all, a shift, a change in course, a mediation or the invention of a hitherto non-existent relationship that, in a way, changes the actors involved in the process. The meaning of translation simultaneously encompasses a shift and an articulation of disparate and heterogeneous elements, thus involving ‘hybridism’, ‘miscegenation’ and ‘multiple connections’ rather than the repetition of key elements. The use of the internet as a means of widespread electronic communication among the Macanese community (an aspect examined in this work) is a good example of how a sociotechnical system creates networks based on interaction between human and non-human elements and the incessant production of hybrids. This book analyses three networks – public and private – of social actors in action: (1) the Macanese elite and their ‘cultural engineering projects’ currently underway in Macao; (2) the scattered and anonymous Macanese diaspora and practices to perpetuate their community and identity; (3) and the Food and Drinks Party (PCB), an informal group of Macanese living in Portugal. The Macanese diaspora spans four continents and is estimated to be eight times larger than the Macanese population living in Macao. The diaspora’s transnational nature and regular physical and virtual contact between Macao and the various host countries, combined with its actions to ensure the continued existence of the Macanese identity, show how important the diaspora is in defining the structure of the community as a whole. Set against the backdrop of a global context, the diaspora has used associative forms, new communications technologies and original and articulated practices to highlight and promote an exclusively Macanese identity in the virtual world of the internet as well as in the physical space of the newly established MSAR. These practices have resulted in strategic benefits for the Macanese community, in terms of new forms of self-definition that have allowed the diaspora to maintain ties with Macao. The Macanese Encontros (meetings), including those particularly aimed at youths representing the diaspora, are held every three years, being a pilgrimage of nostalgia, recognizing family roots and reaffirming a sense of connection with Macao. Moreover, all kinds of Macanese associations – formal or informal – within Macao or abroad, promote their own social circles and activities relating to Macanese culture and identity. The PCB gatherings are a way of integrating, organizing and maintaining the community in Portugal. This small informal group was created to bring together Macanese at events where, as its name suggests,

6

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food plays a central role. It allows participants to nostalgically return to their past in Macao, through the friends they see again, the languages they hear and speak, the environment they re-create, and, above all, through the nostalgic Macanese delicacies that are the main attraction of these events. A testament to Macao’s origins, this type of cooking combines long-standing Portuguese culinary traditions with varied Asian influences, making it one of the oldest fusion cuisines in the world (Jackson 2004); as I observed, the food consumed at PCB reunions serves as a place of memory to (re-)create a Macanese ethnic and cultural identity. Similarly, the use of a multilingual form of communication among the group represents another place of memory for the Macanese based in Portugal, and both these elements, food and language, are nowadays considered to be strong Macanese identity markers. Accordingly, I believe that in the context of PCB events – that is, in an intimate social setting, the food and language make it possible to reactivate a Macanese mindset and help the community endure over time, by recalling and disseminating a collective feeling of an exclusively Macanese identity. Furthermore, the PCB’s activities are not limited to organizing ‘private’ parties for the Macanese in Lisbon. It has created and maintained a website showcasing the group and its structure, and it posts information about its events and the people who attend its gatherings. It also promotes various other virtual memory palaces via Facebook and a blog. Many Macanese living around the world contribute with content and actively participate in all these forums and, by using a fluid medium such as the internet in real time interaction, they perpetuate and reinforce their sense of belonging to Macao and to a Macanese ‘imagined community’ (Anderson 2006 [1983]). Old photographs recalling their youth in Macao and more recent images by the designated photographer during PCB events are published on all these websites to jog the memory and curiosity of people, who try to identify individuals, places and occasions or simply reminisce. These photos are an excellent example of how ties are maintained within a community that is scattered over the globe and how collective memories are consolidated around a uniquely Macanese lifestyle and ‘way of being’. In this regard, the PCB has emerged as a ‘community of practice’ (Lave and Wenger 2003 [1991]; Wenger 1998) due to the way it involves its members in a conscious co-participation aimed at re-creating, preserving and disseminating a Macanese unitary category, both at its reunions held locally in Lisbon as well as on a global scale through the internet and virtual channels. While the extinction of the community and its cultural, linguistic and symbolic expressions is often cited as a sword of Damocles, it is similarly this conviction that they are the ‘last of the Macanese’ that

Introduction

7

makes them feel they are faithful guardians and promoters of Macao’s customs and traditions. In addition to these networks of actors and their forms of local and translocal collective actions, it is nowadays also possible to observe how the Eurasian Macanese community and its cultural identity are highlighted in official discourses by the MSAR authorities (and even by the PRC central government), as well as the practical realities of the Macanese associative structure, which enjoys political support in Macao. With a view to recovering and preserving the elements that comprise the Portuguese historic, cultural and linguistic legacy in Macao and, consequently, this unique identity, defined by a sense of belonging and pride in being Macanese, as envisaged by the MSAR executive authorities for the territory, certain Macanese elites have tried to maintain a status quo in Macanese society using a strategic logic of privileges that evolved over time according to contextual conditions. Contemporary practices related to Macao’s cultural heritage have resulted in the recognition and protection of local diversity and the subsequent production, promotion and consumption of an authentic and singular cultural identity to form a highly politicized product that can represent a series of benefits for the various interlocutors involved in the cultural engineering projects underway in Macao. The PRC’s future strategic plans include diversifying and expanding trade in Portuguesespeaking markets as well as demonstrating the success of the ‘one country, two systems’ nationalist model propounded by Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s economic reforms and the long-desired reunification of China. The MSAR authorities aim to promote cultural tourism by defining and objectifying a uniquely Macanese identity, thereby instilling a sense of belonging among the city’s inhabitants and promoting self-identification as citizens of Macao (Ou Mun yan). The MSAR authorities seek to reduce Macao’s excessive dependence on the gambling industry – the MSAR’s economic goldmine – and ensure international recognition of Macao’s world cultural heritage, which proves the city has far more to offer to its visitors than just gambling, vices and sin. Finally, the minority Eurasian community of Macao seeks to celebrate a Macanese ethnic and cultural identity that has resulted from the blending of Portuguese and Asian elements over the course of centuries. This ethnic community was produced by Macao’s history and symbolically and culturally identifies with the project to promote a uniquely Macanese identity. Keeping the current scenario and the political, ideological, economic and cultural objectives of the PRC and the MSAR in mind, the Macanese community has sought to affirm itself as a cultural mediator amidst the so-called ‘privileged platform between China and

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Heirs of the Bamboo

Portuguese-speaking countries’. This platform was formalized in 2003 by means of the ‘Forum Macao’, a multilateral and intergovernmental mechanism with a permanent secretariat based in Macao. The Macanese community has also highlighted its role in helping Portugal attract greater Chinese financial investments, the internationalization of Portuguese companies and increased exports to East Asia.3 The coherence of this model for a ‘new Macao’ was a key element for survival, by means of a culture specific to the local offspring, and it maintained the umbilical relationship that connected the Macanese to Macao, irrespective of where they resided. This model emerged in the postcolonial period of Macao’s history and was based on recognizing and showcasing a cultural heritage and the heritage of the Eurasian Macanese community. The commoditization of Macao’s identity and culture is a strategy to ensure that the MSAR’s political and civil society recognizes the value of this historical legacy and this creole community, which dates back to the time when Macao was founded in the sixteenth century. This was thus a conscious choice of a certain cultural orientation marked by difference – that is, to re-create a Macanese community identity that demarcates itself and its members from the other individuals and groups that form Macao’s society. Accordingly, I believe that just as the Ruins of St Paul’s were officially adopted as an icon of the MSAR, as a symbol of Macao’s ‘glorious past’ and the ‘harmonious intermingling between European and Asian peoples’, which created a ‘tolerant multicultural society’ there over the course of centuries, the Macanese and their way of life – rooted in distinctive sociocultural identifiers such as the Macanese cuisine and creole language – play a role in representing the Macanese identity. Just like the surviving façade of St Paul’s church, the Macanese and their intangible cultural heritage have lately been included in activities to promote cultural tourism, marketing campaigns and touristic merchandising produced by the Macao Government Tourism Office. It remains to be seen if this concept of a museum relic as a place to celebrate the personal and collective Macanese identity (making it possible to promote and highlight elements that define the community as having a creole cultural and ethnic identity) will be reproduced socially and culturally by future generations. This hybrid, mutable and ambivalent nature of the Macanese cultural and ethnic identity falls within the category of ‘mixed racial identities’ in the Western classification system. The ambivalence of the Macanese identity is undoubtedly due to the power of ‘racialist’ and ‘culturalist’ discourses when constructing pure collective identities; however, it is a floating reference, which can form different configurations depending on the position and point of view of individuals in social actions.

Introduction

9

The notion of ambivalence in Macao is related to processes that – at different moments of the historical contact between the two ends of the Eurasian continent – led to institutional disapproval or encouragement of the creation of a Macanese ethnic identity. Using the creole Patuá and its almost total disappearance as a language of communication among the Eurasian Macanese as an example, it is clear that this was largely related to its association with a form of mangled Portuguese spoken by the popular classes and the fact that it was a language used at home, especially by women. Greater access to education and academic training imparted in the official Portuguese language meant greater opportunities to embark on careers as civil servants in the Portuguese administration of Macao, which employed most of the Macanese who did not emigrate. The waves of emigration that have always characterized the community due to the limited job opportunities in Macao, their better command of Portuguese and accentuated demarcation from the Chinese population, on the one hand, reduced the probability of the Macanese being identified as Chinese and, on the other hand, brought them closer to the Portuguese. This gave them a valuable ‘capital of Portuguese-ness’ (Pina-Cabral and Lourenço 1993), which translated into social and professional prestige and, consequently, the progressive loss of their ancestral creole language (Pinharanda Nunes 2011). However, it is nowadays possible to observe the resurgence of the endangered creole Patuá, even among youths, due to initiatives to revive the extinct Patuá Theatre – with its plays, songs and videos. These initiatives have received support and been encouraged by the government Cultural Bureau. The MSAR authorities have not only funded and included a play in Patuá in the programme of the Macao Arts Festival (which the Dóci Papiaçám theatre group debuts every year) but have also encouraged the candidacy of Patúa Theatre and recognized it as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macao. Macanese ambivalence lies in the fact that all ethnic groups are ambivalent, since there is no consensus on how its members imagine themselves while being part of an ethnic collective. In relation to the Macanese community, it is as though this characteristic of its identity is amplified when one considers the high degree of subjectivity, personal choice and even the difficulty of identifying Macanese on the basis of physical appearance; it is a by-product of their marginal situation with regard to the two dominant ‘pure’ identity poles: the Portuguese pole and the Chinese pole. The ambivalence of the Macanese identity is, additionally, linked to racial and civilizational ‘hierarchies’ of the Portuguese colonial project. For the Chinese, the Macanese are Portuguese born in Macao; they are the gwailou that – just like all ‘barbarians’ – can be taught to practise

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the rituals and etiquette of ‘civilized people’. The Macanese identity is the result of individual aspirations intertwined with complex networks of social actors, created by extensive processes of inclusion and exclusion adapted to the constant demands of external requirements and to such an extent that in postcolonial Macao the community is once again seeking answers that are best suited to the question: Who is Macanese?. Chapter 1 of this book provides a succinct overview of Macao’s history and defines the main theoretical and methodological approaches of this research. It includes a dual definition of the term Macanese. Although this term and current equivalent expressions in Chinese languages are commonly used to refer to all of Macao’s inhabitants, this study exclusively focuses on the Macanese Eurasian community. This community is defined – and distinguished – with reference to a prolonged process of biological and sociocultural miscegenation between Europeans (mostly Portuguese) and Asians that gave rise to the community and a particular creole culture and identity that the ‘Macanese’ metaphor produced over the course of centuries in that oriental enclave under Portuguese rule. This community is also characterized by having created a network promoting forms of intimate sociability among community members, connected by extensive and overlapping long-term ties, who have established reflexive interactions and constructed a collective Macanese mindset that is global, multi-ethnic and multicultural. This Macanese mindset maintains its difference through their identity and manifestations of intangible cultural heritage. Chapter 2 examines how social representations of Macanese identity are interpreted and disseminated through the type of memories associated with it. Biographic methodologies – including brief genealogies, biographical portraits and family histories – revealed how the past and the present merge together and how the future is envisaged amid the memories of the Macanese living in Portugal. It is possible to observe a Macanese familiar memory rooted in a culture, values and education based on a Portuguese matrix and the Catholic religion. These memories are mental tools that individuals use and manipulate to ensure a legitimate interpretation of their past and their acceptance by the group. Genealogical chronicles of Macanese families also revealed the agglomerating dimension of the Macanese community, which attracts and brings together people from diverse family backgrounds around a singular common identity and mutual community interests. In addition to its underlying familiar memory, the Macanese community identity is associated with an ethnic memory – constantly revisited and rediscovered in the many palaces of virtual memory that the Macanese create on the internet. This is a conscious ethnic memory that shapes the self-

Introduction

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identification of the Macanese as being a ‘mestizo’ or ‘hybrid’ people who are heirs to a creole culture, the result of successive ethnic miscegenation over the course of centuries. These individual memories of experiences in the past, which are projected onto the collective, enabled the group to prepare an ‘invented tradition’ celebrated by the Macanese at one of the PCB events held in Lisbon, as described in Chapter 3. Narratives were shared in a nostalgic ambiance that reinterpreted the celebrations of the Chinese Moon Festival in Macao. These were expressed in multiple languages and complemented by Macanese food, with both defining the places of memory for those who attended that gathering at the Casa (Macao House). However, the PCB does not limit its activities to these events where people eat and reminisce together. It also maintains a website that is constantly updated with information about the group’s scheduled events, recipes and stories in Patuá, among other items, with interactive and participatory contents that are followed by the Macanese diaspora scattered around the world. By maintaining these social practices, the PCB proves the existence and vitality of the Macanese collective in Portugal while simultaneously contributing toward formulating and claiming a distinctive Macanese identity. Elevated to the status of unique symbols of the community, Macanese cuisine and language are prime markers of the Macanese identity. On 9 June 2012, the MSAR government deemed Macanese Gastronomy and Patuá Theatre to be Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macao. The procedures and the success of the applications submitted by the Macanese Gastronomic Association (CGM) and the Dóci Papiaçám di Macau theatre group involved a network of actors and social interaction, which have been analysed in Chapter 4. The process of safeguarding and promoting Macao’s cultural heritage, a mix of Eastern and Western elements, with a marked Portuguese influence, reveals the legitimization strategies and the benefits that the various protagonists involved in the process seek to achieve at a local, national and international level. Thus, the process of converting Macanese cuisine and Patuá Theatre into heritage is the result of broader economic and ideological dynamics, of which the Macanese community is a part, enabling it to have political and cultural aspirations in relation to maintaining a Macanese ethnic and cultural identity. Chapter 5 examines two different topics relating to the concept of ambivalence. The first section of this chapter contemplates a set of intersubjective dynamics from an ethnographic point of view, revealing the ambivalence of the Macanese identity to be self-constructed. The second part of this chapter deconstructs Macanese ambivalence, encompassing

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the political and cultural dimensions that shape distinctive and publicly recognized ‘collective identities’ in postcolonial Macao. In this case, the ambivalence was implicit in the process of negotiations between Portugal and China to resolve the question of Macanese citizens of Chinese descent holding Portuguese passports and the implementation of the PRC’s nationality law after Macao’s reunification with China. In the previous case, the ambivalence was related to the point of view of a specific group of individual actors and their manipulation of various actions, languages and behaviours towards food. The ambivalent nature of the Macanese group was evident throughout the meal, as they constantly manipulated their ethnic attributes and the cultural knowledge they had acquired during their lives. Identity ambivalence emphasizes self-identification narratives rooted in the complex genealogical and historical backgrounds of individuals. This means that, in keeping with the stance assumed with regard to ‘defining’ an identity, Macanese ambivalence continuously undergoes a metamorphosis that mirrors the fluid terrain on which all ‘imagined communities’ are built.

Notes 1. Thomas Mann, Death in Venice [Der Tod in Venedig], translated from the Portuguese edition published by Relógio d’Água (1987 [1912]): 57–58. 2. The Report on Government Action Lines for the Financial Year 2013 was presented by Chief Executive Chui Sai On to the Legislative Assembly of Macao on 13 November 2012. The archive of all reports since 2001 can be consulted electronically, in Chinese and Portuguese versions, at the Printing Bureau website (2013). 3. On the invitation of the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities Abroad, the Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Rita Santos, who is Macanese, made an official visit to Portugal between 24 February and 1 March 2013. She met with the chairman of Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) and with the Portuguese President’s Economic Advisor. She also attended the Lisbon Travel Market and met with the Minister of the Economy and the Secretary of State for Regional Development. The official programme for this visit to Lisbon by the director of the Forum Macao also included a seminar on ‘Macao within the Portugal-China Partnership’, jointly organized by the Orient Institute and the Department for Political Science, Strategy, International Relations and Socio-Economic Development of the ISCSP, University of Lisbon. The seminar was divided into two sessions: (1) Portugal-China relations: perspectives for the twenty-first century; and (2) Macao as an economic and cultural platform. During the first session, the AICEP chairman, Pedro Reis, highlighted favourable investment conditions in Portugal and its enormous potential for tourism, emphasizing how Macao could play a vital role in attracting more foreign investors to Portugal and economic and commercial cooperation between Portugal and China. The second session included a panel of various Macanese personalities, and Rita Santos provided an overview of Forum Macao’s activities during its ten-year existence.

Chapter 1

The Eurasians of Macao Celebrating the Macanese Difference

Where are you headed, Macao? To whom will you belong tomorrow? You no longer belong to Portugal, But nor do you belong to China . . . Ou-Mun, yes that is Chinese, Macao was Portuguese, But now my beloved homeland, Where will I be able to set foot? A child of Macao set adrift, An orphan whose mother is still alive, My people weep in silence, Wondering about the future . . . Children of Macao set adrift, What will be your tomorrow? —Graciete Batalha, Onde que tu vai, Macau? 1

Located on the south-east coast of China,2 in the Pearl River Delta, there is a place with unique characteristics, not found anywhere else in the world. This is Macao, as it is known internationally, or in China it is known as Ou Mun in Cantonese and Ao Men in Mandarin. This territory was administered by Portugal from the time it was established in the sixteenth century until 20 December 1999, when it was reintegrated into the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Since then, it has been known as the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) of

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the PRC and has a high degree of autonomy, with its own laws and governing bodies to ensure that the political, legal, social, cultural and economic system in effect during the Portuguese administration of the territory remains unchanged for fifty years, including Portuguese being retained as an official language alongside Mandarin, safeguarding a broad range of rights, freedoms and guarantees derived from Portuguese, humanist and Western traditions. The result of diplomacy and agreements signed between Portugal and China, the MSAR reflects the profound changes that have taken place

Map 1.1.  Map of the Macao Special Administrative Region in 2008. Source: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 205404650 USA.

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15

in both countries from the 1970s onwards. While one of the main consequences of the 25 April 1974 Revolution in Portugal was the end of a colonial policy in the territories that Portugal administered in Africa and in Asia, it also paved the way for a dialogue with nations around the world, including with the PRC – with which Portugal re-established diplomatic relations in 1979. Developments in China resulted in the creation of the ‘one country, two systems’ policy formulated by Deng Xiaoping, in 1983, aimed at reintegrating Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan into China. This allowed the two nations to reach an agreement in relation to the complicated question of Macao’s sovereignty. This question was formally resolved when the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration was signed on 26 March 1987, which was ratified in the following month by the National People’s Congress in the PRC, and the MSAR Basic Law was concluded in 1993.3 Macao was administered by Portugal for more than four hundred years, until the end of the twentieth century. However, after the 1966/67 uprisings that ‘ended’ the ‘colonial period’ in Macao, the post-25 April 1974 Portuguese authorities recognized Macao as being China’s ‘territory under Portuguese administration’.4 The overwhelming majority of the people living there had always been Chinese nationals. The key question of sovereignty over the territory of Macao is a crucial element of any attempt to examine the history of Macao, according to historian Tereza Sena (1994, 1996). It is a complicated historiographical problem if one does not refrain from specific and/or politicized preconceptions and explanations, or even (from a more scientific point of view) a fruitless search for documental sources that prove and definitively clarify the question of how Macao was ceded or even rented to the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Portugal shared the Iberian Peninsula with the unified kingdom of Castile, with which it jockeyed to dominate the seas. The Atlantic Ocean represented approximately half of its borders and it was a land with a small population and scant financial resources. Nonetheless, the Portuguese were experienced overseas explorers. Motivated by commercial and religious reasons, as well as a yen for adventure and curiosity, they were pioneering explorers and reached faraway lands that had been mentioned since Antiquity – lands with cultures, civilizations, organizations and governments about which little was known in real or concrete terms. In turn, China had witnessed an age of maritime expansion during the sixteenth century – even reaching the eastern shores of Africa – and a period of prosperity resulting from polarized, monopolist and tributary foreign trade. From the mid-sixteenth century onwards, China focused on internal stabili-

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zation and restructuring, concentrating especially on its defences and monitoring its coastal areas. In the absence of a uniform policy in relation to foreign trade, over the course of time, it alternated between permissions and prohibitions. This fact was undoubtedly influenced by interests at play in southern coastal zones – spearheaded by the province of Guangdong – which were traditionally associated with foreign trade perpetuated illegally amidst conflicts with northern and interior regions in a China that was hegemonically agrarian and – as early as the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries – had a highly commercialized agrarian economy, perhaps the most successful economy of the pre-modern world (Gates 1997). After Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope and Vasco da Gama’s fleet reached the shores of India in 1498, King Manuel I of Portugal had a keen desire to establish commercial relations in Asia. Commercial contacts between the Portuguese and Chinese began in Malacca, a city that depended entirely on trade and maritime links; from the early fifteenth century onwards, Malacca had been the nerve centre of all trade in the Far East, from Ceylon to Insulindia, and it was at the crossroads of the redistribution of the respective commodities (spices, cotton and luxury goods from China). It was in the context of this cosmopolitan city that the Portuguese began to pursue their objectives in China and in Insulindia, both from a diplomatic as well as commercial – and even nautical – point of view. Afonso de Albuquerque sent embassies from Malacca to China, and in 1513 Jorge Álvares set out on one such mission. The results of this maritime expedition to China, the first by Westerners, were so positive that they decisively influenced Portugal’s attitude and insistence on instituting relations with the Middle Kingdom. Tomé Pires played a pioneering role at a diplomatic level, and even though he was unable to achieve his objective of contact with the emperor, he nevertheless received a cordial and prolonged welcome in Canton. There is only scattered and vague information about what transpired between then and the first recorded Western references to Macao in the 1550s and the subsequent settlement of Portuguese on the tiny peninsula known as Hoi Keang or Hao Ching Ao west of the Pearl River Delta, between 1552 and 1557.5 However, Fernão Mendes Pinto, one of the first Portuguese to have sojourned in Macao on his way to Japan, was the first to record the name of the site in Portuguese in a letter dating from 1555, and he also left a fundamental historical work for posterity: the Peregrinação, which was published posthumously in 1614 and narrates his adventures in the Orient (1537–1558). As has been argued by Catz (1981), this work should be viewed as a mix of fiction

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and reality that blends satirical and burlesque elements in what is an invaluable account of early Portuguese contacts with the Orient. It is, however, essential to look beyond the anachronisms and inaccuracies it contains, which were motivated both by the narrative style the author adopted as well as elements imported from the collective imagination it reflects. This is the reason why there are innumerable critical editions and studies of this work.6 The current Western name for Macao was probably derived from an evolution of a transliteration of the Chinese expression A-Má, the name of a temple dedicated to the homonymous deity that already existed on the peninsula. From the time the Portuguese established their presence in Macao,7 it proved to be a nerve centre for an ongoing and lucrative trade with the Far East, whereby the Portuguese slowly penetrated China and served as commercial intermediaries for about a century (1543–1639) between China and Japan. The fact that the highest political and military governing authority in Macao was the captain-major of the Japan voyage while he was in the territory reveals the dependence and close ties between Japan and Macao during the early stages of the entrepôt’s existence. Thus, by means of trade, religion, technology, gunpowder, food and interethnic relations, the Portuguese left an indelible cultural and civilizational imprint on this part of the world. From the outset, they were assisted in this task by the actions of the Catholic Church, which, in 1576, elevated Macao to the status of a diocese. The Jesuits were responsible for much of the dissemination of Catholicism in China and Japan – in the latter they even had an exclusive remit for evangelization – as well as for a reciprocal exchange of knowledge between the Western and Eastern cultures and civilizations. The Jesuits made Macao the nerve centre of their activities, and St Paul’s College (which was elevated to the status of a university in 1595) played an especially relevant role. The imposing façade of the famous Madre de Deus church, which was built in 1601 and 1602 by Japanese artisans who had sought refuge in the territory after converting to Christianity, reflects its importance even today, with its biblical quotations in Chinese, mythological representations, a Portuguese ship, nautical motifs and Chinese lions, and several bronze statues of the missionary saints of the Society of Jesus. It is popularly known as Ruins of St Paul’s and is considered to be a symbol of Macao. Since the Portuguese were, initially, the sole western presence in this part of the world, the Portuguese language became the lingua franca from the sixteenth century onwards (replacing Malay) until it petered out in the nineteenth century. This was an apparently simplified version of Portuguese, which was not a uniform language, mixing the local

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languages in each region and giving rise to various dialects and creole languages, mainly in the coastal areas (Cardoso, Baxter and Pinharanda Nunes 2012). From the seventeenth century onwards, with the arrival of the Dutch and the English, the Portuguese lost their monopoly of the lucrative silk trade and the silver that went with it. They also no longer had sole control of placing these and other products sourced from a distant, exotic and luxurious Orient on European markets: tea, porcelain, furniture and even (albeit during a later period) labour. Macao was thus the target of successive Dutch attacks, the most violent of which culminated in victory by Macao on 24 June 1622, a date that even today is celebrated as the city’s day. The history of the Portuguese presence in the Orient from the late sixteenth century onwards and throughout the seventeenth century was marked by conflicts and a commercial rivalry between Portugal and Holland. However, the most disastrous consequence for the Portuguese was the loss of Malacca to the Dutch in 1641. This caused a rupture in links between Macao and India and ties with other ports on which Macao’s traditional trading circuits depended. In turn, the English had implemented significant technological advances that enabled them to revolutionize – by means of steam mechanisms – the older transport system, and they began to monopolize foreign trade with China, using Macao as a gateway to access Chinese territory, on account of the alliance between Portugal and England. This was the case from the early nineteenth century until the English emerged victorious in the 1842 Opium War. The trade in opium had been spearheaded by the English for many decades, and this commodity was bartered for Chinese products. The English inroads into the Far East were a profound shock for the economy, stability and even society in Macao, as had been the case two centuries before, when Japan had prohibited foreign trade, since Japanese trade had been the basis for the existence, growth and presence of the Portuguese in Macao for one hundred years. During the seventeenth century, the Portuguese in Macao had survived by seeking out new markets in South East Asia and measures such as reviving trade with Manila, and they endured – albeit with a relatively marginal economic position – even after the British founded the neighbouring settlement of Hong Kong. Owing to the external dependence that the military defeat entailed for the once powerful Chinese empire as well as the favourable international scenario and the affirmation of colonial domination in Macao – of which Governor Ferreira do Amaral was the most emblematic proponent – Portugal and China signed a Trade and Friendship Treaty in 1888, after decades of negotiations, which recognized the perpetual occupation of the territory of Macao by the Portuguese. Never-

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theless, questions inherent to delimiting the area of Macao still needed to be resolved – even though Macao’s walls had been in place since 1575 – as did common law matters. From the late-nineteenth century, Macao, then a province of the erstwhile Portuguese Overseas Empire, grew exponentially. Macao is in a constant state of mutation, not just due to the incessant construction on lands newly reclaimed from the sea that allow a greater territorial expanse but also due to the massive influx of people who are making it increasingly densely populated with each passing day, changing Macao’s physiognomy, architecture, everyday life, customs, the environment and – above all – the economy. Much has been written about Macao’s rich history – of which only an extremely brief summary has been provided here for context8 – and the territory’s fascinating model of sovereignty, which has allowed it to witness and withstand mercantile and imperialist cycles of conquest and the domination of new markets, the global convulsions of the last century and even the internal changes to the political, economic and social systems of the People’s Republic of China (Hao 2011). Macao has, quite naturally, had to adapt to new times, engendering change and renewal at all levels, including in relation to its own – and in many ways unique – status in the world. However, as a result of adapting to the territory’s new economic and social circumstances, it was not just the surrounding political conditions that changed – and continue to change – in Macao but also the personal and family arrangements of the Macanese due to ethnic and cultural relations. As Fernandes (2000, 2006) has underscored, the future of the Macanese was always inseparable from the basic and original contradiction that is the core element of Macao’s social and political life: the fact that, although Macao was administered by Portugal until 1999, the territory has remained Chinese. This meant that, even though the Macanese enjoyed full rights as Portuguese citizens in Macao, events such as the 1-2-3 Riot (1966/67) and other incidents that were part of the Chinese Cultural Revolution meant that Portugal’s capacity to govern independently was undermined and subsequently implemented by means of complex negotiations with the PRC authorities. Later, after the 25 April 1974 Revolution in Portugal and the decolonization process in Portuguese Africa, the Portuguese democratic authorities declared Macao to be a (Chinese) territory under Portuguese administration.9

The Expression Macanese from an Analytical Perspective Although the meaning of the term ‘Macanese’ and identifying ‘who is Macanese’ have been the subject of innumerable – and often contro-

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versial – discussions within and outside academic circles, the concept – which has quite naturally evolved over time and in the political, social and cultural spheres that gave rise to this concept – currently continues to be debated by its protagonists. In broader terms, it is a case study of a mirror image of the ambivalent identity terrain on which all ‘imagined communities’ (to quote Benedict Anderson’s classic work, 2006 [1983]) are built and is the proposal presented by my study. In its most general sense, the Portuguese expression Macaense refers to all the people born and living in Macao or, for the past twenty years, in the Macao SAR of the People’s Republic of China, without applying any ethnic or national connotation.10 However, there is a second meaning directly linked with the identity category of Eurasian: as used in this book, the term refers exclusively to the old creole local community whose members tend to fluently speak Portuguese and Cantonese (the predominant language in Macao) but can only read and write Portuguese. Being a product of Portuguese colonial history, this community is profoundly linked to the territory of Macao, and these ties are explicitly recognized in the most common Portuguese and Chinese expressions used to refer to the community’s members: local offspring ( filhos da terra) and locally-born Portuguese (tou-saang pouh-gwok-yahn or tusheng puren), respectively. Historically, the emergence of the Macanese community is linked to a prolonged and complex process of biological and sociocultural intermingling of Europeans – mainly Portuguese – and Asians, above all, Chinese, Malays, Japanese, Indians and Timorese, from the sixteenth century onwards. Up to this point, the debate on the origin of the Macanese – and the vast majority of literature produced to date on the community – does not question that the ethnogenesis of the Macanese is the result of successive ethnic mixtures that cannot be reduced to the Portuguese-Chinese binomen and that this blending took place over centuries in Macao. However, there is no consensus among the various authors as to the specific racial types of the women involved in this miscegenation that gave rise to the Macanese. To sum up the debate, there are, in particular, two contradictory versions. One version affirms that during the early centuries of the Portuguese presence in Asia, Indian and Malay women were the mothers of the Macanese descending from the first stable families based in Macao. There was a noteworthy endogamy among these wealthy and conservative families, with their children rarely open to Chinese society and marrying among themselves or with Europeans. When marriages with Chinese women did occasionally occur, they always involved women who had been raised among Macanese families. This thesis also propounds that the accelerated miscegena-

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tion between Portuguese and Chinese in Macao dates from the latenineteenth century and early twentieth century and essentially happened between individuals from social groups with a low economic status (Amaro 1988). This hypothesis, which is corroborated by prestigious traditional families of Macao and defines the Macanese as the Portuguese of the Orient, is diametrically opposed to the version defended by Monsignor Manuel Teixeira in his work Os Macaenses (1965). Based on a study of Macao’s parish archives, Teixeira affirmed that the Macanese were, in fact, the offspring of Portuguese men marrying Chinese women. The process of miscegenation that took place over centuries of Macao’s history contributed toward the Eurasian physical appearance of the Macanese – even though it is often difficult to identify a Macanese only by their physiognomy. It also inspired the development of unique sociocultural markers such as a distinctive type of cuisine and the Patuá creole language (Amaro 1988; Batalha 1974 [1958]; Ferreira 1978; Fernandes and Baxter 2001; Pinharanda Nunes 2011). Although officially considered to be Portuguese citizens, this community of local offspring developed a very particular lifestyle, with their own identity and a totally coherent vision of the economic and social conditions that shaped their environment over the long term. Pina-Cabral called this a creole culture, in the sense of ‘a socio-cultural community whose main historical elements derive from the cross-fertilization of historical traditions that are not only stronger than itself, but also continue to interrelate with it’ (2002: 37). Pina-Cabral and Lourenço (1993: 22–24) identified three vectors of self-identification normally associated with the Macanese ‘way of being’: (1) the language – a practical mastery of not only the Portuguese language (spoken and written) but also Cantonese (normally only spoken); (2) the religion – some form of identification with Catholicism; (3) the phenotype appearance – some Eurasian physical features. Each of these vectors can constitute the basis for identifying a Macanese person; however, it is possible for an individual to be considered Macanese even without any of the aforesaid features. For example, individuals who are not the result of ethnic miscegenation between Europeans and Asians can also be considered to be Macanese, while others identify with the community even if they do not speak Portuguese fluently and there are yet others who speak Portuguese and are mixed-race but do not profess the Catholic faith. The Macanese identity is defined here, in large measure, by a high degree of subjectivity and personal choice. It should, however, be kept in mind that the individuals and families that had the aforesaid three characteristics – particularly those who, additionally, achieved a level of educational, political or socio-economic distinction –

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were the nucleus of families known as the ‘traditional families’, around which the Macanese identity developed in association with a specific form of community life. The authors have also mentioned that vectors such as the language and religion ceased to be distinctive characteristics of the Macanese and their descendants after the period they termed the ‘postcolonial period’ (1967–1999), during which the capital of interethnic communication became more valuable, thus losing the aspect of exclusivity with respect to the structural elements of the Macanese ethnicity. During the same period, the professional occupations of the Macanese centred on activities for which, according to the authors, they were well suited, due to their position as intermediaries in relation to the other two ethnic groups: public servants in the administrative structure and professionals (lawyers, solicitors, architects, doctors, etc.). It was this privilege of controlling the local government apparatus, ensured by the key role they played as mediators between Chinese and Portuguese in the context of the Portuguese administration of Macao, that enabled the Macanese to achieve a comfortable and secure economic and social position. In his study of the population of Macao at the beginning of the 1990s, Morbey (1990) indicated a credible estimate of 7,000 individuals, approximately 1.6 per cent of the total population, as being the number of Macanese residing in the territory.11 There are, however, innumerable Macanese living in Hong Kong, and many others are scattered across various foreign countries (especially Portugal, Brazil, Canada, USA and Australia), with a constant flux of Macanese families travelling between Macao and the host countries. Nowadays, it is estimated that the number of Macanese settled outside Macao is far greater than those who reside there. It has been estimated that there are about 150,00012 Macanese scattered around the world. A recurring and well-documented aspect of the bibliography relating to Macao is the expected extinction of the community and an end to the Macanese way of life associated with the ‘spectre of abandonment’ for the local offspring, characteristic of periods of crisis and profound changes in Macao’s political, social and economic structure. This image of a Macao tending towards being depopulated of Macanese people began to emerge from the phenomenon known as the Macanese diaspora, which started in 1842 when the first migratory movements of Macanese to Hong Kong and Shanghai commenced (Montalto de Jesus 1990 [1902]). Despite incidents occurring during Macao’s history that often set waves of emigration in motion among the Macanese community, some of the territory’s historical periods have also been marked by inverse movements and the return of local offspring to Macao. This relates to

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the process of the modernization of the Portuguese administration of Macao, which surged forward after the 25 April 1974 revolution in Portugal, the social normalization of the excesses of the Cultural Revolution in China and the aftermath of successive renewals of gambling contracts in the early 1960s, which afforded new paths for economic development in Macao. These changes demanded a different type of governance that was more systematic and modern and entailed greater consensus and responsibility in relation to a local Chinese population that had grown rapidly after the PRC authorized the entry of emigrants from mainland China into Macao in 1979. Garcia Leandro was the governor responsible for making the public administration staff ‘more Macanese’ during the 1980s, a policy that had an unprecedented impact in Macao. During the administrative expansion of a number of services, new positions were created that were filled by Macanese staff from the Portuguese Republic on service commissions, attracted as they were by salaries and perks much greater than those offered to them as employees of the Portuguese state. This resulted in a significant change in the organizational composition of Macao’s public administration, which, in 1988, included 44.4 per cent of staff who had held their posts for less than ten years (Castro 1989). Mainly as a result of the governor’s personal efforts, a large number of young Macanese educated in Portuguese universities returned to their homeland as Macao underwent an accelerated process of economic, physical and demographic growth. Throughout the 1980s, this new generation of Macanese – who had continued their university studies in Portugal after concluding their secondary education in Macao – progressively took up posts in the territory’s administrative and governmental apparatus as Macao achieved a degree of prosperity that had not been seen since the foundation of Hong Kong. Pina-Cabral and Lourenço affirm that conditions were thus created that enabled the Macanese community to rebuild its ‘ethnic monopoly as an administrative elite’ (1993: 99) and establish new legitimizing practices around an elite of cultural promoters.13 Although the atmosphere in Macao during the years before the transition involved political and institutional uncertainty in relation to compliance with legislation and the international commitments made in the past, as well as criminality among triads and a depressed economy, the handover of the territory to Chinese sovereignty on 20 December 1999 proved to be free of the tragedies and catastrophic scenarios reflected in discourses pronouncing it to be symbolic of the end of the Portuguese empire. If the threat of being orphaned by destiny, the expectations of historical communities associated with Portuguese power and the additional sensation of exhaustion by their members precipitated a decision

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to leave, in many cases decades before the arrival of ‘D-Day’, most of these Macanese have already returned or continue to return to Macao. This was noted by Anabela, aged 69 years, who has lived in Lisbon since 1963.14 Before the handover, people wanted to leave because they were fearful, but they have all returned. Practically all of them have returned. When people came here [Portugal], they had a great shock because they could not have the same living standards to which they were accustomed there. Everything is difficult here; there is no transport, it is impossible to find cooking ingredients, the local vegetables are different – all of this adds up and people think: ‘What are we doing here?’, ‘everything is difficult here, everything is expensive and far away! We don’t have friends, we can’t drop by for a cup of tea and chat . . . We have everything we need in Macao, we have a home there’, and they returned. They returned because they felt that there was a place for them in Macao; that’s where they feel at home, and Macao continues to be their homeland. (26 May 2011)

Among the many Macanese who stayed, their evolution in relation to whether to stay or leave a Macao in the throes of change is clearly evidenced in the following testimony by João, aged 72 years. João left Macao in 1957 to begin his university education in Portugal, where he remained until 1991. He then returned to the territory via a three-year service commission with the Macao administration. Since then, he has assiduously participated in the Encontros of Macanese communities – meetings that are held in Macao every three years: When I asked him about his situation in 1991, Henrique Senna Fernandes himself told me: ‘I’m leaving, I can’t bear to see the national flag being lowered . . .’. A few years later, on one of my visits, I asked him: ‘So, professor, what have you decided?’ ‘Let’s see, ‘I’m thinking about it . . . let’s see what happens in Hong Kong . . . wait and see,’ he said. In 1998/99, I again asked him, and he replied: ‘I’m staying here, this is my homeland, I’ve grown up here and shall be buried here . . .’. Hundreds of Macanese had a similar story. China was keen to show the world that ‘one country, two systems’ could work by means of Special Administrative Regions, first in Hong Kong and then in Macao . . . and in Macao, it has scrupulously upheld what is stated in the Basic Law and people are satisfied, even the Macanese. (Lisbon, 15 October 2010)

Twenty years after Macao’s political and administrative transition, Macanese were for the first time openly discussing the survival and continuity of the community.15 In a context of accelerated transformation, Macao’s economy exploded, the territory grew at a dizzying pace and

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it received new populations of emigrants who settled there, resulting in a new configuration of the social fabric. The Macanese are debating among themselves how to increase their competitiveness in a society that has become more aggressive and in which the Macao public administration is no longer the main employer of Macanese. Strategies are being chalked out to, in their own words, make the most of their important asset of being mediators in the world of business dealings between China and Portuguese-speaking nations. As the land of their origin, belonging and residence for over 450 years, Macao is their homeland and the Macanese are the local offspring. The initiative of this conference took place during the year when local elections were being held for the Legislative Assembly (AL), which, along with the candidacies announced by some Macanese,16 revealed the community’s desire to underscore their contribution towards the prosperity and maintenance of the status quo of the MSAR and to show their capacity to collaborate with the Macao administration by actively participating in the local government. While a ‘perfect’ bilingual mastery of Portuguese and Chinese is a fundamental tool the Macanese can use, and the growing use of Mandarin (spoken and written) in addition to oral knowledge of Cantonese among the younger generations is proof of this, the Macanese believe that the survival of their community must essentially be at a cultural level: as a global, multi-ethnic and multicultural community, their competitive advantage lies, precisely, in maintaining this difference by means of an exclusively Macanese identity and cultural heritage.

The Macanese Metaphor and the Production of Postcolonial Creoles ‘A global, multi-ethnic and multicultural community.’ Few self-definitions capture such an elevated, positive evaluation in a single expression, defining cultural and ideological expectations of a creative, anti-racist and anti-xenophobic nature, coupled with humanism and equality and celebrating a creolization that lies at the heart of the Eurasian Macanese community. Hence, from the outset, after witnessing the typical Macanese character, manifested physically, symbolically and linguistically by members of the community, in this study I adopted an analytical model based on the concept of ‘creolization’, considered not just in its most traditional sense, as of a predominantly linguistic nature (creole languages) but also in relation to a creole culture and identity (Chaudenson 1992; Collier and Fleischmann 2003; Daus 1989; Knörr 2014; Havik and

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Newitt 2015; O’Neill 2000; Pina-Cabral 2002; Stewart 2007). In Asian contexts, the creole identity was developed from their historic origins as coastal and urban social groups, mediators between administrations or between European traders and local populations, the product of successive ethnic mixtures over the course of centuries from the time of the first contact between Europeans and Asians, thus resulting in their generic designation as Eurasian. Hannerz (1992, 1997) has similarly reinforced this idea that, in addition to the societies of the New World, the concepts of ‘creole’ and ‘creolization’ can be applied more creatively, especially in a globalized world. He thus proposed that not just language but also societies/populations can be deemed ‘creole’. Similarly, it is important to set out from the principle that all social and cultural forms are the result of processes of creolization and/or ethnic mixtures. It is thus necessary to understand the process of creolization as always occurring in given historical-social conditions and within systems of production and consumption that, sometimes, restrict it. Hence, this phenomenon raises the question of the terms and conditions in which miscegenation takes place, and it also demonstrates the ways that power relations are not just reproduced but are also reconfigured during this process, paying special attention to the mediatory and intermediary classes (in-betweenness). To this end, one can imagine a creole continuum, which, at one end, affirms the centre of power, adopts a canon and imitates hegemony and hegemonic styles while, at the other end, distorting lines of power, destabilizing the norm and subverting the centre of power (García-Canclini 1995 [1989]; Hannerz 1992, 1997; Werbner and Modood 2000). Returning to the case of the Macanese, in order to assess the importance creolization has nowadays, not just in terms of political notions in relation to Macao’s multiculturalism but also as a metaphor that defines the identity of the Macanese community both among the diaspora as well as in Macao, it is necessary to contextualize these creoles and creolization against the historical, political and economic backdrop of the history of the Portuguese expansion, colonialism and postcolonialism. As Vale de Almeida (2000, 2004) has observed, the semi-peripheral and subaltern nature of the colonialism developed by the Portuguese Estado Novo could have contributed towards the creation of various and diverse creolized communities, languages and cultural expressions. However, the concept of creole has never played a central role in the ideological or programmatic definitions of Portuguese colonialism. This central role was always assumed by the terms ‘miscegenation’ (miscigenação) and ‘mestizo-ization’ (mestiçagem) that until the first half of the twentieth century reflected the dominant ideology (in both the politi-

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cal and scientific spheres) of ‘anti-miscegenation’. Just as Santos (2005) noted, this effort sought to demonstrate that although the Portuguese in Portugal could have some contact with the colonies – and future ‘degeneration’ could result from this cross-breeding – the Portuguese continued to have singular particularities in terms of their physical characteristics. They thus demonstrated that Portuguese society (in Portugal) represented superior European races, relegating the task of managing difference, inequality and miscegenation to the colonies. It was only during the late colonial period in the twentieth century and after international pressure on Portugal to decolonize its African territories that the Portuguese dictatorship adopted Freyre’s interpretation of the Brazilian identity and the Portuguese expansion as being a hybridizing humanist endeavour (Freyre 2005 [1933]) and radically altered its rhetoric to laud miscegenation and assimilation against the backdrop of a nation spanning continents and races. However, one can question up to what point the phenomenon of miscegenation as advocated by the Portuguese worked ideologically and materially in just one direction: the Portuguese give to ‘others’ their blood, their culture and their religion but did not necessarily absorb anything from the ‘others’. Vale de Almeida (2000, 2004) considers three periods of the history of the Portuguese expansion: India (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries), Brazil (seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) and Africa (nineteenth and twentieth centuries) and initially reaffirms the commercial nature of this expansion, being an attempt to control the trade routes distributing oriental spices, which cannot be confused in any way with the purpose of territorial occupation and an emphasis on the notion of a crusade to promote the Christian faith. The establishment of commercial entrepôts in the Asian contexts of Goa, Malacca and Macao, coupled with the activities of religious conversion to Catholicism and miscegenation between Portuguese men and local women as ways of incorporating the children resulting from these unions (whether formalized by means of religious marriages or not), enabled and promoted the ideal conditions for the emergence of intermediary groups in terms of their physical appearance, language and culture (Daus 1989). It is important to emphasize here that, above all, due to the recognition of descendants and their appropriation of the material and/or symbolic assets (such as the surname) of the fathers, the emergence of these creole populations is characteristic of Portuguese colonialism, which approached racial matters quite differently to, for example, the approach of the British empire at its height. As Boxer (1963) notes, even though the history of the Portuguese expansion was really marked by forms of racism, its actual nature proved to be less accentuated, and its racial classifications – based

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on a scale of purity of blood – were more ambiguous than those of other European colonial empires. This explains why in Hong Kong, until at least the end of the 1970s, it was common to make a clear distinction between the ethnic categories of European, Eurasian and Portuguese (Pina-Cabral 2002), wherein this last category mainly encompassed the descendants of interethnic Macanese families; while in the case of identical unions in Hong Kong, the respective descendants were identified as being Eurasians that meaning, a mixed race person (Lee 2004). However, while observing and comparing some of these Eurasian groups – such as the Kristang in Malacca and the Macanese – although they are different situations from a historical point of view, it is possible to establish parallels in relation to the complexity of the definitions in terms of ethnic and cultural self-identity in contemporary times. While the formulation of the Macanese identity in self-aware terms of being ‘creole’ or ‘mestizo’ is relatively recent, prior to this having been profoundly linked with the Portuguese culture and identity and with the identification of the Macanese as the ‘Portuguese of the Orient’ (Amaro 1988; Pina-Cabral and Lourenço 1993; Pina-Cabral 2002), in the case of the Kristang, especially since Malaysia’s independence in 1957, the creole aspect of their identity has been suppressed, and a new Portuguese identity has been exaggeratedly adopted that is nowadays deemed to be vital in the group’s ethnic identification as the ‘Portuguese of Malacca’ (O’Neill 1999, 2000, 2008). It is thus essential never to lose sight of the specific characteristics of these intricate and multifaceted Eurasian populations. In the present, as in the past, social identities in these creole communities are a veritable kaleidoscope, with varied combinations of resistance to assimilation or disappearance, a capacity for adaptation and resurgence, individual, collective and family forms of social action, the instrumentalization of kinship practices, strategic ethnic and cultural ambivalence and a shared intimacy that spans most of the community. All these aspects are relevant to understanding the emotional and social dimensions that are implicit to managing multiple localized identities and a sense of belonging in multi-ethnic and multicultural contexts. In the case of the Macanese, the community’s nature has been defined over the course of time through processes of inclusion and exclusion – marked by a certain degree of ambivalence and a lack of definition – in relation to external conditions motivating the interests of each of its members and to the integration of individuals in sociability networks formed by people with various ties of familiarity among themselves. The informal group known as the PCB is a good model of this, as shall be seen shortly. The Macanese have defined a collective identity

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by using this type of intimate sociability and the group’s complicity in relation to its own dynamics of inconsistencies, which may or may not be externalized in public forms of behaviour. Steinmüller (2010) has termed this conscious sharing of the same intimacy by groups of people ‘communities of complicity’, derived from Herzfeld’s (1997) concept of cultural intimacy. In other words, despite the self-recognition that certain aspects of the group’s identity can be considered to be external forms of constraint, irony and cynicism, within the intimate space of the collective these characteristics provide members a guarantee of a common social coexistence. The last chapter of this book sheds light on precisely this situation along with the inherent ambivalence of the Macanese community. Academic literature thus acquaints us with various dimensions of community. One of the most dynamic and influential dimensions – by Benedict Anderson (2006 [1983]) – is the notion of an ‘imagined community’. According to Anderson, this is a type of moral community with an inherently limited (due to having boundaries) and sovereign fraternal solidarity, such as a nation. What makes a community imagined is the fact that its members will never know all the members of the community; they will never meet all of them or hear of all of them – nonetheless, the image of the communion lives in the mind of each member (2006 [1983]: 6). Anthony Cohen authored another noteworthy essay on ‘community studies’ in his book The Symbolic Construction of Community (1985). Here, the author takes a structural approach to the concept of ‘community’ that is distinct from previous approaches. With an interpretative and experimental vision, Cohen views ethnic and local communities as a cultural field translating into a symbolic construction, with a system of values, norms and moral codes that provide a sense of identity to its members within that closed system. Cohen emphasizes the limits of a community in the circumstances in which people become aware of the implications of belonging to a certain community. For Cohen, the main question is not to ascertain whether the community’s structural limits have withstood attacks brought about by social changes or not but, rather, if the community’s members are capable or not of manipulating these limits to inculcate vitality into their culture and to build a symbolic community that gives sense to their values and identities, by means of which they feel they belong to a more general social whole. Just as these studies have defined it, in sociological terms, a community is revealed during a social clash between individual situations in which a community is, symbolically, compared with other communities. The members of such a collective not only feel part of the community but they also act in a manner that reflects this belonging.

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However, two decades later, Rapport and Amit (2002) focused precisely on the fact that an individual, while belonging to a certain community, has the right to resist and to choose to adapt his or her behaviour and chart their own course, beyond and/or outside the norms and the expectations that have been normalized by the cultural and social group of which they are a part. Viewing the Macanese community as a set of people whose members have a name, elements of a culture, an origin myth and a historical memory in common, who are inextricably associated with a given territory and have an intimate sense of solidarity, I suggest that an anthropological study of the community should demonstrate how apparently natural categories such as ethnic and cultural identity are, in truth, constructed by history, society and context. From the mid-1970s, the concept of ethnicity – a highly contested term – played an important role in the theoretic thought of anthropological science, partially as a response to the geopolitical changes caused by postcolonialism and by the growth of activist movements by ethnic minorities in various industrial states. From then on, theories concerning ethnicity proliferated as an attempt to explain phenomena as diverse as social and political changes, formation of identity, social conflict, race relations, assimilation, etc. Among the various theoretical approaches developed to understand ethnicity and its role in building models, the following are noteworthy: primordialists, situationists and instrumentalists (Eriksen 1993, for a review of ethnicity). In simple terms, the primordialist view affirms that ethnic identification is based on an individual’s profound and primordial link to a group. From this perspective, ethnicity is accumulated over the course of time, maintaining and preserving its original condition while simultaneously resisting attempts at cultural penetration, dilution and/or absorption by dominant elements (Smith 1986; Geertz 1993 [1973] for a critical discussion of the primordialist model). In contrast, situationists emphasize the contingency and fluidity of ethnic identity, referring to it as something that is constructed in a given historical and social context instead of being accepted as an inherited reality. Fredrik Barth (1969) was one of the harshest critics of the primordialist paradigm. According to Barth, social actors classify themselves and ‘others’ according to their interaction, and ethnic groups only emerge when they make use of an ethnic identity to define themselves. Barth thus rejected the idea, which had prevailed until then, that isolation or a geographic and cultural separation was fundamental to preserve ethnic groups and to maintain cultural diversity. For Barth, more than anything else, ethnicity was a question of politics, making decisions and orientation based on objectives. Simultaneously,

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his argument also suggests that identities are unstable and can adapt to various contexts, even though, as a rule, they maintain a minimum level of permanent elements. Finally, the instrumentalist approach views ethnicity as an instrument for political mobilization exploited by leaders and interest groups in a pragmatic quest to promote their own interests (Cohen 2001 [1974]; Hechter 1987). With the advent of a new interpretative paradigm based on postmodernism, the attention of anthropologists then turned to negotiating various themes concerning the limits of groups and identity. In this atmosphere of a renewed sensitivity to the dialectics between the objective and the subjective in the process of forming and maintaining ethnic identity, even the aspect of negotiation that Barth attributed to ethnic limits in Ethnic Groups and Boundaries (1969) is overly reminiscent of the preceding and objectivist tendency towards materialization/ concretization. It was then argued that terms such as ‘group’, ‘category’ and ‘limit’ continued to connote and reinforce the nature of identity as being acquired and fixed. In this sense, setting out from the anthropological concept of ethnicity broadly defined ‘as collective identification that is socially constructed with reference to putative cultural similarity and difference’ (1997: 75), Jenkins blames anthropologists for having directed their research almost exclusively towards ethnic groups in self-denial, thus neglecting questions relating to categorization by others, power relations and racism. In Rethinking Ethnicity (1997), Jenkins proposed integrating these aspects in ethnicity studies so as to rethink ethnicity and its relationship with ‘race’ and ‘nation’. Another of the most effusive criticisms of the notion of ethnic groups is by Brubaker in Ethnicity Without Groups (2004). In this work, Brubaker insists on affirming that ethnic groups are not real. In his view, what is real is the feeling of a collective shared by members of the group. Ethnicity as conceived by Brubaker is cognitive, it is a point of view, it is a way of seeing the world (Brubaker 2004; Brubaker et al. 2004). In this sense, identity does not lead people to act in a certain manner; rather, people create their own identity according to their interests and personal objectives. Thus, instead of ‘identity’ one should speak only about the continuous and open process of ‘identification’. The production of the ‘I’ depends on a succession of empathic identifications that imply recognizing the similarities between the ‘I’ and the perception of difference among the ‘other’; hence, the process of creating a social person is inextricably linked to the person’s identification by others. In contemporary contexts, identities should thus be viewed as ‘collective fictions’ that are socially and politically constructed with reference to a given prevailing cultural reality, using a defined form of conscious

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and strategic self-representation that the actors of a given imagined community create of themselves. This is a constantly changing process, and it is precisely this incessant metamorphosis that causes the constitution and reinforcement of identities, giving them an illusion of stability in scenarios that provide great variability, at the heart of which identity is defined as difference (Bhabha 1994). It is according to this order of ideas or, rather, according to processes of identification that can only be understood over the course of time that the concept of identity is used in this book.

Creating and Re-creating Identity and Memory in Contemporary Times Identity is nowadays, more than ever, constantly being reformulated, and not just in the case of the Macanese but in any modern urban society, or even other types of society, exposed to the effects of a globalization that has begun to cause cultural shocks and the consequent processes of transculturation and cultural indefinition. Currently, it is hard to consider a culture to be a stable unit with perfectly defined limits and confined to a territory. To understand the contemporary world, it is essential to study how cultures mingle, at what pace and in what way, what is gained and lost in the process, how this coexistence takes place and how difference is kept alive by means of constant negotiation by social actors. Both culture and ethnicity are thus complex repertoires that people experience, use, learn and make during their daily social lives, within which they elaborate a partial sentiment of themselves and an understanding of others that is constantly under construction. Before proceeding to what is one of the central concepts of this book – identity, involving ethnic and cultural aspects – I would like to clarify that I have chosen to use the two categories together as adjectives in relation to the Macanese identity. I grappled with this dilemma on innumerable occasions due to the way they are mutually intertwined and even indistinguishable in two different areas. I thus felt that it would be more useful to combine them into a kind of single category where the two blend together, as in the way the Macanese themselves use and apply these words socially to describe a series of processes, ideas and experiences related to themselves and to others. Despite the vast academic production in this regard in the field of the social sciences, for the purposes of this analysis the concept of identity is considered to be socially significant, not only, as has been mentioned, due to the fact that social agents use it frequently but also because it is

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still viewed as a valid and productive tool for anthropological research. An argument that can be made in its defence is that identity is a necessity while recognizing and defining subjects and social groups and, above all, it plays a vital role in claims for multiculturalist identity policies that seek to validate difference in a positive manner. By resorting to ethnography, anthropologists have been particularly successful in understanding and explaining the ins and outs of such (if not all) social processes relating to the notion of identity. Some of the most pertinent contributions in the field of anthropology (and occasionally in the field of sociology) can be found in the works of: Bastos and Bastos (2011), Castells (1998 [1997]), Friedman (1994), Gilroy (1997), in the interdisciplinary volume edited by Taylor and Spencer (2004), Cohen (1994), Holland et al. (1998), Anthias (2002) and Jenkins (2008 [1996]). Both the last two authors (Anthias and Jenkins) prepared a very interesting critical review of the bibliographic production concerning the concept and the theories of identity. Moreover, the works by Bauman (1991, 2004), Bhabha (1994), Clayton (2009), Pina-Cabral (2010) and Smelser (1998) are worthy of being highlighted as they are closer to the main current of my analysis; namely, the inherent ambivalence of the Macanese identity as a floating reference – something that is recognized by everyone but is camouflaged in different ways according to the perspective assumed by the (individual and collective) actors involved in social interaction. Memory is what gives us a feeling of belonging, existence and permanence in time, hence the importance of ‘places of memory’ both for human societies as well as for individuals. These places are particularly connected to personal recollections, but there can also be commemorative places in public memory – via the ideological apparatus of nation states. Even though memory has been an object of scientific research since the nineteenth century in the fields of philosophy and psychology in laboratory settings, novels have made some of the greatest contributions towards understanding man’s relationship with time and memory; the masterful À la Recherche du Temps Perdu17 by the French novelist Marcel Proust is especially noteworthy. The social sciences evidenced a greater interest in this theme only during the late twentieth century, when the social basis of memory began to be considered alongside a surge in literary production. Since then, innumerable researchers have explored the ways in which social factors have combined to affect the standardization of memory and to what extent individual memory can help codify the resources used during the act of remembrance. According to this line of analysis, they are of the view that memory – a concept that encom-

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passes, among other things, the significance of ‘means’ of remembering as well as a ‘message’ (remembrance) – has a collective aspect that goes far beyond the eminently individual act of recalling, since individuals are socialized within the scope of acquired social contexts, which are thus an inherent backdrop for their biography. Maurice Halbwachs ushered in this ‘new’ theoretical approach to studying memory – as a collective phenomenon – introducing the concept into the lexicon of the social sciences and influencing all subsequent academic production concerning this topic. In his classic work on collective memory, Halbwachs18 characterizes memory as a filter of past events that tends to preserve only those images that support the current meaning of the group identity. Clearly influenced by Durkheim’s notions of mechanical solidarity and moral consensus (1973 [1893]), Halbwachs thus considers collective memory to be the locus anchoring the identity of the group, ensuring its continuity over time and space. The author’s theory of collective memory expresses the notion that a society really can have a memory. The premise that all social groups develop a memory of their own collective past and that this memory is the basis for a feeling of identity that makes it possible to identify the group and distinguish it from other groups is even today the starting point for all studies on social memory. Even though he concedes that it is the individual who remembers, Halbwachs does not fail to emphasize that the individual does so only as a member of a social group. He thus does not explore how individual memories can be transformed into collective memories of a group through the real interaction of the group’s members. Halbwachs also overlooked the fact that social memories are often the product of a deliberate political construct and the reality that the mnemonic constructions staged by national powers are manifestly incongruous with the social order, resulting from contestations, tension and conflicts. This emphasis on the political dimension of memory ushered in a line of research that underscored the fact that memory is a construct of the present – that is, that images of the past are strategically invented and manipulated by dominant sectors of society to serve their own needs in the present. This perspective, which has gained various followers in the most diverse disciplinary fields, seeks to analyse who controls or imposes the contents of social memory and how this socially imposed memory serves the current purposes of instituted powers. The most renowned researchers of this paradigm are Hobsbawn and Ranger, and their work The Invention of Tradition (2012 [1983]) sought to demonstrate the deliberate invention of traditions and their dissemination by the political sphere, imposing an official memory with a view to legitimizing the

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processes of building nations, especially significant during the entire nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. Most of the studies that are part of this current (a form of early postmodernism, according to Olick and Robbins 1998) emphasize analysing the impact of these representations on a group’s social cohesion and on the legitimization of the instituted authority, as opposed to losing a sense of community precipitated by the idea of modernity. Despite the many criticisms that have been aimed at this model, caused by abusive use without due reflection on its concepts and by the transversal explanations of some of its premises, such as those referring to the relationship between memory and power and that all traditions are invented, it does demonstrate that memory is not exclusively individual. Instead, memory is constituted by an individual faculty framed within the limits of a collective filiation and prepared by means of symbolic acts, always involving remembrance, translation, oblivion and absence (Berger and Luckmann 1966; Pollak 1989). The collaboration between anthropology and psychology defines the context for the contribution of Maurice Bloch (1998) to the debate concerning the concept of memory. Arguing (just like Sperber 1985) that psychologists should begin to consider not just private representations but also public configurations of memory in their research and that anthropologists should learn with psychologists how the mental presence of the past affects what people do in the present, Bloch considers two types of memory: autobiographical or episodic memory and historical or semantic memory. Episodic memory is linked to the notion of the ‘I’ and refers to the autobiographical description of the event; it is procedural and chronologically ordered; it deals with memories of past events in the life of an individual; and experiences are structured in an irrational manner. On the contrary, historical memory is a rationally organized memory and an abstract description of knowledge acquired in relation to given events. This type of memory is not just derived from autobiographical memory but also uses it to produce generalization. The contribution of oral historians underscored the highly mediatory nature of memory when considered in light of lived experiences as well as historic events, or even the active production of meanings and interpretations capable of influencing the present. According to this point of view, narratives and memories constitute events in themselves and are not just descriptions of events. For example, Connerton (1989) argues that social memory is shaped by time, constituting a journey through history that is revisited and materialized in the present by a material and immaterial legacy and particular symbols that reinforce the collective feeling of identity and afford human beings a comforting feeling of

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permanence in time. Connerton also suggests that the maximum representation of collective memory occurs in commemorative ceremonies insofar as they explicitly claim a continuity with the past through their performative nature. With a view to understanding the mechanisms and the dynamics of the transmission of memory (individual and collective) and the type of memories that are associated with social representations of identity in the Macanese community, I have adopted two theoretical currents in this study: (1) that which affirms that any act of representing the past always involves power relations, presenting memory as an attribution of meaning; (2) that which examines the selectivity of memory as being inevitable and intrinsic to the fact that subjects interpret the world – and thus the past – based on their own personal experience, formatted by significant cultural scenarios. As one of the most recent researchers of collective memory has observed, we belong to ‘mnemonic communities’ – communities of memory – which can be families or nations. Acquiring the memories of a group and, consequently, identifying with the group’s collective past is part of the process of acquiring any social identity, and familiarizing its members with this past is an important part of efforts by communities to assimilate its members (Zerubavel 2003). Considering the specific configuration of memory in contemporary times, many studies also mention the appearance of a feeling of nostalgia as a reaction to the present plural modernity (Davis 1979; Herzfeld 1997; Ivy 1995; Stewart 1966; Turner 1994). In this study, I have also sought to explore the main relationships between memory and food in a group of Macanese, such as the role played by food in diverse forms of nostalgia or circumstances in which memories are invoked through food (Sutton 2000, 2001). Academics have similarly paid special attention to institutions of memory, especially focusing on museums as articulating and constructing memories and identities in the public domain while simultaneously serving as vehicles to transmit meanings from the past to the present (Karp et al. 1992). Emerging from an approach from the point of view of the ‘mercantilization of memory’ by means of the culture industry and tourism, authors such as Silvano (1997) have analysed how the past is important in maintaining the identities of groups in a context of a new global concept of space and how memory (typified by Bloch (1998) as being historical) is objectified through cultural instrumentalization – such as heritage – to negotiate change. In this regard, my research aims to explore the practices related to cultural heritage and the construction of identities in Macao’s social and cultural space, framed within complex political and economic processes that are simultaneously local and global, which are strategically relevant to claim and

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celebrate a Macanese identity in contemporary times (Comaroff and Comaroff 2009).

On the Macao Trail: Methodologies and Intimate Sociability Networks ‘Macao has always been very far away, so far away that Portugal often forgot Macao.’ This was an observation – and even an accusation – that I often heard from my interlocutors on diverse occasions. In a certain way, this statement sufficiently justified my scant scholastic knowledge of this ‘Portuguese overseas territory’ located in the remote Far East, which history (or legend) has it was conquered by valiant Portuguese sailors who bravely fought against pirates in China’s southern seas and helped the Chinese to free Macao from such a siege. This feat earned them what was to become a port for Portuguese ships and merchandise during the monsoon seasons and, from then onward, the Chinese and Portuguese lived happily ever after. Leaving aside my irony, it is a fact that there are currently many similarities between the general idea of what Macao was and my primary school memories, which at the time were undergoing a heady revival of pride in ‘being Portuguese’, extolled by the glorious history of the Portuguese Discoveries celebrated in a hit song by Da Vinci. ‘Conquistador’ – the song that won the twenty-fifth Festival RTP da Canção in 1989 and represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest – successively enumerated the grandeur of the Portuguese empire in a catchy refrain19 that quickly became very popular in Portugal and among Portuguese communities abroad. Even today, I can easily remember and reproduce all the lyrics. Macao was one more place that the Portuguese reached, where they established their presence and that thus became Portuguese, despite the different contours that always distinguished it from Portuguese colonies in Africa. The overseas colonial wars in Guinea, in Angola and in Mozambique, which ended with the military coup that deposed the government in Portugal on 25 April 1974 and set the Portuguese process of decolonization in motion, were the events that helped spread awareness of the situation in Portugal’s African colonies among most families throughout the country, via their sons leaving to serve in the war or via returning colonial settlers knows as retornados, who were forced to return to Portugal, leaving behind all their possessions and a comfortable way of life. As for Macao, ‘nothing happened there, nobody knew anything about Macao’ – I was told by my interviewees – at least not until the grand Universal Exhibition EXPO’98 in Lisbon, where Macao had its own pavilion, the objective

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being to acquaint visitors with the Portuguese presence in the Orient. The displays included replicas of the façade of the Ruins of St Paul’s and the Chinese Lou Lim Ieoc garden and a model of the skyline of this ever-changing territory that had been expanded and modernized, even including flashy neon signs and working slot machines to reveal Macao’s gambling tourism industry. Visits concluded with a film documenting the history of a Macao that had witnessed 450 years of a Portuguese presence until it was to be handed over to China in what was then the next year – 1999. Later, while pursuing university studies at ISCTE-Lisbon University Institute, it was common to find that curricula tended towards maintaining a certain academic tradition in the field of anthropology in Portugal and its link with colonialism in Africa and studies of Portuguese rural areas and peasant communities. The exceptions to this trend, among research by the teaching staff and concerning the geographical area of Asia, were aimed at research on India and Malaysia. Thus, my aloofness towards Macao and the broader context of China continued until I concluded my graduate studies in 2002 and an opportunity arose that same year to do a professional internship at the Macao Scientific and Cultural Centre in Lisbon. The CCCM is a public institute currently under the stewardship of the Ministry of Education and Science. It was inaugurated on 30 November 1999 as a result of joint efforts by the governments of Macao and Portugal. It was created to institutionalize, promote and disseminate scientific, cultural and artistic cooperation and research in Portugal in the context of Portugal’s past and present relations with Macao and with the People’s Republic of China as well as international and intercultural relations between Europe and AsiaPacific regions, centred on Portugal and on Macao.20 This was where I dived head first into a Macao about which I knew little more than what I had seen and remembered from a hasty visit to EXPO’98 and the photographs and descriptions of a journey by my grandmother, who every year embarked on one great travel adventure. Containing a documentation centre with a comprehensive documental archive on Macao and China – especially well-equipped with the innumerable publications that the Macao Cultural Institute produced in the years preceding the handover – and the Macao Museum, the physical environment of the CCCM was abuzz with the stories that echoed through its offices and corridors, reflecting different experiences of Macao, since many of the people who worked there had lived in Macao. Every day, I was immersed in this new and enigmatic universe, which became a familiar and everyday presence even from 12,000 kilometres away. I later joined

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Figure 1.1.  Details of the Macao Pavilion at the EXPO’98 in Lisbon. At the top is a replica of the façade of the Ruins of St Paul’s and the central area of the pavilion. In the picture beneath on the left, is the replica of Lou Lim Ieoc garden with its lake and bridge, also included in the pavilion. Photographs provided by Guida Machado. The Macao pavilion continued to operate for several months after the complex was reopened at the Parque das Nações borough. It was later acquired by the Loures Town Hall and dismantled so that the structure and the respective façade could be rebuilt at the Loures City Park, just a few kilometres away. After it was rebuilt, the pavilion was opened to the public in 2008, housing an art gallery, a restaurant with a tearoom and the Loures Town Hall’s Youth Support Office (photo to the right, below). Source: All about Portugal website.

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the team working on the project known as the Macao Virtual Museum, during which I was assigned the task of researching content for the website sections ‘Memories’ and ‘Macao in the World’, strictly focusing on the Macanese community. It was then that my path to studying Macao and the Macanese began to take shape and was enriched by a curiosity that exists even today. I spent long summer evenings with the eminent novelist and storyteller Henrique de Senna Fernandes at his home in Lisbon, where he usually chose to stay every year in August, escaping Macao’s sweltering humidity. He was already over 80 years old and, considering his advanced age and poor health, he used the opportunity to undergo his annual medical check-up. In his house, the living room was spacious and cool, decorated with solid Chinese furniture and tables made of dark wood. The ornamentation consisted of statues and artefacts wrought from jade and ivory, along with China – white porcelain with scenes painted in blue. We were served some tea and then, in a trice, Henrique seemed to be four years old again, vividly describing the toy that Santa Claus – he used the name in English – had given him that Christmas. He recounted the Senna Fernandes mansion during the 1920s – housing various generations of a numerous, aristocratic and ultraconservative family, known for its customs and Christian values, akin to other traditional families in Macao – and the frenzied Carnival festivals during the 1930s and 1940s, with chic gala balls at the Macao Club and satirical theatre performances in the creole Patuá at the D. Pedro V Theatre or the Tunas Macaenses music groups going from house to house, where revellers were received with appreciative audiences and lavish traditional Macanese meals known as Chá Gordo, literally ‘fat tea’. He also described to me, almost as though from the pages of one of his novels, the biographical memories of the loss of traditions associated with the economic and social depression Macao experienced during and after the Second World War, his experiences in Portugal when he studied law at the University of Coimbra and his return to Macao during the 1950s after an absence of almost a decade, where he ended up marrying a young Chinese woman despite his family’s disapproval. Henrique de Senna Fernandes painted a portrait of life in old-style Macao, recreating the human, historic and geographic environment of that territory, which was part of Portugal’s colonial domain. He described the judgement of the Catholic Church and how the Portuguese-speaking community coexisted with the Chinese Buddhist community amidst a web of complex relations, which he revealed in a critical and even sarcastic manner, relating it to his own personal context and origins: the Macanese society that permeates all his literary works, of which I am listing only a few

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titles here: Nam Van (1997 [1978]), A Trança Feiticeira (1998 [1993]) or Amor e Dedinhos de Pé (1994). It was while listening to and reading about these memories of such a Macao, viewed from a distance of several thousand kilometres and several decades, narratives about this tiny enigmatic place in the Far East that the Portuguese reached in the sixteenth century, and where they subsequently established a presence and constituted families that together gave rise to a sui generis local community, provided the empirical basis of my research, I was able to define the contours of my analysis. This Macanese community in many ways challenges and goes beyond the concept of being descended from the Portuguese, in any biological or ethnic and cultural composition; it is a community that emerged and developed on the fringes of a small Portuguese Catholic community, which wielded executive and administrative power in the territory, with the illusory demarcation of the Chinese Buddhist community, who represented the overwhelming majority of the local population and controlled economic niches in Macao. Researching the social dynamics and the historic and local identities of the Macanese Eurasian community, I was an observer-participant in this context, or rather contexts of action, and collected information by means of different methodological techniques. I produced intimate ethnographic descriptions of varied contexts and did not focus on any single one per se. Instead, I chose various pertinent scenarios to capture the condition of ‘translocational positionality’ (Anthias 2001, 2002), which the subjects involved in my study evidenced from the very outset and which is so typical of this community scattered around the globe. Before proceeding any further, I would like to explain this concept of translocational positionality, explored by Floya Anthias, and how it is related to the notion of transnational belonging associated with phenomena of hybridism, diaspora and cosmopolitanism that, in turn, provide different ways of perceiving how ethnic and cultural identity is affected by processes of dislocation and movements of populations that challenge exclusivity and local particularities. Translocational positionality refers to taking a position within a set of social relations and practices that involve identification and performance/action. In other words, it is a social position, resulting from the establishment of ties of affection, that translates into actions, practices and meanings. After focusing on location and dislocation, it is possible to recognize the importance of the context and the situational nature of what is claimed and produced as attributes of identity, in different and variable social locations, resulting in complex and even contradictory positioning by the actors involved (Anthias 2002: 501–2).

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In Macao’s current post-transition period of sovereignty and power, after the recent establishment of the Macao SAR, I tried to understand how Eurasian Macanese (individuals and the community), historically associated with the Portuguese colonial project in Macao, have been reacting – in their multiple positionalities between ‘themselves’ and ‘others’ – to the profound impact that this major change has had on their group dynamics. The key issues addressed are: will the affirmation of an ‘enduring Portuguese-ness’ cultivated by the Macanese be enhanced or diluted, or will the community follow a different path, combining specific opportunities of identification deriving from the new context in which the Macanese find themselves? I was also keen to understand how (self )definitions of what it means to be ‘a Macanese person’ are interpreted and disseminated through memory, what type of memories are associated with this identity and how, through this process, the social representations of the Macanese ethnic and cultural identity are constituted as identity stereotypes that can be instrumentalized (Brubaker 2004; Costa 2005). Is the Macanese identity contextually achieved through activities performed in the present? Is it an essence automatically inherited from the past but re-created with reference to the political and social reality prevailing in current times? Is it the product of instrumental strategies of social reproduction derived from a certain form of conscious selfrepresentation that the Macanese make of themselves? These questions pave the way for this study’s main hypothesis: is the Macanese identity purely one of an imagined community that is constituted by an open group of people where each of them builds their personal life project within a process of reflexive interaction between self-identity and collective identity, keeping them connected through complex social networks? This was the starting point for my ethnographic fieldwork: to identify and understand these social networks, how they present themselves, their composition and configuration, their scale, and above all, how I could reach and become a part of these networks. As for the manuals concerning methods and techniques for anthropological research that I used during my fieldwork, I focused on the following four works: Amit (2000), Beaud and Weber (1997), Davies (1999) and Robben and Sluka (2012 [2006]), each of which provide recent updates and rigorous reviews of the classical literature on ethnographic methodologies (in alphabetical order, some of the names of a long list: Bernard 2011 [1988]; Denzin and Lincoln 2011 [1994]; Ellen 1984; Hammersley and Atkinson 2007 [1983]; Mauss 1989 [1926]; Naroll and Cohen 1973; Pelto and Pelto 1978 [1970]; Stocking 1983). In addition to their useful preparations for fieldwork and a better understanding of the process, these studies pay special attention to new

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forms of reflexiveness mirrored in contemporary currents such as globalization, postcolonialism, a review of gender studies, multi-situational ethnography and ethics in anthropology. These works also provide a useful adaptation and renewal of traditional ethnographic methods in keeping with the requirements of these issues. The participant-observation introduced by Malinowski (2002 [1922]) as the pillar of anthropological research during ethnographic fieldwork continues to be the distinctive hallmark of the field, ensuring that anthropologists have a great deal of familiarity and knowledge of the object of their studies. Participant-observation is thus the permanent base methodology for compiling information in the various areas I have examined. It provides a singular, intimate and experience-based dimension that has always been a core element of my research and that I am now attempting to reflect while writing this monograph. I also applied other methodological resources of a biographical nature while interacting with my twenty key informants: (1) genealogy, in the form of a strategic diagram highlighting the ‘practical kinship’ of informants – that is, a synthetic mapping of ties of consanguinity, affinity and spirituality, with which more intensive social relations are maintained (Bamford and Leach 2009); (2) brief biographical portraits (O’Neill 2009, for a review of the literature on life-histories), which I did not converge into complex and lengthy classical life-histories of some individual egos but rather I sought to illustrate the processes of how informants reconstructed life paths and their interpretations of the world – with all the emotional expressions and subtleties of oral narrative – sometimes intersecting and converging with case studies (various examples of how useful this technique of partial life-histories or abbreviated trajectories can be are contained in Cole 1991 or Watson and Watson-Franke 1985); (3) family histories (Pina-Cabral and Lima 2005), which, by combining life-histories with the genealogical method, allow us to focus on the extended relational context constituted around the ego, and his/her integration within the complex world of relationships where he/she belongs and thus avoiding a kind of isolated, individualistic, self-centred or selfvalidating discourse, which has been subjected to Bourdieu’s ‘biographical illusion critique’ (1986). Prepared on the basis of the data compiled during in-depth and semi-directed interviews21 (Spradley 1979, a classic and very relevant work on ethnographic interviews, and Kvale 2008 [1996], a key text that provided theoretical and practical tools for interview script writing and conducting interviews), these methodologies played a decisive role in understanding the phenomenon of the Macanese and their social representation, based on their mindset, cognitive processes, intellectual constructs, images, affections and beliefs.

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I sought to apply this patient and empathic listening to the discourses about themselves while conducting the interviews, in the faithful transcription of the interviews and, in general, as a key guideline of all the analysis of content I carried out in relation to the multiple places where the Macanese community is positioned, so as to re-create a polyphonic interpretation of the group and the richness of their everyday life. My fieldwork spanned eighteen months (between March 2010 and September 2011), and in addition to in situ ethnographic research in Macao and the Lisbon metropolitan area,22 it involved virtual research, since the internet proved to be an intrinsic part of the Macanese community’s everyday life (Hine 2000 and 2005, as a guide to ethnographic research on the internet and the use of virtual methods). The internet in general – where websites on themes relating to Macao and the Macanese abound – and Facebook in particular constitute the preferred social network that is massively used by the Macanese in their daily contacts, (re)encounters and social interaction to re(live) a Macao that is far removed in terms of space and time for the majority of Macanese. Creating a Facebook profile on my research project, which I visited and updated daily, allowed me to disseminate my work, to observe and to analyse the content (posts, photographs, comments, among others) and to actively interact online with the members of this community on a global scale, which would have been impossible to achieve without this platform.23 Sharing the argument put forth by Appadurai (2005 [1996]), I believe that the ‘work of the collective imagination’ in the Macanese community is propelled by electronic communications with a broad reach as a daily social practice that completely surpasses Macao’s territorial limits and enables the group to begin to imagine and feel things together (hard to share in any other way), which then converge into forms of translocal social action. Such actions include supporting and participating in projects organized by formal and informal associations such as the planned photography exhibition and publication by the ADM of the photobook ‘Album da Malta’. This project involved compiling images of the territory between the 1950s and 1970s from the community living in Macao and abroad so as to re-create a social portrait of the Macanese community during that period, culminating with an exhibition of the photographs and a printed volume. Another such project was the inclusion of the Patuá Theatre and Macanese Gastronomy on the list of Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2012, the applications being submitted, respectively, by the amateur theatre group Dóci Papiaçám di Macau and by the Macanese Gastronomic Association (CGM). Numerous activities to promote Macanese cuisine and gastronomic culture (tastings,

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workshops, talks, the publication of books, etc.), involving members of the community around the world, have been developed not just by the CGM but also by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), various Macanese groups and clubs and, in a broader manner, by the Macanese Communities Council (CCM) at the Macanese communities meetings hosted in Macao every three years. Another such initiative was the creation of the PCB in 2002, an informal group, which is thus different from the other Macanese associations in Macao or in Portugal, where it was organized and is based. The PCB unites about fifty people – founders, friends and family members distributed throughout Portugal, Macao and the diaspora. With a view to bringing together compatriots living in Portugal and to encourage social interaction among them – pointing a finger at the Casa (Macao House) in Portugal and its lack of such initiatives for members – the activities of this group were structured around a calendar of events, the website GenteDeMacau and the PCB Magazine BlogSpot. It is immediately evident – from the group’s name – that the main reason for creating the PCB – although the founders affirm that there are no formal guidelines – was to bring members together around the table. In typical Portuguese and Chinese fashion – as the founders say, ‘the Macanese inherited the best of both worlds’ – the star attraction is Macanese cuisine, which is the hallmark and most coveted element of the PCB events, where members can clearly express their love of food. Another characteristic of this group is the homogenous age of its members, all of whom are aged between 55 and 65 years and, in addition to being collateral relatives, they share a network of friendships formed at school in Macao during the 1960s and 1970s. Just like blood ties, this network of friendship among erstwhile school colleagues from Macao plays a vital role in uniting members at PCB events as well as among the Macanese community based in Portugal. My interlocutors estimated that there are no more than 300 Macanese individuals scattered throughout Portugal, the largest concentration living in the Lisbon metropolitan area. Becoming a part of these Macanese social networks, both at a virtual level as well as at the level of the PCB, participating in their events and meetings in Lisbon, which I attended for twelve months, allowed me to interact – and to compile the respective ethnographic records of my fieldwork diaries – with the members of this community outside the formal sessions of the interviews. The interviews were conditioned by being invitations to meet at homes or other locations that were convenient for the person being interviewed, where it was not possible to simply observe the community. My discovery of the PCB was only possible after my exploratory journey to Macao. I went to Macao at the end of

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June 2010 and took with me some contacts for two or three Macanese associations that had been suggested by people at the Casa and the Macao International Tourism Office (MITO) in Portugal, along with the many stories, descriptions of places and memories zealously guarded by those who had shared their experiences of living in that singular universe with me. I first glimpsed Macao at night, as a silhouette, getting my first glance of the territory from the TurboJet – a catamaran that travels from Hong Kong airport to Macao in about fifty-five minutes (an easy segment of the journey, without it being necessary to collect luggage or leave the Chek Lap Kok terminal) – as it cut through the green and suddenly muddy waters of the Pearl River Delta. The image before my eyes contradicted everything I thought I knew about Macao: a provincial contrast to Hong Kong, without the concrete skyscrapers and neon Philips signs soaring into the sky. My eyelids were heavy from jetlag, but I was quickly revived upon seeing the neon glare of the glitzy casinos before me. The city’s contours grew ever sharper as we neared, suggesting with each passing moment a modern city, full of movement, light and colours, as if replicating neighbouring Hong Kong on a smaller scale. Before the ferry finished its journey, the lights and those curious golden buildings disappeared along the river and coastline, giving way to a dirty and degraded urban matrix, or at least that is how it seemed in comparison to what I had just seen. The harbour terminal was very simple, and apart from a sole counter that was open for immigration control where passports were presented along with a form indicating the reasons for visiting the MSAR, there was only a single atrium where luggage was collected. After two flights and a ferry journey, I was delighted to be reunited with my bags. Paak Kap Chou is the site of the Camões Garden adjoining the Garden House, the headquarters of the Orient Foundation in Macao, which hosted my visit. The Portuguese toponyms are simultaneously written in Chinese characters, albeit without corresponding, both names being painted in blue onto white tiles placed on picturesque plaques. The artistic mosaic Portuguese cobblestones (calçada portuguesa) at the Senado Square, the Ruins of St Paul’s and the rest of the circuit in the Historical Centre of Macao, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, are all tourist highlights that attract millions of visitors to the narrow streets of the older area of the peninsula. Once inside the historical city centre, a few metres from the Ruins of St Paul’s – the historical monument that attracts the greatest number of visitors – it is impossible to escape the most congested arteries, making it hard to walk or even to breathe what with the high level of humidity at that time of the year. The Portuguese language, the numerous and well-preserved colonial

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buildings, fortresses and Catholic churches, Portuguese food and the Portuguese presence in the form of vestiges that dot the city are conserved as though in a museum and are limited to a tourist circuit that inspired the slogan: Macao, a world of difference, the difference is Macao. The idea of business is imbued into that scenario, maximizing the potential of local difference in every product offered up to curious clients, who are keen to spend their money. Moreover, the abundant street commerce is a lucrative and traditional source of income for Chinese families in Macao, who use their stores not just to work but also as their kitchen, dining room, mah-jong hall and even bedroom. The curtain of casinos, another universe lying within their walls, initially did not allow me to see that uninterrupted frenzy of innumerable people and intense traffic crammed into narrow streets between old buildings and swathes of hanging electric cables, incomprehensible shouted speech and intense and heady smells. In turn, none of this hubbub traversed the walls of calm gardens, within which the melody of Chinese violins accompanied verses from Cantonese opera and the twittering of exotic birds inside cages hung on the branches of trees, which provided refreshing shade for the many regular visitors who exercised there, engaging in various physical practices to ‘get the blood circulating’, as they say. Macao therefore consists of different micro-universes that do not necessarily intersect or impose on each other. As I have observed, there is a cultural industry that promotes the commoditization and consumption of a hypothetical single identity of Macao and a gambling industry that – through its enormous and extravagant casino and resort enterprises – re-creates a gigantic Disneyland visited by millions of people attracted by the easy money of gambling and the wonder of seeing, for example, a Little Venice, without having to leave Asia and, in many cases, without really entering Macao. However, this alienation is equally evident in the territory’s population, which is divided on the basis of language: (1) local Macao people who speak Cantonese; (2) Mandarinspeaking emigrants from mainland China who have recently settled in the MSAR and are rapidly growing in number and who (at least as far as my basic Mandarin allowed me to understand) are unfamiliar with and are not interested in Macao’s history or its current political system (Hao 2011); (3) English speakers from the Philippines who work as domestic maids and building labour, jobs shunned by a Chinese lower class that is rising economically; and (4) a Portuguese-speaking community, which moves within its own professional (public servants, teachers, lawyers, journalists, architects, etc.), residential (Taipa island) and social (family and friends) circles. I fell into the last category and its respective network of knowledge and social spaces, which allowed me to access

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contacts and privileged information, such as the existence of the PCB and its events in Lisbon. After returning to Portugal, I successfully contacted this group, and in September 2010 I was invited to the Moon Festival. During the celebration of that Chinese festival, which heralds the onset of autumn, I was introduced to approximately fifty people and became immersed in the world of Macanese cuisine. I was able to observe and speak individually with some of the people there, with whom I exchanged visiting cards and from whom I heard various stories and comments about Macao and the Macanese way of life. From then on, my ties with the PCB members and, through it, other Macao offspring – filhos da terra, as they describe themselves – grew and strengthened with my attendance to Macanese social events, in addition to private meetings with key informants that extended into long hours of interviews. Just as Herzfeld (1997) suggests, anthropological contributions are especially valuable for studying how identities are constructed, largely due to the particular aspect of extended fieldwork developed by anthropologists, which elevates it to a place of social intimacy par excellence.

Notes 1. Poem originally written in the Patuá creole language of Macao. These verses introduced the editor’s note of the Review of Culture (1994: 3) No. 20 (English edition), which was organized around the title theme of ‘The Macanese: Anthropology, History, Ethnology’ (the original version of the poem can be found on p. 2). 2. Situated on the respective southern shore about 70 km south-east of Hong Kong, it is bordered to the north and west by the city of Zhuhai. It is 145 km away from Guangzhou (formerly Canton), the capital of the province of Guangdong, which adjoins Macao. 3. The MSAR Basic Law can be consulted on the website of the Official Press of the MSAR Government. 4. Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, approved on 2 April 1976, Article 5 (Territory), No. 4. 5. According to the work, Ou-Mun Kei-Leok, translated from Chinese by Luís Gonzaga Gomes, in the 32nd year (1554) the foreign ships began to make verbal requests to borrow the land of Hou-Kèang (Macao) to dry out all the articles of the tributes, their ships having being battered by the wind and waves. The deputy prefect for coastal defence, Uóng-P’ák, allowed them to do so. In the beginning, they only built thatched straw huts, and the business they monopolized resulted in illicit profits. They slowly began to bring glazed and concave tiles, bricks and beams to build houses. The fát-lóng-kei were then able to enter in a disorderly fashion. Over the course of time, their presence became an established fact. The fát-lóng-kei occupied Macao until the second year of Mán-Lek (1575), when they built a barrier at the ‘lotus stem’ (the isthmus with the entrance into Macao’s walls). They established

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6.

7.

8.

9.

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authorities to watch over the barrier and the foreign barbarians grew in number with each passing day (Tcheong and Ian 1979 [1751]: 104). One among many examples is the adaptation by Aquilino Ribeiro, entitled Peregrinação de Fernão Mendes Pinto (1960 [1933]). Aiming to be a simplified but faithful version of the work narrating Fernão Mendes Pinto’s feats – concluding the book with his biography – in the preface Aquilino Ribeiro reaffirmed that the Peregrinação by Fernão Mendes Pinto was truthful, though he admitted that the author’s ‘memory, or imagination’ could have obscured ‘details’ of the text. According to Ribeiro, the book ‘portrayed vivid reality . . . and the fact that this book is written in our language reflects the spirit of our race, it is a truly epic work, one could even compare it to the Lusíadas’ (1960 [1933]: 5–7). One of the first published summaries of the history of Macao is the well-known Historic Macao by Montalto de Jesus, first published in 1902 in Hong Kong and subsequently published in an expanded edition in Macao in 1926. This second edition was even confiscated and destroyed by the then government of Macao in response to the author’s harsh criticism of the Portuguese authorities, poor colonial governance and his suggested solution of handing over the territory’s administration to the League of Nations. In addition to the information it provides on the history of Macao, the work is, above all, a critical essay of what was the first historical sketch of Macao, written by the Swedish author Anders Ljungstedt, which was posthumously published in 1836. The Portuguese version, entitled Macau Histórico, was finally published in 1990. The Guia de História de Macau: 1500–1900 by Rui Loureiro is an excellent didactic tool that compiles historic and bibliographic information in an accessible and condensed manner. It clearly identifies the most important manuscript collections that are still available as well as the thematic and/or chronological areas that have been neglected by recent historiography, at least until 1999, the year when this book was published. The Sino-Portuguese negotiations to resolve the Macao Question and the transition of Macao’s administration are the two phases that Mendes (2007, 2013) felt preceded the establishment of the MSAR in its current form. In her analysis, Mendes argues that Macao’s relative lack of importance for Portugal and the absence of a consensual strategy induced Portuguese political leaders to opt to cooperate with the PRC to the detriment of defending the interests of Portugal and Macao. In Portugal, the Macao negotiations were seen as being part of a process of decolonization that the authorities wanted to be viewed as being dignified and without hiccups, so as to minimize the trauma – that was still very evident – of the decolonization process in Africa. As this was their sole concern, Portugal’s only purpose was to ensure that the Macao Question was resolved through negotiations – of which the PRC clearly seized control – with results that were no less than those obtained by Great Britain for Hong Kong. Nevertheless, as China sought to avoid conflict with Portugal so as not to undermine its image at an international level and with its ultimate objective of reunification with Taiwan in mind, the Portuguese government did manage to obtain some important concessions from China; namely, that the reintegration of Macao would occur after the handover of Hong Kong. After it was agreed that the date of the handover would be 20 December 1999 (two years after Hong Kong’s handover), issues regarding the nationality of Macao’s citizens holding Portuguese passports became the most important aspect of Sino-Portuguese relations. Portugal thus strove to ensure the dignity of the Portuguese state, to protect Macao’s citizens

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10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

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who held Portuguese passports and to preserve the Portuguese presence in the territory. Finally, with the ratification of the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration on the Macao Question in April 1987, Portugal was able to get a guarantee from the PRC ensuring a high degree of autonomy for the territory from 1999 onwards, along with the fact that it would be governed by local residents and its sociocultural identity would be safeguarded. The equivalent expressions in Chinese have the same meaning: Ou Mun yan in Cantonese and Ao Men Ren in Mandarin, usually translated as citizen or person of Macao. Statistical data for 1991 and 2011 shows the resident population distributed according to the following ancestry: Chinese and Portuguese; Chinese and non-Portuguese; Portuguese and others. Eurasian Macanese could fall within the purview of any of these categories, which collectively add up to between 5,000 and 6,000 individuals (DSEC 2011). I thus feel that Morbey’s estimate is credible and no great variations took place in the number of Macanese living in the territory just before and after 1999. This data has been sourced from the website fareastcurrents.com, where the results of an online survey were published. The survey had ten questions aimed at the Portuguese-Macanese population in August and September 2012 and sought to identify the approximate number of Macanese living in the diaspora (Xavier 2012). Created in January 2012, the Far East Currents website served as the online support for the Portuguese and Macanese Studies project by Roy Eric Xavier, a researcher at the University of California, who is Macanese and has been compiling documentation, genealogies, photographs, memorabilia, and videos spoken in Patuá language among the Macanese community based in the USA. To name just some of these Macanese personalities: the writer Henrique Senna Fernandes, the architect Carlos Marreiros and the designer António Conceição Júnior. The entire ‘cultural industry’ that emerged at this time, which I have mentioned here, is also an example of this. To cite a few of the better-known institutions: the Macao Foundation, the Macao Museum, the publisher Livros do Oriente and the Cultural Institute. In relation to the publications of the Cultural Institute, the Revista de Cultura (published in Portuguese, English and Chinese versions) is especially noteworthy. This publication was founded in 1987 and is one of the most important journals for cultural matters relating to Macao, combining the scientific quality of its articles with attractive graphic design. Interview conducted on 26 May 2011 in Lisbon, where Anabela has continuously resided for forty-nine years. To protect the confidentiality of my informants, I have always chosen, throughout this book, to assign them fictional names, except in the case of public figures from Macao and interviewees who were representing institutions. The conference entitled ‘The Macanese: A Collective Look at the Community’ was an initiative by the ADM and was held on 27–28 October 2012 in Macao. In two sessions focusing on the economy, politics and identity, this conference, which was promoted by ‘Macanese for the Macanese community’, sought to collectively chalk out the community’s next steps with a view to safeguarding the community’s survival in a Macao that is increasingly competitive and demanding. Suggestive regulations set out in Article 42 of the MSAR Basic Law stipulate protecting the ‘interests of Macao’s Portuguese origin residents’ and respect for their ‘customs and cultural traditions’. However, the first ideas proposed during the debate – that the local authorities recognize the importance of the Portuguese language in Macao and that

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it should be promoted in Macao’s private and public schools at the level of basic and secondary education and, similarly, that the use of the Portuguese language be extended to official spheres – have, to date, not been widely implemented. For the time being, the event’s organizers observed that the most important element was to safeguard the use of the Portuguese language in Macao, proposing new debates on other matters concerning the identity of the Macanese community. 16. One of the announced candidacies was that of Francisco Manhão, president of the Association of Retired People and Pensioners of Macao (APOMAC). This was a candidacy for the post of member of the AL by indirect suffrage for the area of sports, society and culture. Thus, to successfully win his seat, Manhão needed to obtain the support of 20 per cent of the registered associations and clubs in Macao. His bid was very well received among the Macanese as it was viewed as a sign of the community’s vitality and one of the ways in which the community could, currently, play a more active role in the territory’s political life and defend the interests of the Macanese community (Silva 2012). To better understand the context of the political structure of the Macao Special Administrative Region: the MSAR consists of Executive Power, Legislative Power and the Judicial Bodies (Courts and the Public Ministry). The first is constituted by the Government, the Executive Council and the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive is the highest leader of the MSAR and represents the Region, being responsible to the Central People’s Government of the PRC and the MSAR (Article No. 45 of the Macao Basic Law). This political post is to be occupied by a Chinese citizen aged at least 40 years who resides permanently in the MSAR and has habitually resided in Macao for at least twenty consecutive years to be nominated by the Central People’s Government, based on the results of elections or consultations held locally. The post has a tenure of five years, which can be renewed once. During his or her tenure, the Chief Executive cannot reside abroad or engage in private profitable activities (Articles Nos. 46 to 49 of the Macao Basic Law). The AL is the MSAR legislative body. It comprises twenty-nine members who are permanent residents of the MSAR who can be elected or nominated in the following ways: twelve are elected directly by citizens who are eligible to vote in the MSAR (direct suffrage); ten are elected by organizations or associations representing the interests of various sectors of local society and which have been in existence for at least seven years and have been officially registered and regularly identified in censuses (indirect suffrage); and seven are appointed by the Chief Executive. Each legislature of the AL has a duration of four years (Articles Nos. 67 to 69 of the Macao Basic Law). 17. This work was written between 1908 and 1922 and was published between 1913 and 1927 in seven volumes, the last three volumes being published posthumously. The seven volumes that comprise this work, considered to be one of the greatest works of universal literature, are: Vol. I: Du côté de chez Swann (1913); Vol. II: À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs (1919); Vol. III: Le côté de Guermantes (1920); Vol. IV: Sodome et Gomorrhe (1921); Vol. V: La Prisonnière (1923); Vol. VI: Albertine disparue, also known as La Fugitive (1925); Vol. VII: Le Temps Retrouvé (1927). 18. Halbwachs developed his notions on collective memory in three works: Les Cadres Sociaux de la Mémoire (1952) formulates his theory on collective memory; La Topographie Légendaire des Évangiles en Terre Sainte: Étude de Mémoire Collective (1941) presents a historical study showing how Christians used the memories of their religious training to discover sacred locations during their visits to Jerusalem (the first of these essays and the conclusion of the second essay were edited and translated into English by Lewis A. Coser (1992) to form the book On Collective Memory); and La Mémoire Collective (1950), where his theory on collective memory is applied to an-

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20.

21.

22.

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alysing childhood memories, perceptions of time and space and differences between history and memory. The lyrics and music of ‘Conqueror’ (Conquistador) were composed by Pedro Luís and Ricardo Landum, members of the band, when Da Vinci participated in the RTP Festival da Canção. They won the RTP Festival, and in that same year (1989) represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest that was held in Switzerland. This was the zenith of the band’s career, even though they were only ranked in sixteenth place in the final Eurovision classification. The song evokes the historical past of Portuguese discoveries and overseas expansion, with its poets and navigators, its adventures and discoveries amidst a new world, where the Portuguese took the ‘light of culture’ and ‘established ties of tender affection’ (YouTube 2012). The Organic Law and Statutes of CCCM, I.P., restructured and published in the Official Journal of the Republic of Portugal in 2012, are available to the public on the CCCM website. The interview guide was applied and structured around the following seven themes: (1) family, residential and professional trajectories; (2) identity dynamics; (3) memory and identity; (4) sociocultural markers of the Macanese identity; (5) Macanese associations; (6) ties with Macao and with the Macanese diaspora; (7) applications for the status of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macao. The Lisbon metropolitan area or Lisbon greater area comprises eighteen municipalities divided by the two banks of the Tagus River. Besides in Lisbon city, I conducted my fieldwork in the cities of Oeiras, Cascais, Almada, Amadora, Loures, Seixal and Sintra. This territory has the largest urban population density of the country within an area of about 3,015 km2 (about 3.3 per cent of Portugal’s total land area). The Facebook (2016) profile page Macanese: Identities and Memories (Macaenses: Identidades e Memórias).

Chapter 2

Macanese Mnemonics Genealogies and Palaces of Virtual Memory

Autobiographical remembering is a dynamic cognitive process leading to the transitory formation of specific memories. These memories are constructed from several different types of knowledge and have an intricate relation to self. Indeed, autobiographical memories are one of the key sources of identity and they provide a crucial psychological link from personal history of the self to selves embedded in society. —Martin A. Conway, ‘Memory: Autobiographical’1

Remembering is an eminently individual act, leading to the ephemeral formation of specific memories, and thus the social and collective component of memory has long been overlooked. Social sciences have only recently begun to pay greater attention to this aspect of memory. Acknowledging Durkheim’s influence, Halbwachs ushered in a new concept of memory as a collective phenomenon.2 According to Halbwachs (1950, 1992), memory was not just a simple vestige of the past, something that resisted erosion with the passage of time until it was forgotten. It was also not just a mere reminiscence of past facts. On the contrary, it was a reconstruction and a representation of the past created in the present. This is the concept of memory in which, in general, the present, the group and what is known influence recollections of the past and what is new. It is thus necessary to keep in mind the role played by intention in acts to preserve and transmit certain objects and narratives and to forget others. Family surnames – and even given names – are transmitted as symbols of belonging to a collective.3 Heritage is transmitted in aristocratic and even bourgeois families, constituting forms of economic capital, being both symbolic as well as a guarantee of social position. Family histories are transmitted when it is

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felt that this history has value (Sobral 1995). Whatever is deemed to be inconvenient in the present is concealed and forgotten. In his anthropological approach to memory, Candau (1998, 2005) established a taxological classification of its individual dimensions at three levels: a low-level memory or protomemory, consisting of the most profound and most shared knowledge and experience among members of a society, which falls within the category of repetitive memory or habit, shared socially and the result of initial socialization; a high-level memory or memory itself, which incorporates experiences, knowledge, beliefs, sentiments and sensations and can include artificial extensions or memory supports; and, finally, metamemory – that is, an ideological memory, a representation of what is assumed to be a common memory for members of the group. Actually, the author argued that the only thing that members of a group or a society really share is what they have forgotten about their common past. The distortions and abuse of memory and the need to forget can reveal more about a society or an individual than a faithful memory. Distortions of a memorized event involve an individual and collective effort to adjust the past to representations of the present. Hence, a society is united less by the memories of its members than by the things that have been forgotten that are common to all of them. Memory is thus a process that is always being revised and updated in different stages of the present. Nevertheless, Olick and Robbins (1998) have underscored the preponderant role played by the past in shaping the present. They believe that, even allowing for the possibility of release from some of the mesh of the past, it always limits the manipulation of social actors in relation to creating memory. Despite the recent increase in studies on memory, the concept is often analysed in completely different ways. Moreover, the fact that the heterogeneity of these diverse processes is not generally recognized can lead to an effective failure in highlighting the multiple interpretations and the effective ambivalence that often characterize even the interpretation of the past by a single individual, let alone representations of the past by society. In this manner, even the subtlest approach to memory can result in the complex process of the intersection of messages set out in such studies being interpreted as mainly focusing on specific aspects, such as, for example, colonialism (Cole 2001) or the state (Mueggler 2001). Even though ambivalence and dissonance can sometimes be observed in the anthropological treatment of memory, they are only rarely seen as being fundamental for the fabric and texture of memory. Similarly, there has recently been a wealth of studies concerning the social memories of dominated groups in Western societies that are,

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above all, linked to a context of affirming identities and the history of minority groups. Among them, nostalgia for the past is associated with processes of change and with conflicts that are common to them and progressively lead to the weakening and the transformation of certain social realities such as the family, gender and generation relationships, the nation-state, etc. According to researchers in this field, the past provides the force of an identity inscribed in time, which could even, in many cases, represent an image that contrasts with a present that is perceived as being insecure.4 It is thus possible to focus on the collective nature of memory, since individuals are socialized within the scope of social contexts, acquiring a past that is inherent to their biography. For most individuals, social learning begins within the family. An individual’s family and social class are the first environments that confer identity to each new family member, which later continues to evolve in other spaces as a child grows. As Zerubavel (2003) observed, all human beings belong to mnemonic communities, which can have a micro-social scope (such as families) or macro-social scope (such as nations).5 According to the author, memorial practices such as rituals and commemorations serve to invoke the past in the present, appearing regularly on a calendar, both for families as well as for nations. Objects also serve as mnemonic devices by condensing recollections because they represent a lasting presence of the past or because their purpose is to trigger memories of some event. The emergence of photography, recording technology, video and digital archives has exponentially expanded the range of tools that serve as memorial mechanisms. Identity and memory are thus inextricably linked, since ‘The core meaning of any individual or group identity, namely, a sense of sameness over time and space, is sustained by remembering; and what is remembered is defined by the assumed identity’ (Gillis 1994: 3). There is no identity without memory. Social identity is a characteristic of individuals as social beings. There are numerous social identities, such as class, gender, profession and religion, presupposing self-identification – that is, similarity (we) and highlighting difference (others). In a certain way, this perspective is a situational approach to identity, in which identity is constructed on the basis of relations, reactions and social interactions, giving rise to views of the world and feelings of belonging. According to Candau (1998), the relationship between identity and memory clearly demonstrates the manifestation of identity as a narrative, a self-referenced discourse that is projected as a significant totality converging between curiosity and amnesia and based on three foundations: (1) the nature of the event being remembered; (2) the context of

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the event; (3) and the context of the remembrance. These processes take place in the collective sphere, emerging amid a confluence of images and language. They make it possible to maintain ‘strong memories’ (which seek to create solid imprints that reinforce feelings of origin, historicity and belonging) as well as ‘weak memories’ (which become diluted and fragmented according to whether the respective identities change or new identities emerge). The importance of biological references such as kinship and blood in the formation of social identities has also been emphasized in memory studies. Zerubavel (2003), for instance, affirmed that the notion that is apparently implicit to lineage – a mental connection between past and present generations – involves the image of authentic bloodlines. Just as it is possible to observe how we organize our family, ethnic or national identities, the contact we establish with past generations is often articulated in biological terms. Sharing a common surname, he argues, helps materialize the mental connections that traverse families over generations, thus reinforcing an acknowledged continuity. Our parents are thus viewed as ‘pre-natal fragments’ of ourselves, and in some cultures, individuals believe themselves to be the personification of all their ancestors. Of interest in this regard is the ethnographic material collected in a village with a Cantonese lineage situated in the northern part of Guangdong province, located in south-east China. Santos (2004) suggests that according to the written genealogy of this lineage village, the ancestral origins that are deemed to define the ethnic identity of all the local families and villages bearing the surname Chahn date back, in a patrilinear manner, to the mythical period when the Han Chinese state and civilization were founded – that is, more than 4,000 years ago, when it is believed that legendary emperors such as Yao and Xun governed the world in total harmony. Santos further noted that according to the aforesaid genealogy, the first official ancestor of all Han Chinese families with the surname Chahn – including local families with the surname Chahn – is a patrilinear grandson of the thirty-fourth generation of the legendary emperor Xun. Legend has it that this grandson was a particularly loyal state official to whom Emperor Xun granted a title – the surname Chahn – and a principality – the principality of Chahn – to commemorate the memory of the founders of the imperial house. In this example, we can observe a conservative tendency to glorify the past; our ancestors provide status and legitimacy, which are also attributed to us by the simple fact of descending from them vertically, as is evident in any family tree. Hence, genealogical sequences generally contain more discontinuity than they actually do. Acquiring a certain ‘non-belonging’ could imply a strategic interpretation, not only of ge-

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nealogical lacunae but also of various problematic connections and succession challenges in genealogical chains. In fact, various studies, such as those by Domínguez (1986) in Louisiana (USA) or Twine (1998) in Brazil, show how in North and South America individuals repeatedly ‘cut out’ entire branches of their genealogical trees that correspond to the multiracial side of their families and try to fabricate ‘pure’ genealogies that are virtually stripped of any ‘embarrassing’ African ancestor. Another case study examines the Tiv, a people in Nigeria, who only evoke ancestors relevant for their present situation, while all the others were ‘forgotten’ (Bohannan 1952). These studies paid special attention to the type of selective forgetfulness evidenced by individuals, which is called ‘structural amnesia’. Therefore, these and other memory scholars such as Bloch (1998) or Sperber (1985) emphasize, precisely, that all narratives about the past should be understood considering the ‘character’ of the society in which they have been narrated currently, as well as the effect that the construction of the subject and the nature of the kinship system have on these narratives. As we have seen in the aforesaid Chahn genealogy, only patrilinear ancestors and descendants are mentioned. In this chapter, I explore the topic of how social representations of the Macanese identity are interpreted and disseminated through memory (individual and collective), the types of memory associated with this identity and how, through this process, social representations of the Macanese ethnic and cultural identity are constituted as identity stereotypes that can be manipulated (Brubaker 2004).

Memory Personified: Family Genealogies Having a common past also entails a general sense of sharing a common present; descending from a common ancestor makes us somehow feel ‘connected’. Consequently, history plays a major role in the way we construct kinship. Writing about kinship in the Chinese context, Brandtstädter and Santos (2009) call for an approach that focuses as much on what kinship ‘is’ as on what kinship ‘does’. This instrumentalist approach develops the notion of ‘metamorphosis’ as a heuristic device to understand how kinship (however defined) is both embedded in and contributes to the reworking of larger politico-economic and sociocultural processes. The authors’ theoretical emphasis on transformation exemplifies the extreme and constant capacity to adapt Chinese kin to very diverse circumstances. This same evolution can be applied to the notion of kinship developed by the Macanese and their growing

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reach and involvement in the complexities of the modern world and global markets over vast historical and geographic distances, and even in the constitution of the newly created MSAR. An analysis of kinship, based on this idea that an individual’s kinship practices and representations can be found all over, shows how the memory and family life of the Macanese are simultaneously the subject and object of metamorphoses – encompassing not just what is inherited or obtained from the past but also what is acquired in the present and aspirations for the future. Various scholars have explored the link between memory, identity and history (Candau 1998; Gillis 1994; Zerubavel 2003), including Nora (1989), for whom the deconstruction of memory-history multiplied the number of private memories and required a study of their individual histories. Never before has so much been recorded and collected and never before has remembering been so compulsive, until even the habit of memorization ceased to be a core element of the educational process. What we can no longer keep in our heads is now kept in storage. It seems that as collective forms of memory decline an increasing burden is placed on the individual, and now people prefer to devote more time to local, ethnic, and family memory. By the end of the twentieth century, genealogy had become the surest means of preserving the memory of ancestors and enhancing the prestige of an aristocratic family. Every established group, whether intellectual or not, irrespective of their level of education, felt the need to identify their own origins and identity and hence genealogy became the safest means of preserving this memory. Indeed, there is hardly a family today in which some member has not recently sought to document as accurately as possible his or her ancestors, thus transforming genealogical research into a massive new phenomenon. Genealogy owes its position in modern cultural and social anthropology to the genealogical method, which will be the main focus of this section, with an inevitable bias towards British social anthropology. The genealogical method as a systematic or scientific account, where ties of ‘blood’ and marriage among the individuals being studied can be systematically recorded, provided the basis for terminological and semantic studies of kinship. The genealogical method of kinship, as described in the introductory chapter of the book Kinship and Beyond: The Genealogical Model Reconsidered (2009), is a cultural construction of personal relationships in terms of inherited biogenetic attributes. This collection of ten essays is the latest major and important work to call for renewed attention to the issue of kinship, especially regarding contemporary questions of how cultures relate to nature. The editors undertook a detailed review of kinship studies starting from Rivers (2011 [1914]), through descent

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theory, past Schneider’s (1984) critique of kinship as a different field in anthropology, to recent studies, such as Bamford (2007), Carsten (2000), Franklin and McKinnon (2001) and Leach (2003). As the editors and other participants in this volume (2009) argue, the genealogical model not only lingers in the work of anthropologists, it also shapes the way people of many cultures and in many contexts think about nature and culture. Similarly, I consider the genealogical method of kinship; namely, the way social groups are constituted through time and the role heredity plays in establishing various kinds of social identities, relevant in my analysis of family genealogical selective memory illustrated by my key informants. In all my interviews, a common criterion was to interview individuals belonging to different families, so as to access a broader range of families and the corresponding biographical information. I was thus able to avoid the cliché of the so-called ‘traditional families’, who enjoy great prestige in Macanese society as they have a public image associated with a type of ‘Portuguese-ness’ and have most visibly defined the Macanese community in historical terms (Pina-Cabral 2000, 2002; Pina-Cabral and Lourenço 1993). They are generally the handful of Macanese families habitually cited in the classic bibliography on Macao. An anchor identity in the past then becomes a legitimacy element for the public image of traditional families, diametrically opposed to those families

Figure 2.1. Anok family in the 1950s. Photograph provided by Zinha Anok.

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who do not have the same family background. This fact can frequently weaken a family member’s position and their self-image, leading to a questioning of their ethnic or personal identity. The version of Macanese origins that was a referent in my universe of informants affirms that Macanese people originated from miscegenation that occurred essentially in the early centuries of Portuguese settlement in Asia between Portuguese men and Indian, Malay and Japanese women. Traditional Macanese families married either Portuguese or among themselves. Marriage to Chinese women would only have occurred ‘in recent times’ (Amaro 1988). However, this reclaimed ‘mixedrace’ ancestry in the Macanese self-definition is not always evident, as I shall demonstrate. This is the version that strengthens the identification of the Macanese as the ‘Portuguese of the Orient’, thus denying that they are equidistant from Portuguese and Chinese ethnic groups. In the case of families whose members have achieved a relatively high level of education and/ or political and economic success – particularly the nucleus of families around which the Macanese identity is built in association with a specific form of community life, the so-called ‘traditional families’ – this identification is even clearer, as there is no reference to any relatives with Chinese ancestry, as can be seen in the following statement by Anabela (aged 69 years). It is said that the Jorge family descended from Jorge Álvares, who went to Macao in 1515, but this cannot be confirmed because it is not possible to go so far back. There is no doubt that Jorges have existed in Macao from the early seventeenth century (we have been able to trace that far), and this has always been a tradition that has been handed down from parents to children. There was always a great connection between India and Macao because part of the Portuguese administration was initially in Goa and was later transferred to Macao, and members of the family have always been linked to the administration: members of the Senate, judges, lawyers . . . All of them are originally from Macao or from India. My grandmother’s mother was from India, even though born in Macao. On my grandfather’s side – the Pacheco family – they are all from Siam even though he was born in Macao. (Lisbon, 26 May 2011)

Throughout the interviewee’s family lineage description, it is quite evident that all her social identity is constructed on the basis of her belonging to a family group, whose existence and significance are extended across generations; genealogy becoming an important element of legitimacy. The vast family genealogical knowledge my informant evidences, dating back to the founding member of the family, Jorge Álvares – a

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Portuguese merchant and the first European man to reach China and Macao in 1515 – is the product of an extensive collective investment in family genealogy research and its transmission to successive generations. Thus, the social status of its members is rooted in the prestige of the family background, with such ‘illustrious’ historical ancestors. It is perpetuated through family memory and recognized by ‘others’ within the Macanese community.6 All my informants, with family origins rooted in different contexts, showed they had some kind of familial memory. However, this type of memory depends on the position, the lifestyle and the image of the social actors within the group that produces this memory. Scholars like

Figure 2.2. Badaraco family in 1967. Photograph provided by Gina Badaraco.

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Le Wita (1985), who worked with Parisian bourgeoisie families, and Lima (2003), who carried out fieldwork among leading business families in Lisbon, illustrate how familial memory shape and composition may vary in terms of the depth of genealogical knowledge or the amplitude of collateral extension. In both cases, these families rely on an aristocratic ideal by setting up lines of descent. Having a deep genealogical memory is a crucial component for proving a family’s antiquity and works as an accumulated and transmitted Figure 2.3. Boyol family in the 1950s. capital throughout successive Photograph provided by Juju Boyol. generations. Likewise, traditional Macanese families illustrate how a family genealogy constitutes evidence of a family’s prestige and legitimacy, since it demonstrates the existence of blended families descending from ancient Portuguese ancestors in the East. In the shadow of this ‘theory of origins’ that is most widely accepted among the group as a whole, precisely since it is associated with the prestigious families of Macao, the fragility of the Macanese identity is manifested in any different discourse on origins, which tends to be more subject to manipulations and ambiguities. The following statement by Constança, 56 years old, is one such example: I do not know if I’m genuinely a Macanese person. I mean this simply because I was born in Macao, but my father, who was from the Trás-osMontes region in Portugal, went to Macao as part of his military service and married my mother. She was born in Macao and is thus Macanese . . . My maternal grandfather was Portuguese, and my maternal grandmother, his wife, was a Chinese lady from China. (Oeiras, 19 October 2010)

In truth, marriages between Portuguese and Chinese were generally unidirectional, occurring between lower-class Chinese women and typical Portuguese soldiers or sailors, who went to Macao and created stable

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relationships there and had children to whom they gave their surname, either by marrying the mother or by choosing to recognize them legally. In Macao, during the early colonial period, a man of Chinese descent would only marry a European or Macanese woman if he had abandoned his Chinese ethnic identity and converted to Catholicism (Brito 1999). All the cases that were described to me referred to young children educated in a European cultural context, by parental choice or because they were orphans. In both cases, people were integrated into the Macanese community as individuals with no ties and did not give rise to ethnic kinship networks (Pina-Cabral and Lourenço 1993). The following two testimonies from Tina (aged 62) and Paulo (61 years), respectively, clearly illustrate this tendency: My grandmother was Chinese . . . she was adopted. Her origins are unknown, there is no more information. Thus, she was a Macanese of Chinese descent. (Lisbon, 30 September 2010) *** My father was Chinese, but he was adopted and raised by a lady who was the sister of a priest in Macao. Hence, my father was educated in the Portuguese culture and language from his birth, and he did not even know how to read or write Chinese and spoke Chinese very badly, just like me; I do not know how to read or write Chinese. (Almada, 1 July 2011)

Similarly, children from a second parallel family that was not legitimized by a religious marriage, usually with local Chinese women, were often recognized as offspring by their Portuguese or Eurasian fathers and incorporated into the Macanese community. This explains how when a father maintained an extended relationship with the mother of his offspring – such as in the description below provided by Alberto (68 years old) – there was an avoidance relationship between the different households before the death of the father while after the patriarch’s death most of these children were recognized and supported by siblings from the legitimate family and a favoured network of relations came into being. My father had two families: he had three children with my mother and four children with the other Chinese lady. I only met my half-siblings when I went to university. Actually, I already knew about them, but they were always a parallel family. When I came here to study, I went to Macao during the holidays – some five or six years later – and I only met them at that time; my father had already died. My siblings and I always got along with them very well. My mother also knew of the existence of my father’s second family. When my father died, they became orphans and it was my [elder] brother who was there [in Macao] who took care of

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them; he supervised their education . . .We [the legitimate children] were all older . . . I still keep in touch with them [the half-siblings], of course. (Lisbon, 27 October 2010)

Other descriptions of marriages among individuals that are not the result of the miscegenation between Europeans and Asians but, nonetheless, are considered by everyone, including those involved, to be Macanese are examples of the community’s centripetal force during different moments in Macao’s history. This is the case with the genealogy of Vitória, aged 63, which she described as below: My father was from an Ecuadorian family, from the city of Guayaquil, and my grandparents on my mother’s side were all Chinese. I cannot say that I am descended from a Portuguese family, I am not! I was simply born in Macao, as were the parents of my parents, but they were not related to the Portuguese; they didn’t even speak Portuguese. My grandparents on my father’s side spoke Spanish, and when they spoke Portuguese it was Patuá. My grandmother was a very proud lady, and I think she always spoke Spanish . . . my grandfather was a businessman trading between Macao and China. My parents were born in Macao. (Oeiras, 11 October 2010)

In fact, studying the knowledge that the Macanese have of their family relationships and analysing the family genealogies and brief biographical portraits provided by my key informants, it is clear that these individuals did not serve as vehicles for kinship ties, to such an extent that there seems to be a widespread amnesia in relation to recognizing the Chinese kinship ties of individuals who were integrated into the community as Macanese. A consultation of the three volumes compiled by the historian-genealogist Jorge Forjaz entitled Famílias Macaenses (1996)7 also leads to the same conclusion. In his introductory note to this work compiling the genealogies of Macanese families, where Forjaz refers to the historical sources he used for his study – primarily parish records and personal letters requesting biographical information from members of these families – he states: Sometimes . . . there were people who did not wish to have their names included in the book, apparently so as not to reveal their oriental roots. I acquiesced and have eliminated them. (Forjaz 1996 Vol. I: 30)

It is important to note that this data was examined – and should also be understood – keeping in mind the age of my interviewees, all of whom were between 55 and 70 years old, with an average age of 63 years. These were thus relationships established during the Portuguese colonial pe-

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riod, when the Macanese community succeeded in renewing its ethnic monopoly and re-established itself as an administrative elite in the Portuguese administration of Macao. Thus, as a social entity, the Macanese community can be characterized as agglutinative – that is, it makes it possible to create a unique ethnic identity and a feeling of participation in a unique mutual community interest for individuals whose family origins are rooted in different contexts.

Memory Preserved: The Past in the Present As has been seen, the past is characterized by a genealogical memory that supports a common origin among PCB members, my privileged informants, and within the Macanese community, since it is a centripetal force that amalgamates individuals from different ethnic backgrounds, who thus lose their previous ties and, consequently, the memories of those ancestors, to give rise to a uniquely Macanese ethnic identity. Modern memory, however, is entirely based on the material aspect of the trail, the immediate context of recordings, the visibility of images. The past has become so distant and the future so uncertain. However, never before has the past been so accessible via film, recordings and the massive production of images. Thus, it is no surprise that individual identities proliferate at the same velocity as individual memories. In modern societies, each of us interact with multiple situations every day – home, work, leisure, other communities with whom we associate – each of which has an underlying context and history. Nowadays, not only is it rare but it is also difficult to have or to continue to define oneself as having a single identity or a single source of identity. Unquestionably, contemporary transnational situations means that a growing number of people are forced to deal with multiple identities and multiple memories, as they move from one place to another, from time to time. In fact, it is now possible to trace how people and objects, metaphors and symbols, individual life histories and collective biographies are transferred across borders. Currently, the homeland and the adopted land are more intimately linked and the networks between them are much denser. More precisely, a social field that transcends a national affiliation, in which a greater number of individuals acquire a ‘double life’, can be defined as transnational. This means that since these individuals spend long periods of time in two or more sites, they constantly circulate between these places, they constantly speak two or more languages and they maintain an active network of family and personal ties and channels of communication. When all this is combined

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with the cyberworld of the internet, a means of transnationalization par excellence, it leads to de-spatialization, which enables virtual proximity and the absence of temporality. This fact allows communities to maintain themselves even when physically separated and spending long and successive periods of time ‘at home’ and ‘abroad’, the poles of an itinerant existence, which eventually becomes almost merely an exchange (examples of studies on the theme and forms of community transnationalism include Djelic and Quack 2010; Hannerz 1996; Kennedy and Roudometof 2006; Wilson and Dissanayake 1996; Yang 2003). As has been constantly documented by most literature on Macao, in relation to different sociopolitical events that have marked its history, the inevitable disappearance of the Macanese identity is associated with an image of its community leaving the territory. These migratory movements gave rise to the ‘Macanese diaspora’ – an expression repeatedly used in Macanese literature and also mentioned by various people with whom I spoke (Macanese and non-Macanese) – which encompasses the different waves of Macanese emigration to Portuguese or Englishspeaking countries, settling there in communities. In fact, every single person I interviewed mentioned they had various relatives living among the great Macanese diaspora, mainly concentrated in Hong Kong – an early destination for Macanese youths who found employment in the banking sector there (Sá 1999) – and the USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil and Portugal. In fact, nowadays there are many more families living outside the city than in Macao; however, this vast diaspora scattered over four continents maintains a constant flow of Macanese on the move who live between Macao and the diaspora communities, thus making it a transnational community.8 In this sense, according to Gillis (1994), each community should now have its own history as well as its own identity. Thus, new memories and new identities are inevitably created that are more suited to the complexities of the current transnational situation. Reflecting on the current transformations of memory, authors such as Martín-Barbero (1993 [1987]) argue that to understand them it is necessary to view them in relation to the phenomenon of the structural transformation of social temporality and experiences of time caused by the complex interaction among technological changes, means of communication and new patterns of consumption, work and global mobility. Paradoxically, this change in the perception of time also gives rise to a desire for the past – the phenomenon of a boom or ‘cult of the fever of memory’, mentioned by Martín-Barbero (ibid.). The aforesaid elements are all part of this process, and they are not limited just to moments of leisure; rather, they express a strong need for longer spans of time

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and the materiality of our bodies, claiming less space and more place. The fever of memory expresses the need for a temporal anchor felt by societies (and groups) whose temporality is shaken by the IT revolution, which dissolves the spatial and temporal coordinates of the social world. This manifests the profound transformation underway in the temporal structure of the modern world, destabilizing the place of the past as a foundation and making novelty the source of cultural legitimacy. In this current era of digital transformation (Castells 1998 [1997]; Jenkins 1999; Martín-Barbero 1993 [1987]), which represents a dizzying shift on a scale that is unprecedented in the history of humanity, new issues emerge due to the accelerated and multipolar nature of the globalization of sociocultural processes. The digital world is often indicated as being the main driver of this change, becoming the cultural metaphor for crisis and transition, from the shift from representation to ‘simultaneous’, to ‘remote’, to ‘interactive’ (Jenkins 1999). Similarly, concepts and representations of time and space, the present and memory, different regions and interdisciplinary, intertextual and discursive connections have also changed. There are new challenges and new areas of research relating to online society, culture and knowledge: ‘online societies’, ‘cyberculture’, ‘cyber-anthropology’, ‘cyber-society’, the ‘ethnology of virtual communities’, ‘collective intelligence’, ‘digital anthropology’, etc., all of which urgently need to be brought to the centre of anthropological research (Hine 2000). In addition to promoting (facilitating and disseminating) traditional practices of anthropological research in their written and audiovisual aspect and the organization and development of virtual museum processes (archives and collections), digital technologies such as the internet also represent a great leap forward insofar as they potentially incorporate all the previous means of information, dilute the specific characteristics of each of them and facilitate mixed contexts and the integration of classic anthropological methodologies (examples of which can be found in the following studies: Mitra and Cohen 1999; Paccagnella 1997; Simões 2010; Thomsen et al. 1998). It can be said that the internet is a vast palace of memory, since it is a virtual space in which an immeasurable amount of information can be stored, and it has a multifaceted morphology, as it is an encyclopaedic and mnemonic device without physical constraints, where information can be updated at any time. It also encompasses oral and written content, images, audio and hypertext. The internet thus has characteristics that make it totally unique: the incalculable quantity of memories that can be preserved, its prodigious speed, its global nature and, above all, its unlimited capacity to grow and expand. Currently, it has become a great source of our digital memories, accessible to future generations

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simply through the use of suitable technology. The problem that now arises with the internet is its limits. Due to the liberty given to users, it is no longer possible to think and select which memories we really wish to transmit to younger generations. Selection is to this resource what forgetting is for memory. Selection presupposes order, order implies selection and together they structure the form, content and relationships of memories. Excess memories and the enormous potential for digital storage are undoubtedly distorting the concept of selection, whereby limits become diluted and are hard to discern. Why should one memory be chosen instead of another if both of them can be preserved simultaneously? And if this capacity for storage and the dissemination of memorized knowledge are unlimited, along with the quantity and abundance of information, the reception of what is transmitted – the purpose of the preservation – can no longer be guaranteed. The internet and digital supports have thus added to this lack of definition, this difficulty. The absence of selection at the time of memorizing means that all memories are equally important; everything must then be recorded because there is no criterion for a hierarchy. Moreover, in the hypertext universe of the web, it is possible to omit or at least dilute the issue of the sequence of memory, since published material does not follow a set order. Thus, it is essential to note that the memories and the forgotten memories of a society are also influenced by how the society uses its information technologies to communicate and what it communicates. There are various websites that I call virtual palaces of Macanese memory, and the PCB (GenteDeMacau) website is an example. The group was created in 2002, and the official PCB website was launched five years later, based on a proposal by members, with their unanimous consent.9 In addition to the website and blog (GenteDeMacau 2013), the PCB has also begun other initiatives on the internet, through individuals tasked with promoting the group’s activities virtually, although their actions are not always unanimous throughout the group. This is how Manuela (61 years old), one of the PCB founders, describes the virtual spaces produced by the group: The website is www.GenteDeMacau.com, and this is where people can write on the blog. There are various sections on various topics . . . there are various sections there on the blog, but it has very little content; people do not write a lot on the blog. . . . The administrator of our website is in Macao; he went to Macao and decided to put it on Facebook . . . he decided to have the PCB on Facebook, new-fangled things! He and another member look after the Facebook page, but it causes confusion because many people go to Facebook thinking that is our website, but it

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is not – it’s only the two of them. Our official website is GenteDeMacau. (Oeiras, 13 October 2010)

At the level of social networks, a profile page was created for the PCB on Facebook and, more recently, a new project was launched at the end of March 2011 – the PCB Magazine – published every quarter, with a well-defined editorial board and content contributors. All of these virtual palaces of Macanese memory have content that aims to be participatory, inviting all Macanese to collaborate and contribute. The organization of content is similar on all these various websites and includes sections such as: news of recent PCB events, duly documented with photographs and even videos on YouTube; reminiscences of festivals and how they were celebrated in Macao; descriptions of childhood games and pastimes, and stories and episodes about Macao, some of which are written in Patuá; stories and interviews about the personal experiences of individuals (whether Macanese or not) in Macao; curious facts about Chinese traditions, customs and cuisine and, without fail, recipes for diverse Macanese dishes. Each enrolled member of the PCB also has a space on the website for their own personal contributions, where they can write comments or observations, and there is a section on the blog entitled ‘Musings’, where any member can write at will on any subject even though, as Manuela realized, people wrote very little on these two websites and on social media, and the people who did write were always the same. People don’t really write on the blog, and I imagine it’s the same with the Facebook page. People don’t write because they think they write [Portuguese] badly, they cannot express themselves in writing and their text could contain errors, so they prefer not to write so that they don’t expose their mistakes . . . they are embarrassed . . . (Oeiras, 13 October 2010)

Again, according to Manuela, this had nothing to do with not being able to use a computer or limited use of new technologies. Rather, the internet and all these websites have proved to be the most commonly used means of communication to keep in touch across borders, linking the community in Portugal, in Macao and in many other places where the Macanese diaspora has settled, with social networks being a favourite medium.10 She attributed this limited participation to the ‘stigma of linguistic insufficiency’ that some Macanese had, which made it even harder for them to express themselves in writing. I examine this topic, which has already been noted by Pina-Cabral and Lourenço (1993: 117), in greater detail in the next chapter.

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Except for the PCB Magazine, which is well-structured and follows the editorial logic of a newsletter, in which the contents and topics are clearly set out and carefully written and illustrated, other virtual palaces of memory primarily contain photographs. Multiple photographs of each PCB event are repeated on the website and on social networks, and old childhood photographs in Macao are now scanned and published on the internet, receiving many contributions in an attempt to identify the people, the places, the contexts, the dates and the activities they depict. This fuels the desire for more and more old photographs from the personal collections of anyone living in Macao or anywhere else on the planet, and more and more photographs are being published, revealing a Macao and a ‘gang of friends’ who belong to a past that is thus shared nostalgically. Photographs are the key element of the Remembering is Living (Facebook 2018) closed group,11 and the YouTube videos include songs they heard and danced to during the 1960s in Macao, at popular parties, with their colleagues, friends, relatives or boyfriends and girlfriends. These were unforgettable moments, creating familiar spaces that are nowadays meticulously and digitally recorded in a virtual reality on a global scale. The notion of time and space is lost, and one is suddenly transported to that Macao. The people, scenes, sounds and even smells are experienced anew with the same emotions. According to Bourdieu (1970 [1965]), photographs help maintain relationships in society as they make it possible to create a unique story, capture a time outside the

Figure 2.4. Pedro Nolasco Commercial School classmates in 1960. Photograph provided by Zinha Anok.

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current time and unite past and future generations. By being viewed and commented upon, they help integrate new arrivals and consolidate the community’s memories. The social habits depicted in the photographs thus constitute true rites of memorization and integration in a given social or ethnic group. When researching ethnic memory, we examine a memory that is within an individual but is also in some way framed by the collective configurations of ethnic groups and their relationship experiences in specific contexts. However, nowadays it is not possible to contemplate a coherent cultural and ethnic memory based on the emergence of clearly demarcated groups – a historical horizon that frames Halbwachs’s thoughts on collective memory – if one considers the profound changes individuals experience in contemporary times. Multiple systems of significance and inter-related and competing symbolic worlds have a direct impact on ethnic memory. Distinctions are not expressed only in terms of different groups but also demarcate individuals. The extinction of the Macanese ethnic identity is undoubtedly a spectre that continues to haunt the community and is true in relation to renewing the community through future generations, according to modern parameters. The members of the PCB are unanimous in their feeling of being the last Macanese and thus the PCB’s mission is to ritualistically re-create, relive, preserve and disseminate this uniquely Macanese way of being through the people it unites, the natural linguistic polyphony, the events it organizes around certain festivals, the songs that are sung, the music played while dancing, the food served and the memories evoked, not just in a local physical setting but also at a transnational virtual level, which goes far beyond the current social scenario in Macao. Mena, aged 61, described her impressions of the younger generations of Macanese as follows: Now, when I go to Macao I see the other generation that is there and now the men only marry Chinese women, they only speak Chinese at home and they cannot hold a proper conversation, even though they have studied Portuguese. It’s been 10 years since 1999, and I think they have stopped speaking Portuguese in those 10 years, and I find that really hard to accept! . . . We go to the processions, we pray, we sing and everything . . . but it is really all our generation. Those who marry Chinese women and have another religion, they already follow whatever the mother does. (Oeiras, 10 October 2010)

Tina expressed the same feelings, not just in relation to youngsters but to all Macanese living in Macao.

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The harsh reality is that the Macanese are gradually fading away, hence the importance of the Macanese outside Macao because outside we are very nostalgic and strongly linked to the past. I like to remember and to find people who share the same memories . . . the PCB is very dynamic. This is nostalgia, this is a desire to always maintain an anchor there and they [relatives who have always lived in Macao] do not feel this need. Here we live more of a Macanese lifestyle than in Macao itself. (Lisbon, 30 September 2010)

As has been argued by different authors (Candau 2005; Pollak 1989), it is essential to consider how power structures and struggles around hegemony to define memory and forgetting have an impact on and shape the delimitation of ethnic memory. The question of power over memory also raises the question of the manipulation of memory and the imposition of amnesia. In this sense, the social limits of memory are the result – never acquired definitively – of conflicts and compromises between the desires of different memories.

Shared Memory: Multiple Memories, Multiple Identities Until now, it has been possible to identify two levels of memory: a familiar memory that is profoundly linked to the Eurasian origin of the Macanese community where the ‘capital of Portuguese-ness’ is clearly valued to the detriment of non-Portuguese ascendancy, which is rapidly diluted in community life; and an ethnic memory that emerges consciously from the self-identification of the Macanese as the result of a complex and prolonged phenomenon of successive ethnic mixtures over the course of centuries, inspiring the development of a unique and exclusive creole culture that the Macanese wish to keep alive and preserve. The testimony of Manuela, who came to Lisbon in 1969 to continue her education at the university, is clear about the Macanese ethnic and cultural miscegenation and reinforces the idea that the Macanese identity has more value for those settled outside Macao. Being Macanese is more than just having been born and raised in Macao. In fact, it is being born there and being the result of this typically Macanese miscegenation. I am a hybrid; I am an indigenous person on the verge of becoming extinct. On the other hand, it also encompasses gastronomy and the language, the experiences we had there as children and while growing up. We have a singular and different identity. The fact that I am here does not make me lose this identity – on the contrary! The people who are there do not value it like the people who are outside Macao. (Oeiras, 13 October 2010)

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In this section, I particularly focus on the descriptive practices associated with these memories that people used to characterize their experiences in Macao and in Portugal. I also contemplate how these experiences evolve in relation to a domain, such as the family (Coenen-Huther 1994; Muxel 1996), based on a historic notion of origin in different contexts typical of a population that is ‘in between’ distinct social universes. In other words, as situations and contexts change, the significance of each particular identity also changes, with relative freedom of choice for individual identity. In this sense, according to the argument propounded by Brubaker (2004), identity does not induce people to act in a given manner. On the contrary, people create their own identity according to their personal interests and objectives, whereby the production of the ‘I’ depends on a series of empathetic identifications that involve recognizing the similarity between the ‘I’ and recognizing difference among the ‘Other’. Pina-Cabral and Lourenço (1993) mention that in the case of the Macanese there is a close relationship between the phenomenon of ethnic identity and the process of socio-economic stratification, with ethnicity frequently being associated with forms of controlling access to resources, professions and services. In the colonial context of the 1960s, which is also the context of the family memories of my interlocutors, the economic paralysis that characterized life in Macao meant that identifying more with a European identity – what authors have called the ‘capital of Portuguese-ness’ – was a valuable asset for social privilege and even social promotion, considering that most Macanese were public servants in Macao and Hong Kong. Similarly, better opportunities were available if an individual was not identified with the Chinese community. This added value of ‘Portuguese-ness’ is above all associated with an origin and a family context that appreciates and sustains the legacy of Portuguese ancestors, as opposed to a negative identification or even omitting references to Chinese ancestors, through practices such as only using the Portuguese language at home and the discipline of ardent Catholic families. As I was told by many of my informants, since the exclusive use of the Portuguese language was hard to control given the multilingual universe even within the walls of a residence, considering that any Macanese family had various Chinese domestic staff, the Catholic religion became even more important and was imposed on families almost fanatically. The following statements provide examples of this. We always spoke Portuguese at home; for example, my grandmother was born at sea – when my great-grandmother was traveling by boat to Macao – she did not know how to speak Chinese. She lived her whole

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life in Macao, and she only knew how to say a few words very badly in Chinese, with an awful pronunciation. My uncle also spoke very little Chinese. They only needed to communicate with the domestic staff, who were Chinese. The staff did everything outside the house. We always had many employees at home. In my house, we had four staff while we were children: one to take care of me, another nanny for my elder siblings, another maid who was a cook and a maid to clean the house. That is how children learned to speak Chinese from a young age – from their nanny. I think it was the first language I spoke when I began learning how to speak. My parents worked . . . then we grew older, and so many servants were not needed any more (they were called servants there). At home in Macao, among ourselves we only spoke Portuguese. It was not forbidden to speak Chinese; after all, we spoke Chinese with the maids. (Manuela, Oeiras, 13 October 2010) *** In our house, we always had the Virgin Mary, the Sacred Heart, the Holy Family. On Palm Sunday we had palm leaves; at Christmas we would go to Midnight Mass. . . . There was an altar in my parents’ bedroom; on the altar, my father would create the nativity scene, and while he prayed all the children would be on their knees. He would end with ‘Baby Jesus, please bless our family’ and only after that could we get up and eat. This was the education we received – my father really was a very devout Catholic – and we tend to pass these values and this culture on to the younger generations, even though it is far more difficult to do so nowadays. (Mena, Oeiras, 10 October 2010)

Despite a greater or lesser degree of Portuguese-ness acquired through ancestors and/or through an education that sought to inculcate Catholic Portuguese values acquired primarily within the family and later in school (where the curriculum was the same as in official Portuguese schools and always reflected the imperialist colonial view of the Estado Novo, with its systematic strategy of exporting the emblematic symbols of Portuguese culture12), this Macanese community ended up living in Portugal. Their lives include visits and regular sojourns in Macao, both physically as well as virtually: as Mena says, it’s easier with the internet. We have a great life here! We have a good group of friends, all of whom are from Macao, and as I like to say: remembering is living. We listen to music, I cook Macanese food, we laugh and joke, and the day is well spent. Macao continues to be a key part of our lives. We still have many relatives living there, and we have good and close ties with them. I go to Macao every year; my eldest daughter decided to stay there because she has a good job there. Nowadays with the internet we might be far away physically, but we are all very close at the same time. I get news from

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Macao every day because nowadays distance does not matter anymore. (Oeiras, 10 October 2010)

In fact, this same feeling – that of continuing to have an umbilical connection with Macao – is clearly evident when listening to spontaneous conversations between individuals, ranging from gossiping about some hilarious episode involving someone in Macao who is known to everybody, especially those of the same generation, to reading and commenting on social and political news in Macao newspapers published in Portuguese through online editions.13 It also includes active participation in projects developed by Macanese community associations based in Macao14 and through the internet, which is an excellent tool to bring people together. Similarly, at a more formal level during interviews, individuals mentioned they had daily contact with Macao in different ways, using diverse technological means for the purpose. They also mentioned how they continued to keep abreast with everyday life in Macao even though they live in Portugal. As has been seen, in the past there was a centripetal process that made it possible to create a Macanese ethnic identity that brought together individuals from different family contexts, united by the same feeling of belonging to a community, drawing away from the Chinese community and drawing closer to the Portuguese by maximizing their capital of Portuguese-ness. According to Pina-Cabral and Lourenço (1993) and Pina-Cabral (2000), this capital represented a social promotion strategy for the Macanese (as individuals, as families and as a group) during moments of sociopolitical crisis – those incidents that frequently occurred in the territory and changed interethnic relations in Macao. According to these authors, who carried out their research in Macao during the early 1990s, it was the signing of the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration in 1987 that made it possible to define and prepare the general framework for the key questions that were fundamental for the future of Macao and its society. Especially, the handover of Macao to the PRC in 1999 resulted in the greatest change in interethnic relations among the Macanese. Pina-Cabral and Lourenço (ibid.) argue that the Macanese community abandoned exclusive attitudes towards Chinese individuals and that there was a progressive demarcation of the Portuguese that resulted in an emphasis on the ‘capital of intercultural communication’ becoming more visible. The conscious self-definition of the Macanese as being hybrid or mestizo – these being the categories they use and apply to themselves – due to the various ethnic mixtures underlying their origins could be a recent phenomenon and could be derived from this latest political

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incident in Macao – that is, the handover of Macao to China and the end of Portuguese rule in the territory. However, an interpretation of the Macanese brief genealogies, family histories and biographical portraits that I compiled, coupled with an analysis of the contents of the aforesaid websites and being a participant-observer at PCB’s social gatherings, clearly revealed that there is a remote ethnic memory that identifies the Macanese in Macao in a similar manner, which is nowadays reproduced in the Portuguese context. This encompasses memories of a multilingualism (Portuguese, Chinese, English and even Patuá) that was always relatively common in Macao; social interaction among colleagues from the Commercial School and the Infante D. Henrique Secondary School – both with official Portuguese education systems – which were attended by Macanese and Portuguese students; an interest in engaging in sports such as field hockey or tennis, there being several Macanese champions; music, cinema and Anglo-Saxon fashions that reached Macao via Hong Kong; the Portuguese and Macanese food served at home and Chinese food that was preferably eaten outside the house; neighbourhoods in which all the staff of the same civil service department in Macao resided; the meticulous celebration of Catholic festivals and the commemoration – in a purely light-hearted manner – of the most emblematic events of the Chinese lunar calendar. These are just some of the innumerable memories I heard during my fieldwork that were always part of Macanese self-identification. Constança illustrated this by reading me an excerpt of the portfolio she developed as part of an adult learning programme offered by the Portuguese government under the New Opportunities scheme: I am a Macanese who has lived in Portugal for the last 10 years, but I continue to maintain ties with my homeland, the language, habits and some customs. I am very nostalgic about our cuisine, the markets where you could buy live seafood, the street stalls and itinerant food hawkers where we would often eat dishes such as chao min, chi cheong fan and other specialities. I miss Christmas, Midnight Mass, family suppers, visits to our relatives on Christmas day, when we would get gifts, the delicacies served during the Chinese New Year, such as the cake that is specially made for the start of the Lunar Year, [and] the highly coveted lai see.15 You get very nostalgic when you are far away from Macao. To be Macanese irrespective of where one lives means wanting to meet relatives and friends from our childhood and our school colleagues. It means needing to socialize with Macanese people and to always find pretexts for us to meet and to nostalgically remember our birthplace: Ou Mun. (Oeiras, 19 October 2010)

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How much of this way of life is the result of the long cosmopolitan history of Macao as the crossroads between the East and the West – the result of individual, family and group ethnic actions accumulated over time in a Chinese territory populated above all by Chinese citizens and situated next door to a large and modern financial hub (Hong Kong) – where the Portuguese flag flew high until 1999 and where the administration was the main source of employment for the Eurasians who had Portuguese nationality? Is this a phenomenon that is similar to the creation of multiple identities typical of creole populations resulting from successive ethnic mixtures over the course of centuries, with reference to an initial moment of contact between Europeans and Asians, as defined by O’Neill (1999, 2000, 2008)? O’Neill (2000) proposed three different directions of positive identification (not necessarily superimposed) for the Kristang Eurasian group in Malacca: (1) a national identity that provides the Kristang with full rights in Malaysia; (2) a cultural identity associated with the Portuguese culture, namely an identification with Catholicism and with the most emblematic symbols of the Portuguese nation exported there during the time of the Estado Novo; (3) an ethnic identity that self-defines them as a Portuguese Eurasian ethnic group that speaks a creole language and originated through a process of consecutive ethnic mixtures over the course of centuries from the time of the first contact between Portuguese and Malays in that South East Asian region. The author recognized that the multiple identities of the Kristang began to assume a more essential nature, and the previous ‘creole’ identity aspect, with more explicit Malay elements, was suppressed while they ‘exaggeratedly’ adopted a new Portuguese identity. Unlike the Kristang, the multiple identities of the Macanese began to incorporate a growing number of elements external to the culture of the Portuguese matrix, albeit without suppressing, for example, the Macanese identification with Portuguese nationality, the Catholic religion or speaking Portuguese. However, other components of their creole ethnic and cultural identity emerged from current everyday practices, thus gaining a promotion and visibility that helped define a uniquely Macanese identity. Nowadays, the Macanese self-identity is, fundamentally, supported by a familiar memory that draws the Macanese closer to a culture of Portuguese Catholic values and customs and an ethnic memory that is essentially creole, hybrid and blended by nature. This memory is rooted in a complex process of miscegenation over the course of more than four centuries. It resulted in a Eurasian physical appearance and inspired the development of a series of unique sociocultural markers, which include a distinctive cuisine and language. The next chapter

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focuses precisely on the ‘places of memory’ of the Macanese community living in Portugal.

Conclusion: Memory in Practice I began this chapter with the observation that even though Halbwachs (1950, 1992) favoured the collective dimension of memory, this does not mean that he did not recognize the interaction between the collective and individual dimensions of memory. In this context, he proposed that the strength and the duration of collective memory are supported by a group of people – that is, individuals who are members of a group retain the memories, and it is this mass of recollections (or forgotten elements), not necessarily being the same, that gives rise to more intense memories for some of these subjects. Thus, each individual memory is conceived as a point of view relating to the collective memory, and this point of view varies according to the place that the person occupies in the group and the relations the person maintains with other social environments. This is the same collective feeling shared by members of a group Brubaker (2004) described in relation to the concept of identity. The author argues that the process of creating a social person is inextricably linked with their identification by others according to ‘identification processes’ that constantly change and can thus only be understood over the course of time. Gillis (1994) argues that memory and identity sustain each other mutually, since the notion of identity depends on the idea of memory and vice versa. The nucleus of meanings of any individual or group identity – namely, a sense of similarity over time and space – is sustained by remembrance, and what is remembered is defined by the identity that is assumed. Therefore, identities and memories are highly selective, being inscribed instead of being descriptive, serving private interests and ideological positions. According to Pollak (1989), there is also a permanent interaction between what is experienced and learned, and what is experienced and transmitted. This is applicable to all forms of memory: individual, collective, family, national and ethnic. The task of framing memory is thus fuelled by material provided by history. This material can undoubtedly be interpreted and combined into innumerable associated references – guided by the concern to not only maintain social boundaries but also to change them. This task incessantly reinterprets the past according to the present and the future. It is possible to observe how collective memories imposed and defended by a specialized task of creating a framework –

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without being the sole amalgamating factor – are undoubtedly an important ingredient for maintaining the social fabric and the institutional structures of a society. This being the case, the common denominator of all these memories as well as the tensions between them helps define the social consensus and conflicts at a given moment. Nevertheless, no social group or institution, no matter how stable and solid they might seem, can guarantee their continued existence. However, their memory can survive their disappearance, generally taking the form of a myth that is driven by cultural, literary or religious references, since it cannot be anchored in the political reality of the moment. The remote past can thus become a promise of the future and can often challenge the established order. It has been demonstrated how the Macanese community, as a social entity, is characterized by an amalgamating process of creating a unique ethnic identity and a unique mutual community feeling for individuals whose family origins are rooted in different matrimonial contexts. Family memories, veritable genealogical chronicles that blend the past and the present and herald the future, are a mental tool that people use and manipulate to compete for a hegemony of plausible and relevant discourses on memory within the community as a whole. Such memories also cause internal conflicts within individuals concerning a ‘legitimate’ interpretation of their past, exposing them to a greater fragility of their identity that, in the present, is overcome by an active ethnic investment.

Figure 2.5. Procession of Our Lady of Fátima in the 1950s, Macao. Photograph provided by Gina Badaraco.

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Figure 2.6. Procession of Our Lord the God Jesus in the 1950s, Macao. Photograph provided by Gina Badaraco.

The centripetal force that characterizes the Macanese community based in Lisbon and brings together different individuals for the same purpose is based on a common matrix of a Portuguese and Catholic education. While this is the basis for the formation of the community, the mortar that binds, rebuilds and keeps it alive is the rediscovery of their unique ethnic identity, which overcomes the dispersion that could occur due to the disparate family contexts of its members. This is achieved through collective practices associated with the Macanese lifestyle and way of being. The complex nature of the process of building an identity by analysing daily practices and common values of people has been described in Astuti’s study (1995) of the Vezo, a fishing community on the west coast of Madagascar. The argument used here is that to be a Vezo, an individual had to act in the present because it is only possible to acquire an identity in the current context; this phenomenon is compared with activities performed in the past, which do not determine what a person is in the present. As Astuti described it, fieldwork among the Vezo can easily result in the experience of becoming a Vezo, by learning and executing Vezo tasks. This is thus a contextual identity acquired through an experience of inclusion by performing certain practices related to the main activity of the Vezo community. This inclusive dimension is also present in the process of constructing the Macanese identity. Being accepted, being part of the community and thus acquiring this identity is, in the present and in the Portuguese context, above all achieved by

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learning and actively participating in commemorative social events (and the respective technological platforms on the internet) and gatherings where people eat together.16 It is this performative dimension – what an individual does along with others – of invoking the past in the present through an intimate sociability based on nostalgia that greatly contributes towards producing mnemonic communities. The next chapter focuses on an emblematic event celebrated by the PCB group – the 2010 Moon Festival. As a participant-observer, I use ethnographic descriptions to understand how cultural and ethnic memory and, consequently, the Macanese cultural and ethnic identity, is frequently evoked there while sharing narratives, articulated in multiple languages, about the experiences of these Macanese in a Macao that, according to them, is disappearing, as is their community. Sharing food that used to be prepared and eaten by Macanese families, sharing the same music they played at parties during the 1960s and emotionally sharing their great yearning for that place and past are the key elements of the nostalgic environment that is reproduced and relived at such gatherings. I then argue that these collective acts of sharing constitute a mnemonic desire and intention, thereby guaranteeing and promoting a Macanese unitary category. As shall shortly be seen, due to practices over time, the formulation of the Macanese identity in terms of a community is (re)adapted and (re)produced. To this end, a set of individual memories are projected onto the group, which uses them to construct a collective mindset about the very idea of being Macanese. This being the case, in this study I will use a sufficiently broad definition of ethnic community – such as a set of people whose members have a common name, elements of a culture, an origin myth and a historic memory, which are associated with a given territory, and who share a feeling of solidarity. This notion of community makes it possible to open up new ways to integrate not only anthropological knowledge but also psychological and political knowledge to understand the ethnic and cultural phenomenon that the Eurasian Macanese community represents.

Notes 1. Extract from the entry ‘Memory: Autobiographical’ by Conway (2001: 9566), included in volume one of the International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2. Halbwachs used the expression collective memory to refer to the memory of groups such as families or classes.

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3. For an anthropology of names and naming, see the collection of essays organized by vom Bruck and Bodenhorn (2006), which not only reflects renewed anthropological attention to these topics but also provides comparative ethnographies through which the politics of naming and the power of names to establish and destabilize personal identities are examined. In relation to personal naming practices in Portuguese, see the thematic issue (volume 12, number 1) of the Etnográfica journal, edited by Pina-Cabral and published in May 2008, entitled ‘Other Names, Crossed Histories: Person Names in Portuguese’. 4. Hobsbawm and Ranger (2012 [1983]) argued that the quest for identity and the ‘invention of tradition’ resulted in the formal institution of practices that sought to inculcate values and norms by means of repetition, relating them to the period of social, economic and political changes occurring at the time. 5. In Time Maps: Collective Memory and the Social Shape of the Past, Zerubavel sought precisely to reveal the fundamental structure of social memory at a micro, macro and intermediate level and to demonstrate their similarity. 6. It should be noted that though the inquiry was focused on a brief family genealogy context, I was immediately told the family history from their origins dating back to the sixteenth century. It was clear that my informant sought to describe her family to me exclusively highlighting her most prestigious relatives and using systematic manipulations that could allow her to mention only those ancestors. In this particular case, I was also told about the significant investment the family made in researching their family ancestors and that those findings were about to be published in photo-biography and documentary film formats. 7. This work consists of three volumes encompassing 3,500 pages, 245 chapters and 250 photographs, and it studies and records 440 Macanese families. It is well known among my interlocutors, and they repeatedly referred me to it as a reference manual for studying the genealogy of their families. This was especially so in the case of the so-called traditional families of Macao, whose ancestors were well documented, except, according to these individuals, for some typographical errors in the names and/or the omission of information concerning relatives from closer generations. According to the creator of the online portal Macanese Families, this work also made it possible to initiate an online archive. In 1997, the Macanese Henrique d’Assumpção created a database with the information compiled by Forjaz that, from then on, continued to grow with various contributions from Macanese scattered around the globe, and it was made available on a website (Queiroz 2010). The introduction page of the Macanese Families website reads: ‘This is a restricted website with a large quantity of cultural and historical information that could be relevant to the Macanese: a vast collection of genealogical records (more than 48,000 names that date back over centuries), more than 1,000 photos, hundreds of recipes, a large number of articles on Macao’s history, culture, Patuá creole language, etc. About 1,000 Macanese around the world have already registered’ (Macanese Families 2012). 8. Most of my interlocutors said they currently visit Macao every year and stay there for two or three months, while others went to Macao every three years to attend the Macanese Encontros, which have been promoted and supported since 1993 to the present by the CCM and the Macao Houses on four continents. There were also people who maintained dual residences, dividing the year into two periods spent between Macao and Portugal. They are the ones who ‘maintain one foot in both worlds’ as mentioned on the PCB website (GenteDeMacau 2013). It may also be noted that most of the people I interviewed who were already living in Portugal during the 1980s and 1990s carried out service commissions in Macao, with a mini-

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10.

11. 12.

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mum duration of three years, and many of them renewed these service commissions several times. The creation of an official PCB website played and continues to play an important role in legitimizing the group, to such an extent that the PCB celebrates both the anniversary of the date when the group was founded as well as the anniversary of the creation of the website. Two individuals were designated to organize the group’s events and two other individuals were tasked with maintaining and updating the website. Another example of this was when in 2010 I created Facebook profile with the name of my research project – as I mentioned in the previous chapter describing the methodology applied in my research. A large number of people spontaneouly joined it, and in less than a year, the page had more than 1,000 friends around the world who were Macanese or people with profound links to Macao. One of the methodologies I had in mind, especially after so many people joined my Facebook page, was to regularly pose questions such as: What is Macanese cuisine, what is it like and what memories does it evoke? What memories does Macao evoke? However, only a few comments were posted in response and they were always very timid, writing only two or three words. Another group on Facebook. Even though it is not directly linked to the PCB website, it has many friends in common. Most of my interlocutors referred to Portugal as their ‘fatherland’, which gave them their nationality, and to Macao as their ‘motherland’, the land where they were born and made them Macanese. Creighton (1991) explored the irony of the symbolism linked to the dominant and multivocal concept of Mother and its use to promote nationalism in diverse nation states. The symbol of the mother, which from the outset could suggest a universal or shared humanity, since supposedly all individuals have a mother, is, however, often used to emphasize a ‘particular’ identity and to exclude ‘others’ that do not belong to it by projecting a culturally specific mother prototype that, in turn, is linked to a more general national identity. This is the context in which Macao is defined as the Mother and Portugal as the Father – that is, the Portuguese empire that implemented the same Trilogy of National Education promoted by the Estado Novo; namely, God, Fatherland and Family in all of Portugal’s overseas territories. They were all raised according to this logic of an idealized fatherland, which many of them experienced only when they visited Portugal for the first time as adults. The Macanese press written in Portuguese includes the Catholic weekly O Clarim and various daily newspapers: Ponto Final, Hoje Macau and the Jornal Tribuna de Macau (JTM), which is undoubtedly the most widely read newspaper among the Macanese community in Portugal. For example, there was a project that was at the stage of compiling material, and it involved scanning and collecting old photographs of Macao, dating from the 1950s to the 1970s, with the respective identification and description of the elements therein. At that time, this project was mobilizing the community not just in Portugal but throughout the diaspora with great enthusiasm. The objective was to compile these photos, organize a photography exhibition and publish a volume entitled Album da Malta, intended to be a social portrait of the community at the time. In Macao, lai see are traditionally envelopes with auspicious motifs and colours, such as red and gold, that contain gifts of money. They are gifted during celebrations for the Chinese New Year by married men and women to single youths and children

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in the family, and such gifts can also be given to friends. According to the custom, youths and children should visit and greet adults with the words Kung Hei Fat Choi to wish them a good New Year before accepting the envelopes with the money, which, just like the New Year, must be totally new banknotes to attract luck and good fortune. 16. Just like Astuti, who mentions that during her fieldwork she acquired a Vezo identity by performing the same tasks as her hosts, after I assiduously participated in all the PCB events, I was told that I had been integrated into the group and was considered to be Macanese.

Chapter 3

Eating the Past Expressions of Nostalgia at PCB Events

We decided to create a group just for fun: we only focus on food and drinks, we don’t get involved in anything else and we don’t want to hear about anything else . . . We invite people we like and who also like this food, and we are already quite a few people now . . . and once in a while we also hold parties for specific occasions. The Moon Festival party is the most emblematic one. —Vitória1

The first time I interacted with the Food and Drinks Party (PCB) was during the 2010 Moon Festival party. This is a Chinese festival that is also celebrated in Macao and by Macanese living in Portugal, in groups and at parties organized by the PCB. It is the most emblematic event of the calendar of festivals, marking the autumn equinox, which occurs on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon of the lunar calendar. It is celebrated with great enthusiasm and has the singular characteristic of being associated with the moon cake, which is gifted to friends and family members on this day. In Macao, moon cakes are called bate-pau cakes (which translates as ‘hit-with-a-stick’), as they are removed from small wooden moulds with the help of a stick. Made from sugar, eggs and flour, these cakes are filled with different ingredients, such as bacon, or tangerine skins, or egg yolks, or various types of seeds; for example, lotus seeds, pumpkin seeds and also almonds or peanuts. The obligatory moon cake bears images or characters that symbolize the lunar rabbit or hare in relief. This animal is particularly popular in Macao and Hong Kong – a legendary figure that Buddha allowed to join the lunar pantheon. According to Macao tradition, on the night of the Moon

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Festival or Chong Chao Chit, everyone goes out to admire the moon, the most beautiful full moon of the year, in places such as Praia Grande and the Nam Van lakes, in all gardens and squares, as well as at beaches in Hac-Sá and Cheoc Van on the island of Coloane. Carrying lanterns shaped like a rabbit through the streets, adults and children alike pay homage to the moon (Lopes 2014). In keeping with old Macanese traditions, a little rabbit-shaped lantern is always a feature of the PCB’s Moon Festival celebrations. Back in 2006, the Moon Festival stood out due from other PCB parties to the number of people who attended and because of its originality and success, which has been remembered ever since. Vitória recalled how the event was received among the Macanese in Portugal: In 2006, we organized a Moon Festival party, where we hosted 150 people, and I was very satisfied because we are the only group of Macanese people who still celebrate the Moon Festival; it wasn’t celebrated anywhere else [outside Macao]. (Oeiras, 11 October 2010)

In September 2010, it was suggested that I could attend the event so long as the organizers allowed the presence of a ‘foreigner’ – the expression used by one of my interlocutors to identify me as an outsider to the group. Permission was granted on condition that I would not attend with a notebook and recorder in hand and that my name was added to the guest list. Vitória provided me some details by telephone about the event; namely, the venue where the party would be held, which was in the multipurpose annexe of the Macao House (Casa) in Lisbon. Since the PCB does not have any formal association with the Casa, this was a venue that was hired for the purpose, and the traditional Macanese food was mostly catered, thus a sum was paid by everyone who attended to cover both these expenses. I was told that this format was being implemented this year as a way of simplifying the process, unlike the practice of everyone ‘bringing a plate of food’, which had been the norm in the past. When I reached the venue, Vitória immediately made her way over to me through the throng of fifty-six people attending that evening. After exchanging greetings, she took on the role of host: ‘Come on, come on,’ she said, ‘I have to introduce you and we have to eat.’ We fetched plates and cutlery and then went to the buffet table. I was introduced to the various delicacies of Macanese cuisine, both in terms of the names of the dishes as well as the ingredients used to prepare them. I also learned the order in which the food should be consumed: ‘now you can eat like this (this is how we eat): first the noodles with these soy and peanut sauces and then you come back to eat the rice dishes,’ said Vitória.

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Having helped ourselves to the food, the next step was to meet people. I was introduced as a researcher who was writing a Ph.D. thesis on the Macanese, their traditions and customs, and she explained to them how important their cooperation would be for my study. Among Vitória’s descriptions, such as ‘he knows a lot about Macao’, ‘she can tell you a lot of things’ and ‘she is . . .’ and ‘she can really help you a lot with . . .’, as well as conversations here and there where the more curious individuals stopped to ask me some questions, there emerged stories of Macao, bonds with Macao and with Portugal and how important these PCB events were to maintain the Macanese culture and identity. The room was adorned with Chinese decorations, apart from the permanent enormous image of the Ruins of St Paul’s, which totally covered one of the walls of the venue’s room. The table with the buffet dinner had been placed right in the centre of the room, while the drinks table was located at the back, on the wall facing the entrance. The fig syrup – a sweet Macanese drink made from fig leaves – had pride of place. Next

Figure 3.1. PCB Moon Party 2010 and its feast, Lisbon. The table at the centre of the room displays various Macanese dishes, some of which had been prepared and brought to the event by the guests, including Cíntia Serro, the author of the cookbook O Livro de Receitas da Minha Tia/Mãe Albertina (2012) (bottom left). With the dinner in full swing it was possible to observe in the remaining pictures some of the highly appreciated dishes like the minchi, chilicotes, kôk chi pá fán, tacho and chi cheong fan noodle rolls. Photos by the author.

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to the drinks table was another table with grapefruit and red boxes with golden characters that contained the moon cakes. Someone mentioned that they could nowadays be purchased very easily in any Chinese supermarket in the Martim Moniz area in Lisbon. The rest of the space was empty, and all the chairs had been placed along the walls of the room. A sound system and microphone had been set up near the entrance, and as soon as dinner was over, strictly following the programme of events2 an announcement was made informing everyone that it was time for the singing to start. The participants then began to form groups around the microphone, and placards with lyrics written in large letters were held aloft so that everyone could sing along. The first song was the PCB anthem, with lyrics in Patuá, especially written and composed for the PCB (2013b) by a Macanese living in Brazil. Various other songs were then sung, many of them also in Macanese creole, and all of them, without exception, were about a Macao that no longer seemed to exist. The songs were very lively, just like all the people who were there and who participated in or watched this satirical musical moment. As the evening progressed, as per the event programme and the Chinese traditions relating to this festival, it was soon time to sing to the moon. The moon song was sung in Romanized Chinese, just like previous songs, and in a kind of improvised karaoke – the words of the song again fixed on placards, with a paper lantern in the shape of a rabbit placed strategically nearby. At the end, a group photograph was taken. Supper was then served, and the buffet table was now adorned with an arrangement of fruits providing a splash of colour alongside a wide range of Macanese sweets and various moon cakes with their different fillings. The sweets were complemented by sugared yams, grapefruit and a sweet red bean soup – known as chacha – which was highly appreciated by the guests. Since there were fewer people in the room at this time, it was possible to hear the many languages that blended together

Figure 3.2. ‘Macao Terra Galante’, PCB anthem and ‘Macao Sã Assi’ song lyrics on placards. Details of PCB anthem and ‘Macao Sã Assi’ lyrics both in Patuá creole language (second and third photos), these are emblematic songs for the Macanese. Photos by the author.

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Figure 3.3. Karaoke with famous songs of the sixties. Photo by the author.

in conversations. Apart from the universal Portuguese, with a greater or lesser accent, it was possible to hear Patuá, when it was a light-hearted conversation, interrupted by many peals of laughter. Cantonese, more fluent for some than for others but definitely not forgotten, was used as a secret code among them, as was English, which was used quite naturally whenever an expression or name appeared that they did not know how to pronounce in any other language. The raffle draw was another high point of the evening, and those who received prizes were applauded and won an exclusive photo shoot. The raffle progressed until the first and most coveted prize was awarded. After the raffle it was again time for karaoke. Everyone participated, and even though the die-hard singers refused to give up the microphone both male and female voices could be heard without anyone being embarrassed about singing off-key. The choice of the next song was unanimous; it took them back to their youth during the 1960s in Macao, when they listened to Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Ricky Nelson, among many other American and British musicians who I could not identify. And they also danced the twist. Like any other form of gathering that I observed during my fieldwork among the Macanese – even outside the PCB parties – the 2010 Moon Festival party can be viewed and experienced as ‘reunions of commensality’ (Stafford 2000). As I argue shortly, eating together and sharing

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Figure 3.4. Dancing the twist. Photo by the author.

a certain type of food, as well as a certain way of communication, surrounded by physical and symbolic nostalgia for the Macao of yore that was re-created in Lisbon, allowed a synchronous articulation between the individual and the collective by reactivating feelings of togetherness and celebration and, based on this, a collective Macanese mindset. Producing these events where people ate together was not only an expression of communion among the various members of the Macanese community but it also reinforced the collective sentiment of the Macanese identity, singularity and the group’s permanence over time.

Back to the Past: Remembered Traditions, Narratives and Practices As mentioned in the description of the PCB in the first chapter, this group is characterized by the homogeneous nature of its members, especially in terms of age and educational institutions. As has been seen, the people who participate in these gatherings share a network of friendships dating back to the days when they were school students in Macao during the early 1960s. References to this common bond, the importance of these friendships for integrating various Macanese scattered around Portugal or visiting Portugal during these events and, essentially,

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maintaining the community in generational terms were some of the first revelations that were voiced when I began to ask questions about the PCB. This was a comment by Tina, who left Macao to live in Lisbon when she was 16 years old along with her elder sister, who was commencing her university studies. A funny thing about these gatherings – and I have heard other friends say the same thing – is that it is as though we are fifteen years old again. It’s like going back in time, back to the past. There I am: the Tina I was in Macao, a colleague of this person and that person, and many of them were not even my real colleagues . . . (Lisbon, 30 September 2010)

The establishment of the Association to Promote Education for the Macanese (APIM), in 1871, was an important moment for the community, since it responded to a growing need to organize secondary education in Macao, particularly to create a school specifically aimed at training individuals for intermediary roles in the local Portuguese administration or the corporate world in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The Pedro Nolasco Commercial School was then founded in 1878 and was the main arena of activity for the APIM.3 The National Macao Lyceum was inaugurated later, in 1894. In 1937, after successive changes of facilities and name, this school adopts its patron’s name and was officially named Infante D. Henrique National Lyceum. From this point onwards, Portuguese language education in Macao offered two pathways: the National Lyceum and two private professional schools, the Pedro Nolasco Commercial School and, later, the Dom Bosco College. Considering the state of economic and cultural paralysis that had long characterized Macao, most Macanese youths of that generation sought to emigrate. In the words of João: As there were few public service jobs, another phenomenon occurred, that of the diaspora, an exodus, emigration. Younger Macanese had to leave to find jobs, first going to Hong Kong and then to the USA, Canada, etc.; there was no other choice. Portugal was not a preferred destination; the others were easier. Those who went to Portugal went there to continue their studies. They finished high school at the Lyceum and came here to attend university. They were the offspring of upper-middle class families who had the economic resources to do so. Those who belonged to the upper-middle social classes would study at the Lyceum; if they were from the lower-middle and blue-collar classes, they would study at the Commercial School and the Industrial School, to learn a vocation and quickly find jobs. And since they couldn’t find jobs in Macao, they went to Hong Kong to work in the banking sector, mainly at the HSBC Banking Corporation. The great wave of post-war emigration occurred in 1954–55. (Lisbon, 15 October 2010)

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At the PCB events, guests met alumni of the Macao Lyceum and the Commercial School, whose life paths diverged when the former left Macao for Portugal to continue their university studies while the latter remained in Macao and had careers as public servants. The general trend for those who came to Portugal and finished their higher education was to constitute a family there and then pursue their professional careers. Many of them only met again in Macao, during the 1980s and 1990s, when the Portuguese administration began to expand and implement new services and it thus became necessary to find additional qualified individuals from Portugal’s civil service to overcome the shortage of staff – with preference being given to those who were born in Macao. The Macao Office in Lisbon was created to process applications and recruitment for service commissions. These commissions in Macao were for a period of three years, were renewable and were especially attractive in monetary terms, since salaries were more than three times what was paid for equivalent posts in Portugal, and each family was assigned a house to live in for the duration of their contract in Macao. In addition to the financial benefits and being assured that their permanent jobs would be held for them in Portugal, many of the people I interviewed revealed that they saw it as an opportunity to live in Macao again, to meet old friends and relatives and to contribute their know-how to the development of their homeland before the 1999 handover. Tina described her motivation to work in Macao: I did a service commission in Macao in 1990, and at that time there was an impressive wave of Macanese contracted for similar service commissions in Macao. It was almost as though, without speaking with one another, we had decided to go to Macao before it was returned to China. I decided to apply for a job in Macao because I wanted to contribute my mite to that land, one could say. I wanted to leave a legacy, and I think I managed to do that. I think that all those who went there at that time felt the same way. (Lisbon, 30 September 2010)

As the date for Macao to be handed over to China drew near, people began to move in the other direction geographically – that is, throughout the 1990s, many Macanese who were permanent residents of Macao moved to Portugal and settled here. Events such as the 1-2-3 Riot (1966–67), the process of the decolonization of Portuguese territories in Africa (1975) and a meagre literacy in Chinese were the reasons why most of the people I interviewed decided they did not wish to remain in Macao after 1999. Apart from the language and their Portuguese nationality, their decision to live in Portugal was, above all, due to the

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guarantee of jobs in the Portuguese civil service. Constança represents one such case of professional integration in Portugal. There are two reasons why I came here in 1998. One of the reasons was that I did not know how to read or write Chinese and I thought that was not the time I was going to start learning and perhaps I would not be able to interact much with the Chinese . . . I then opted to come to Portugal and join the Portuguese civil service. My professional integration here recognized all the time I had served in Macao, both in terms of seniority as well as for my pension. All the documents were processed there at the Integration Support Office. (Oeiras, 19 October 2010)

Due to these events, more people from Macao began to concentrate in Portugal, and since their number was already quite large, the small group of friends who got together to have lunch gave way, in 2002, to a broader and more organized group. The welcome note on the PCB website (2013b) reads: Do you think it’s an unusual name? Yes, it is! Let me tell you how it all began. It was at a get together that we realized there was a large number of our compatriots who were already living in Portugal. Some had moved definitively, while others kept one foot in both worlds. Some were young students, others were employees and yet others had retired. We immediately had the idea of not losing this social ‘capital’ to reminisce about our cuisine, our language (Portuguese and Cantonese) and the space (Macao) that united and unites all of us. With this idea in mind we contacted some friends and, after our first lunch, in 2002, attended by 28 individuals, we formed an organized group which, by vote, we called the PCB. From then on, our parties have been a great success. And this success and continuity is due to our members who have tirelessly striven to organize events, decorate spaces and prepare delicious Macanese food. And this is the story of how this website was named. We hope that this website contributes towards ensuring that the bonds of ‘Memory’ among and of the ‘People of Macao’ are never lost. It will serve as a meeting point and platform for communications; it’s where we will announce parties, meetings and whatever else anyone would also like to disseminate (texts, photos, memories, etc.).

Subsequently, in 2007, the PCB created the website GenteDeMacau, where it is possible to see the group’s anthem and flag, its founders, friends and associates, information regarding the organizing committee, a blog, photographs of past events and a space where each of its members has their own personal area to write about whatever subjects they wish. It also has a calendar of the most significant Portuguese and

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Chinese events the PCB celebrates, in the same way as in Macao, where Macanese food is always the star attraction. These celebrations, which they partly wish to keep private, reveal the closed nature of the group, not just for ‘outsiders’ like me but for other Macanese as well, since just the fact of being Macanese is not enough to gain direct access to these events; it is necessary to be invited to attend. Perhaps as a legacy of being civil servants or, as they say, as a joke, the PCB lists the hierarchy of those in charge of the group, and one needs to go to the top to obtain approval and access this universe, which they want to keep familiar and among friends, due to the comprehensive information about that group that is shared. It is an obsession of the group to record private lives and later make them public, to be known, to be remembered, as though they were the ‘last Macanese left’ – the last to preserve the traditions, the language, the cuisine, habits and customs – and thus had a duty to share their memories because ‘none of this will continue’ after them, as I was repeatedly told. For the PCB group, these Macanese reunions really are privileged spaces for collective memory, what Halbwachs (1952) called ‘social frameworks of memory’. In other words, these frameworks represent the instruments that collective memory uses to reconstruct an image of the past that is combined, at each stage, with the dominant thoughts of the society. PCB events also emphasize and constantly repeat the elements they wish to preserve in the present, since they guarantee a continuity with the past – this is the case with typically Macanese food and language as well as all the other components respective of celebrations. In the case of the 2010 Moon Festival, described at the start of this chapter, it was entirely conceived and oriented to return to the past. The silk paper lanterns, including the one in the shape of a rabbit, as well as the Chinese attire that many women chose to wear that evening and the song to the moon and the moon cakes all together effectively triggered successive narratives among the guests, who nostalgically reminisced how this festival was celebrated in Macao. It was a tradition in Macao, on the night of the Moon Festival, to carry lanterns shaped like rabbits through the streets . . . It was a tradition to eat moon cakes, or bate-pau cakes as they are known in Macao, since they are removed from the mould with a whack from a stick . . . It was a tradition in Macao to sing the moon song to the moon.4

These traditions that were described to me and practised there aimed to ensure invariability, since they recalled a past of fixed and formalized practices in the context of the changes brought about by their current

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lives. The space in which they live is no longer Macao; they no longer go out at night carrying lanterns and gaze at the large full moon. They now reminisce about how those nights were, re-creating them; they hold raffles with symbolic prizes; they sing and dance to music from 1960s Macao. Rita is 63 and has lived in a suburb of Lisbon since 1967, when she, her mother and sisters arrived in Portugal to settle permanently. She describes the differences she encountered. Everything that came to Macao was foreign. I really liked Elvis Presley. Those were our childhood crushes: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ricky Nelson. Influences came from the USA and Hong Kong, not Europe. It was the same thing for fashion and movies. We always dressed alike and as couples . . . I found the fashions here very strange. I remember that clothes here were very different . . . I used to wear a leather jacket, tight pants, ballerina flats and none of that could be seen here. For us our clothes were normal, but it wasn’t considered normal by the people here. (Amadora, 5 November 2010)

As we have seen, the individual experience of nostalgia involves a feeling of yearning for the past. Most of the time, this involves a combination of memories, imagination and reinterpretation of a past that normally views memories of childhood as a time of innocence, protection and family love, where life seemed more benevolent and easier than it really was. According to various anthropologists (Davis 1979; Ivy 1995), when this romanticized nostalgia for the past – periodically felt by individuals – becomes part of the collective mindset of a group, this means that there is an underlying crisis of collective identity reflected in the confusion and uncertainties that are generated around the identity proclaimed until then. For these scholars, rapid contemporary cultural changes result in collective nostalgia, partly as a joint quest for an identity that feeds off the past – what is familiar and guaranteed – to the detriment of seeking out novelty and discovery. However, they also suggest that collective nostalgia can have the opposite effect and be part of a constructive process that allows individuals to deal with doubts from the present, in order to be able to progress. In this process, the images of a presumed past in which life seems to have been more prosperous and stable help people offset the threats posed by insecurity and alienation in the present, allowing them to move on to the future. Even if this is an uncertain future, it now comes with a new guarantee that there is continuity among the past, the present and the future. This means that the human values that individuals associate with the past still exist in the present and will continue to exist in the future.

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These nostalgic projections of a past that is remembered and reinterpreted in the present imply what Hobsbawm and Ranger have described as ‘essentially a process of formalization and ritualization, characterized by reference to the past, if only by imposing repetition’ (2012 [1983]: 4). Similarly, the PCB commemorations aim to ensure continuity with the past, through a set of ritual or symbolic practices that come together to create ‘invented’ traditions. The PCB’s calendar of special events that enliven the community’s life in Portugal plays a fundamental role to this end, not just because it represents a profound focus amid the collective nostalgic recollections and the nostalgic imagination of the community but because it also structures the group’s social memory. The cultural calendar of certain days that are associated with great symbolic meaning and are generally accompanied by ritual celebrations thus have the capacity to, in the words of Zerubavel, ‘synchronize the sentiments of a large number of people, by creating emotional rhythms that affect great collectives’ (1981: 46). In addition to the perennial bonds maintained with the past by performing the celebrations of the event, the group’s social memory is constantly revisited and materialized in the present – and consequently in the future too – by means of photographic records. A constant feature of these meetings is that numerous photographs are taken that are later uploaded to the PCB website, duly archived according to the event and date, from current meetings to previous events dating from when the group was formed and officially took shape with the creation of the website. Every face, every dish, every detail and every moment within that event is duly recorded, not just by the person appointed as the official photographer but also by anyone present with a camera. Some photographs are taken individually but most are group photos. According to Stafford (2000: 67–69), the Chinese have a great interest in photography as a means of ‘leaving a recollection’ to overcome an imminent separation. Ties of friendship are reaffirmed and augmented through the photograph, especially among friends, since it is an honour to be invited to be part of someone’s photograph. This not only signifies how important one person is for the other person but also demonstrates the sincerity of their intention to keep their friends close to their heart. The photograph also allows these friendships to endure through a mnemonic resource that makes it possible to overcome the separation by means of memories. The same thing happens among the Macanese during the PCB parties. In addition to their own private photograph records, they view all the other photos of the same event. Posted on the PCB website, sometimes with comments added, these photographs prove the existence and vitality of the Macanese community based in Portugal.

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As Connerton (1989) argues, it is this material and immaterial legacy of particular symbols that reinforces the collective sentiment of identity and nurtures in human beings the comforting feeling of permanence in time. The next sections of this chapter provide an in-depth description and analysis of two of these symbols claimed by the entire community as being the most significant of the Macanese identity: food and language.

Eating Together: The Role of Food in Diverse Forms of Nostalgia Studies of food and food habits have long been of interest for the social sciences and, particularly, for anthropologists. An example of this is the pioneering study by Audrey Richards (1995 [1939]), which describes the social and psychological context of food, its production, preparation and consumption and how these processes were linked to the life cycle and the interpersonal relations of the Bemba people, as well as how food was ‘a symbol’. More recently, Claude Lévi-Strauss (1965) and Mary Douglas (1978 [1966]) made important contributions towards a structuralist approach to food. In his famous text Le Triangle Culinaire (1965), Lévi-Strauss, using a universalist linguistic model, affirmed that, just like language, the act of cooking is common to all human societies. For Douglas, food is transformed into a code, and the message it codifies can be found in the pattern manifested by social relations, there being a correspondence between a given structure and the structure of the symbols through which it is represented. However, it was Cooking, Cuisine and Class (1982) by Jack Goody that seemed to mark a turning point in studies on these themes. He postulated that food and cuisine are an integral part of complex economic, social and cultural systems, arguing that societies such as those in sub-Saharan Africa where there is not a stratified social class or a writing system do not have a differentiated cuisine – that is, a ‘high’ or ‘low’ cuisine corresponding to the respective segments of the population, whereas societies that do have a writing system and clear social stratification, such as those of Eurasia, have diverse cuisines – this being the case with European and Chinese cuisines – both associated with distinct lifestyles and recorded in writing in recipe books. In a subsequent essay, Goody examined the contrast between ‘low’ and ‘haute’ cuisine. Thus, in Food and Love (1998), he argued that at the level of the popular or lower social classes, with lower incomes, a vernacular cuisine still endured among home cooks or modest eateries, with recipes having been transmitted by habit and oral traditions and made with local ingredients.

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At the level of the elites – at least on more important occasions – Goody identified an imported, cosmopolitan cuisine, produced by specialized cooks, which ensured the family’s social pre-eminence at a time when cuisine represented the zenith of refinement and sophistication. Anthropological research on food has since undergone a process of maturing and has served as a vehicle for examining broad and varied theoretical issues and research methods (for a review of literature on the anthropology of food and eating, see Anderson 2005; Belasco 2008; Mintz and du Bois 2002). In the theoretical context, food systems have been used to exemplify extensive social processes such as the production of political-economic value (Mintz 1985), the creation of symbolic value (Munn 1986), the way kinship is interpreted and practised in different societies (Santos 2009), the construction of individual and collective identities (Bourdieu 1984 [1979]; Murcott 1996; Scholliers 2001), local cultural change, transnational cultural flows and food globalization (Inglis and Gimlin 2009; Wilk 1999), a claim of belonging to certain groups – be they castes, classes, religions, ethnicities or nations (Anderson 2005), the social construction of memory (Sutton 2000, 2001) and so on. Some of the dominant relations between food and memory include, for example, contexts of remembrance through food, the role of food in diverse forms of nostalgia, or food as a ‘place’ for a historically constructed ethnic identity. Using the participant-observation method at the PCB meetings, I saw, as the group’s name itself suggests, that the epicentre of that sociability focused on the table (physically placed at the centre of the room), and the food and old memories were what generated a collective conscience in relation to ‘feeling Macanese’. Nuno is 57 years old and moved to the greater Lisbon area in 1996. During a personal interview, he stated that: Food and the parties make me feel Macanese. Why are these parties held in this way and not any other?! The culture itself is the memory. These parties are important to remember things. (Amadora, 16 January 2011)

The PCB parties effectively constitute an important network promoting the integration, functioning and maintenance of the Macanese community in Portugal. Based on the information provided by the people I interviewed and my personal experience interacting with the official Macanese associations in Portugal (such as the Macao House), the PCB gatherings were created and are organized regularly due to the need members have to socialize with each other or with the malta, an expression commonly used by the Macanese to identify their belonging to

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the group. Just as Pina-Cabral and Lourenço (1993) and Pina-Cabral (2000) described in relation to the density of the community in Macao, here too the members of the PCB are linked by various ties such as family kinship relations, having studied at the Commercial School or the Lyceum, having been neighbours in Macao, etc. The grand PCB reunions, such as the 2010 Moon Festival5 described earlier in this chapter, are held around the traditional format of a Chá Gordo meal (which literally translates as ‘fat tea’) – a vast and informal meal consisting of sweet and savoury dishes that are typical of a high tea6 – at the Casa’s multipurpose space hired for the event.7 Another commemoration on the PCB calendar of celebrations was the Chinese New Year,8 which was held at one of the Chinese restaurants in the Lisbon metropolitan area, selected because it was deemed to be the best at preparing food from southern China, which was thus most similar to the type of Chinese food from the Guangdong province consumed in Macao. Chinese restaurants are also the preferred venue for family reunions or for friends to meet outside the PCB parties, and during an interview at one such restaurant at lunch time, I was able to verify that it was indeed a very familiar environment and that most of the clients were Macanese living in Portugal or visiting relatives. The Macanese habit of regularly meeting at Chinese restaurants was acquired or imported from Macao and has continued to flourish in Portugal due to people seeking something similar to the lifestyle that they lost when they moved here. To cite Manuela in this regard: In Macao, we would socialize much more; it was very easy. You only needed to call someone – ‘Shall we have lunch at this place?’ – and within an hour everyone was there. That is not the case here; everything is far more difficult – it’s different, there is nothing in common, such as the quest to find the best dim sum in the greater Lisbon area. (Oeiras, 13 October 2010)

Dim sum is a light meal consisting of various dishes, many of which are served in bamboo containers in which the food has been steamed. Going to a dim sum restaurant in Macao and Hong Kong is known as Yam Chah or having high tea, as all these dishes are accompanied by tea. The Macanese expression ‘Chá Gordo’ was undoubtedly adapted from this term. In Portugal, the Macanese discuss which restaurant among the four favourite in the greater Lisbon area serve the best Yam Chah and which restaurant has the best chi cheong fan, rice noodle rolls that are normally eaten with soy and/or peanut sauce and sesame seeds. This is an indispensable Chinese dish that is highly appreciated by the Ma-

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canese, which is why it is always on the menu at PCB parties. This non-Macanese dish is an exception to the rule at PCB events and is the reason why Macanese go to the Casa on the first Saturday of every month, when chi cheong fan is served along with Macanese dishes. As Paulo, one of the cooks at the Casa, told me when interviewed: The menu for the Saturday lunches at the Casa included pork balichão, pork bafassá, minchi, chicken curry, pou kok kai, which can be translated as Portuguese-style chicken, but I wouldn’t call it that because in Portugal chicken was never cooked like this: with saffron, coconut milk and curry and baked in the oven. There aren’t many fish dishes – primarily steamed fish cooked only with ginger and soy sauce. There are prawn dishes, such as prawn curry. Macanese cuisine mainly consists of meat dishes and the meat that is used is pork or chicken because beef has a strong flavour that not everyone likes. Desserts included baji, coconut milk bebinca, bolo menino, mango mousse and chocolate tai choi kou. We chose these dishes for our menu and every Saturday a choice of two of these dishes was offered because we felt these were the most typical Macanese dishes, and we never changed it. For bigger events, people would choose and order what they wanted from the menu, and we would prepare the food according to their order. Initially, a reasonable number of people would come for the lunches, but with the passage of time they became fewer, except when there were birthdays or other festive occasions. More Macanese would always come for the lunch served on the first Saturday of every month because we would serve chi cheong fan – a Chinese noodle dish from southern China – but all Macanese eat it and love it. On the other Saturdays during the month, most people who ate there were Portuguese. (Almada, 1 July 2011)

It is possible to establish a parallel between the way chi cheong fan and – as demonstrated in chapter two – individuals from different ethnic contexts are integrated into the Macanese community, acquiring a Macanese identity and shedding their previous ethnic ties. Even though the rice noodle roll’s origin, ingredients and preparation are Chinese, it has been assimilated by Macanese cuisine and had pride of place at the Chá Gordo meal table because it was such a favourite. In fact, it is so popular that it has never been omitted from the list of preferred dishes. Food centred on nostalgia is a recurring theme in diaspora studies. As a form of memory, nostalgia has various meanings in relation to food. A true ethnographic commitment to nostalgia means that it is necessary to recognize and try to explain the multiple aspects of the act of remembering, observing how they coexist, if they blend and/or conflict. Nostalgia is shaped by specific cultural concerns and conflicts; and just like any other form of memory practice, it can only be understood in specific

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historical and spatial contexts. Mena brought up the theme of losing her family’s lifestyle when moving to Portugal in 1996. She mentioned the need to learn how to cook, which was associated with this change. In my house, since I had a highly organized life, I had a maid who would do everything. She had worked in a Portuguese household before, and she had learned how to cook Portuguese food and Macanese dishes. But when I decided to move to Portugal, I knew that there was no possibility of having a maid here. I only had my own two hands and so, before I left Macao, I decided to attend a course in Chinese cooking. I had recipes for Macanese dishes, and I requested tips from two of my sisters-in-law, who were accomplished cooks, and after that I began to practice. Nowadays, I can say that while I may not be a fantastic cook I can prepare some dishes that are not bad at all, and I can serve them when we invite a group to have dinner here at home. In daily life, I cook both Portuguese and Macanese food; I don’t know many Chinese dishes, and I have survived these past 14 years that I have lived here. At home, we eat far more Portuguese food than Chinese. We’ll have Chinese food perhaps twice a week . . . sometimes we go to eat dim sum at the restaurant at the Estoril Casino. It is very good there. (Oeiras, 10 October 2010)

As I argued earlier, even though nostalgia is nurtured by modernity – ruptures, displacement or a historically discontinuous process – collective memory is created by efforts to forge a shared sentiment of group identity, cohesion and continuity over the long term. Nowadays, it is possible to observe how these families strive to find the type of food eaten in Macao, with a special emphasis on the preparation of Macanese food. To this end, they resort to recipes or the memories of these recipes passed down over generations, in a quest for the greatest authenticity. This effort to ‘not forget’ and to preserve Macanese cuisine has resulted, especially during recent decades, in the dissemination of Macanese recipes by publishing and republishing cookbooks,9 websites,10 conferences, workshops and even the creation of the Macanese Gastronomic Association (CGM) in 2007. Sutton (2000, 2001) emphasizes the nostalgia that the smells and flavours of a lost homeland trigger among individuals in the diaspora, affording a temporary return to the past. This same feeling of nostalgia surrounds the universe of Macanese cuisine when described by the Macanese themselves. Gabriela, aged 44 years old, described Macanese food in the following words: When we speak of Macanese food, we are speaking of a food that brings back memories; it brings back flavours, smells, it brings back our childhood and youth, time spent at our grandparents’ houses, when our

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grandparents were alive. In those days, the entire family gathered at grandma’s house for Christmas celebrations and, apart from the religious obligations like attending Mass, we spent the entire day eating . . . the table was always set for a Chá Gordo. (Lisbon, 8 November 2010)

The PCB gatherings are also imbued with this very same nostalgia, especially so with relation to food. Just like Tina told me at one of the PCB parties: ‘In our nostalgic universe of Macanese cuisine, only Macanese recipes are specially prepared by us and taken to the PCB parties’ (Lisbon, 5 May 2011). During the 2010 edition of the Moon Festival, and at other subsequent PCB reunions that followed the same format of a buffet, most of the food had been ordered from the cook working at the Casa at the time. Apart from providing the Saturday lunches at the Casa, Paulo had prepared a catering menu in partnership with Miguel (another Macanese cook), and any dishes that people wished to order for their events could be selected from this repertoire. Despite having adopted this simple method for supplying homemade Macanese food to PCB parties, the organizing committee has no restrictions if anyone wants to contribute dishes or demonstrate their culinary prowess in this universe of Macanese nostalgia. Manuela, one of the PCB committee members, explained how it works. We have various formats. Nowadays, we are doing it like this: people who pay the entry fee only bring their appetites and those who bring food don’t pay. For example, someone made a pork balichão, I made the prawn curry, another person made the pork vindaloo, since he is a master at that dish, then one of the ladies made the turnip bebinca, and we ordered the rest of the food, mainly finger food, from Paulo and Miguel. (Oeiras, 13 October 2010)

Normally, the same dishes are ordered for successive events, and the entrées are usually samosas, chilicotes (deep-fried meat pies), spring rolls, cheese toast, genetes cookies (corns starch cookies), chi cheong fan and lacassá (noodles). Among the hot dishes, the most emblematic recipe of Macanese cuisine is always present – the minchi (minced meat and diced fries) – in addition to ngau nam curry (made from beef skirt), capela (meat loaf ) and the dishes already mentioned above by my interlocutors. Desserts include batatada (potato cake), coconut milk bebinca, agar-agar jelly, chocolate tai long kou (pudding) and the highly coveted bolo menino cake (almond, pine nuts, and coconut cake). Since it was the Moon Festival, the event also included Chinese moon cakes (batepau cakes) and grapefruit – auspicious culinary elements that, according to Chinese tradition, should be eaten on this occasion.

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Many classic anthropology studies have been dedicated to demonstrating how exchanging food develops and reflects ties of solidarity and alliance; how exchanging food is parallel to ties of sociability; and how acts of eating together establish and reinforce social communion (LéviStrauss 1967 [1949]; Malinowski 2002 [1922]; Mauss 2012 [1924]). According to these studies, the notion of reciprocity is considered in the most immediate and fundamental form of social life where the contrast between the ‘I’ and the ‘Other’ can be integrated – that is, the consented transfer of one of an individual’s values to the other transforms them into companions and adds a new quality to the transferred value. Similarly, sharing and eating food at the PCB events establishes an interdependence and a community unity that is reinforced by the reference to a common origin and past. Macanese food, its cuisine and commensality practices are represented as attesting to the ethnic and cultural origins of the Macanese, proof of the miscegenation that gave rise to and characterizes the community. During direct interaction with the Macanese, it was clearly evident how this food was repeatedly cited in nostalgic terms as a link to the past and to a Macao that is part of this past and that does not wish to be forgotten, thus becoming one of the main vehicles for returning to this past. This singularity can also be found in literature, in the way Macanese writers (Ferreira 2007; Jorge 1992; Jorge 2004; Lamas 1997; Serro 2012) refer to this food and methods of preparation, lauding the aromas and flavours and placing the food at an almost mythical level, within the family, the group and the Macanese soul. In his study of the food and identity of the Macanese, Augustin-Jean (2002) identified two presuppositions: (1) that both the type of food as well as the method of preparation are used by individuals within a given society to demarcate themselves from other groups in that society and from other societies; (2) and that over the course of time both the food and methods of preparation are often borrowed from other cultures and from other cuisines. Considering the processes of assimilation and reinterpretation in play in a place like Macao, one can argue that it is possible to show how a community affirms its identity using gastronomy as an ethnic and cultural marker. Graça Pacheco Jorge, the author of several Macanese cookbooks translated into different languages, stated: I think that one of the most important elements of identity is gastronomy because all people have their own distinctive cuisine. That is why I think it is very important for the Macanese to demonstrate that they have their own cuisine, which is not Chinese, nor Portuguese, nor Malay,

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nor Timorese: it is Macanese! It is a distinctive cuisine that is part of the Macanese identity; it is part of our culture. (Lisbon, 26 May 2011)

Food is therefore used as an authentic expression of the Macanese ethnic and cultural identity. What is considered to be one of the oldest fusion cuisines in the world (Jackson 2004) was created by combining Indo-Portuguese culinary traditions with other Asian and even African influences, being a distinctive and exclusive mark of the existence of a community that is specifically Macanese. Currently, a great deal of attention is being paid to the sociopolitical construction of food, mainly at two levels: (1) research of the processes through which a given cuisine is identified with a cultural collective and is transformed into something that corroborates the collective’s identity; (2) a growing political interest in cuisine, with a nationalist or regional bent, codifying it and promoting it as an important commodity, particularly within the tourism economy and viewing it as cultural heritage. Just like other items, long-standing culinary practices are transformed into a heritage that should not only be preserved but should also be promoted as a set of shared values and collective memories that increase the potential for identification in the present (Smith 2006). Similarly, the process of converting Macanese food into heritage simultaneously ends up being the product of broader economic, political and ideological dynamics framing the Macanese community while allowing this community to sustain and reproduce its own identity. The next chapter examines these themes.

Macanese Cuisine and Language as Places of Memory The concept of places of memory was created and developed as a result of seminars oriented by Pierre Nora, at the École Pratique des Hautes Études de Paris, between 1978 and 1981. Subsequently, a collection of three volumes – La République (1984), La Nation (1986) and Les France (1992) – was published, edited by Nora, collectively entitled Les Lieux de Mémoire. According to Nora, he embarked on this study after seeing that the French national memory was rapidly disappearing, which made it imperative to prepare an inventory of places where this memory was in fact rooted, thanks to the desire of humans and despite the passage of time in its most resplendent symbols, festivals, emblems, monuments, commemorations, plaudits, dictionaries and museums (1984: vii). Crystallizing the past, places of memory seek to cross-reference and clarify ambiguities and complexities that emerge between the construction of

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memory and the underlying collectivity. They can thus be objects, instruments or institutions, and their definition does not depend on the concrete nature that shapes them but only on the reality they encompass: a reality that they hold within them, simultaneously condensing the work of History (sedimentation) and approaches to perpetuating Memory (reminiscences). However, their genesis unequivocally lies in a desire for memory. It is this mnemonic intention that guarantees their identity and ensures that places of memory are not merely places of history. As I have argued in the previous sections, the PCB’s associative activities, more specifically the group’s social gatherings, affirm and highlight the identity markers they deem to be ‘typical of the Macanese’. This is the case with cuisine and language, which the community incorporate into these occasions as places of memory to construct a Macanese ethnic and cultural identity. I refer to them as places of memory in the context of the PCB social events – in the same sense that Pierre Nora (1984) defined them – because I believe they are associated with certain characteristics that are intrinsic to the community and thereby trigger an intention to remember through them, perpetuating a uniquely Macanese self-definition. Pina-Cabral and Lourenço, during their research in early 1990s, had established the three central vectors of Macanese self-definition: (1) fluency in the Portuguese language; (2) the Catholic religion; (3) the ‘race’ resulting from the miscegenation of European and Asian ‘blood’. However, the authors emphasized that while these were considered the main characteristics used by individuals to classify themselves and others at the time of their research, just like the Macanese identity continuously changes, so does the relative importance of these vectors (1993: 22). More than two decades after this study, it is possible to see that this prediction was indeed true. The element of miscegenation now appears, in the first place, enhanced and disseminated by other markers that determine the Macanese identity – such as food and language – affirming singularity and difference. As for the Catholic religion, while it continues to be an important vector to define the Macanese ethnicity in Macao, among the community based in Portugal it seems to have lost its importance, since in this specific context it is no longer something that uniquely identified the Macanese. Mena shared her views on Catholicism as a Macanese identity marker: Religion, perhaps not so much . . . I always thought that since Portugal is a Catholic country . . . it has Fátima . . . there would be greater religious fervour; I thought that more people would attend church here and that there

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would be more youngsters in church . . . In Macao, I would go to Mass every Sunday, and the church was always full. (Oeiras, 10 October 2010)

If professing the Catholic faith is clearly one of the identity vectors that has lost relevance among the Macanese living in Portugal, by contrast gastronomy is now pointed out as one of the strongest identity markers of the Macanese community. Graça Pacheco Jorge defines the creole cuisine of Macao as: A very old fusion cuisine, and there are some dishes that clearly show the blending of East and West. For example, it uses potatoes, which are Western, but also uses turmeric powder, curry and various other oriental spices. (Lisbon, 26 May 2011)

The cuisine is one of the elements that is mentioned the most nowadays when examining the question of defining the Macanese identity, both among my informants as well as in recent academic literature.11 The Patuá creole language is also mentioned along with the food. It has a special status because it is a language that has long fallen into disuse, and some references are only occasionally introduced into satirical conversations. In all likelihood, it is still used in this context today due to the influence of popular music and Patuá Theatre, which is again flourishing in Macao and has branched out to other areas where the Macanese diaspora has settled (such as in Brazil, see Santos 2006). Much of the next chapter examines the theatre group Dóci Papiaçám di Macau – its history, activities and projects related to studying, expanding and updating the vocabulary and disseminating the Patuá creole among youngsters. As I was able to see from the first moment I established contact with expat Macanese at the PCB Moon Festival, in group situations different languages were used even within a single sentence – again showing how the element of a cultural mixture was emphasized in communication. Portuguese was highlighted as the mother tongue and the language in which they were educated, irrespective of the greater or lesser individual hesitation in relation to correct pronunciation or expression while speaking Portuguese. As compared to Portuguese, oral fluency in Cantonese was not so relevant, since most Macanese could not read or write the language, and many of them indicated that it was the main reason why they decided to move to Portugal as Macao’s reunification with China approached. Nevertheless, even after several years living in Portugal, it was clear to see that they had not forgotten their Cantonese and even preferred to use it at this gathering among friends. ‘This was the first language we learned to speak and when you learn it as a child you

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never forget it,’ they told me. They are comfortable with English due to Macao’s proximity to Hong Kong and influences that arrived from there through cinema, music and the media. In their study, Pina-Cabral and Lourenço examine the ‘stigma of linguistic insufficiency’ (1993: 117) and considered it to be a form of identification associated with problems of insecurity and self-image by the Macanese, who do not speak either of these languages proficiently. This stigma was similarly mentioned by Vitória, specifically referring to the difference between those who studied at the Commercial School and at the Infante D. Henrique Lyceum. At the Commercial School, we would speak in all the languages, whatever best suited the context, sometimes even using three languages in the same sentence. However, this was not very common at the Lyceum; they spoke better there because if students were caught speaking Chinese they had to pay a fine. It was far laxer at the Commercial School. There is still a rivalry between the schools . . . and those who studied at the Lyceum would say that we, the Commercial School students, spoke Portuguese very badly . . . We would speak in various languages, and we didn’t speak any of them well, and as for written Portuguese [as compared to spoken Portuguese], it was even worse! And people hate to be the butt of jokes because Macanese like to make fun of others but hate it if anyone makes fun of them. (Oeiras, 11 October 2010)

Among the various languages that could be heard, I was able to identify ‘some things, some expressions’ – as Manuela called them – even though ‘nobody speaks creole any longer’, as I was clearly told. However, apart from these expressions, which are almost always used in a jocular and satirical context, virtually all the musical interludes at PCB parties are in Patuá. Examples include the PCB anthem, which heralded various songs devoted to Macao and the Macanese, the lyrics of which were in Patuá and displayed on large panels like an improvised karaoke. In fact, over the course of several interviews I conducted afterwards, the participants always confirmed to me that the Macanese regularly engage in this multilingual form of communication. The following statements, the first by Manuela and the second by Nuno, confirm this practice. The people of Macao have a distinctive way of speaking among themselves; it is like a patchwork language. We do this as a joke, and then there are some typical Patuá expressions we use. I suppose this mixture of languages is now used more in a light-hearted manner here. We do, in fact, speak Cantonese and we have not forgotten the language. (Oeiras, 13 October 2010)

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*** At home, with my mother, we always spoke in all the languages – it’s a mixture. It is a patchwork language – a real mixture! If everyone spoke with their languages mixed up like this, we would soon have a new dialect or language. And there are some who say that this is a modern dialect, speaking these languages mixed up together. (Amadora, 16 January 2011)

This designation of a modern creole language can effectively be found in the study by Francisco Lima da Costa (2005: 168), referring to a linguistic hybridism resulting from a new form of language that is commonly used in Macao: a blend of Portuguese, Chinese and English. This author also mentions that the references to Patuá in the samples with which he worked in Macao and in Portugal exemplify a process of recovering what is currently considered to be the distinctive language of the Macanese. This is the result of a conscious post-handover effort by institutions and associations representing the Macanese to affirm and differentiate the community ethnically from the Chinese majority present in Macao. If this is the case, I argue that when one speaks of a Macanese language nowadays it refers to the ‘singular manner in which the Macanese speak’, which is neither the already extinct Patuá nor the proficiency in Portuguese described by Pina-Cabral and Lourenço (1993). From what I could ascertain, fluency in the Portuguese language in Macao never was the hallmark of the community as a whole but rather of an elite minority. It is also not the ‘modern creole’ (Costa 2005) that blends Portuguese, Chinese and English as the result of a recent post-handover era in Macao, since, according to the statements of my informants, this has always existed in the territory. Rather, the typical way in which the Macanese express themselves is an amalgamation of these three languages punctuated by reminiscences of an archaic creole (which, in its turn, has evolved over the course of time), with variable fluency among the community. As Manuela mentioned, the Macanese language is a ‘patchwork language’. She further explained: Patuá, properly speaking, has already been lost; nowadays we only use some expressions. As for Portuguese . . . well Portuguese was also never really spoken very well. In Macao, we always spoke a mixture of languages: with our friends we would speak in Portuguese, and sometimes we would use some words in English and Chinese; it really is a patchwork language . . . and the gastronomy is linked to the language, while the culture is linked to both these elements. (Oeiras, 13 October 2010)

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If the Macanese linguistic creativity is a good metaphor for the way language and culture change all the time, it can similarly also result in practices that are likely to be reified in a unitary category: the category of ‘Macanese’. The typical Macanese mixture that is intrinsic and manifested through memories of a gastronomy and a language of the past represents the particular places where the Macanese seek to nurture the feeling of belonging to a community with a singular identity, which is preserved and reproduced at the PCB events. This is a ‘community of practice’ in the sense defined by Lave and Wenger (2003 [1991]) and Wenger (1998) – that is, a community that has the capacity to reproduce itself by preserving certain ways of coparticipation. An important dimension in any community of practice is the feeling of belonging to the community. Wenger (1998) proposes three different ways of belonging, which are involvement, imagination and adjustment. Involvement encompasses the strategies used in social and contextual situations individuals face; imagination encompasses the objectives and expectations ‘of expanding our self by transcending our time and space and creating new images of the world and ourselves’ (1998: 176); and, finally, adjustment refers to the stance taken in relation to a given experience that is real or imagined. Similarly, by creating and maintaining these nostalgic PCB gatherings, the Macanese are involved in the process of producing their own future, perfectly aware of what they are doing and its significance for their lives and their community. It also leaves a historic vestige of artefacts – physical, linguistic and symbolic – and social structures, the result of their memories of their memories, which are duly recorded and disseminated through virtual media while being constantly created by practice over the course of time.

Conclusion: Redeeming the Past The rapid academic interest in postcolonial studies can be attributed to the many ideas that Benedict Anderson advanced in 1983: links between conscience, narrative and nation; the growth of ‘writing communities’ in the interconnected worlds of journalism and fiction; and the intersection of these writing communities with changes in the perception of time. According to Anderson, it was print capitalism – the invention of newspapers and books – that made it possible for people to imagine large connected communities that until then had never experienced any special form of union. Anderson emphasized the utmost importance of

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the rise of print capitalism and its electronic successors in providing a fluid medium capable of making it accessible for reuse, reconstruction and remodelling at any time and in any place, in principle. This idea of print capitalism as a decisive force in the emergence of a national conscience was also one of the main criticisms of the author’s work, Imagined Communities (2006 [1983]). The academic attacks on the concept of nations and the predicted end of nationalism – according to the various scholars who envisaged them (Gellner 1993 [1983]; Hobsbawm 1990) – were revalidated by the globalization of the economy, the internationalization of political institutions and the universalism of a culture shared through means of communication and information technology that are typical of the modern period, which made these changes even more obvious. While globalization is now seen as being responsible for eliminating territorial boundaries and limits; transnationalism is seen as having made the concept of nationality antiquated; and the internet is seen to have ushered in a new era in opening up and connecting the world; Castells (1998 [1997]), nonetheless, states that the resurgence of nationalism occurs and is reinforced in precisely this globalized world. The author argues that this evidence is expressed in the challenge of the establishment of nation-states and the diffusion of the (re)construction of an identity that is always based on a nationality, defined as compared to another ‘foreign’ identity. Similarly, Bernal (2004) clearly demonstrates how the activities of the Eritrean diaspora and the state of Eritrea exemplify how nations not only continue to play a crucial role in the lives of individuals but they can also be constructed and reinforced by transnational flows and globalization technologies. She argues that, for Eritreans, nationalism and transnationalism do not oppose each other; rather, they are intertwined in complex ways in the globalized space of the diaspora, cyberspace and new definitions of citizenship and citizens implemented by the newly formed state of Eritrea. The case of Eritrea reveals precisely how access to and widespread use of new technologies in terms of communication on a global scale give rise to what Appadurai (2005 [1996]) called the work of the collective imagination – that is, the continuous production and sharing of new imaginations that facilitate confluence in translocal social actions and increasingly intersect with twenty-first century nation-states. Similarly, the technological advances of globalization have not eliminated the ties the Macanese have with their homeland. On the contrary, they make it even more feasible for the Macanese to participate in

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maintaining a culture and an identity beyond political and geographic boundaries through the internet. In my view, this is a modern form of Anderson’s print capitalism that, apart from being a fluid means of communication of the ‘imagined’ idea of the Macanese community, allows real time interaction and participation on a global scale to construct a unique Macanese identity. As I have sought to demonstrate in this chapter, the Macanese based in Portugal need to imagine a past in Macao to create an awareness of group identity, since only an identification with this collective past makes it possible to acquire a social identity. It is this imagined past that the PCB’s commemorative events seek to reproduce, and these meetings are where the maximum representation of the Macanese collective memory takes place. The welcome note on the PCB website states that the group was formed in 2002, after Macao was handed over to China, when the number of Macanese living in Portugal began to increase, and that the group’s intentions were to reminisce about ‘our food, our language and the space (Macao) that united and still unites all of us’ (PCB 2013b). Later, in 2007, they wanted to give form to this project by means of the GenteDeMacau website to provide their group visibility, continuity over time and legitimacy as the faithful upholder of Macanese traditions, practices and customs. Vitória described the PCB in the following manner: We are part of the diaspora, but we are not enrolled in anything; we do not receive anything, we fund our own activities, and not only do we organize the parties but we also have to organize everything else ourselves [such as the blog and website contents]. We have to do it first so that others will follow our example. (Oeiras, 11 October 2010)

As a community of practice, engaged in the process of producing its own future, the PCB (re)produces and disseminates, through its gatherings and its website, a set of symbols attributed to a ‘Macanese lifestyle’ or ‘way of being Macanese’. We have seen how food and language are always highlighted, both in social contexts, such as the Moon Festival analysed herein, as well as the context of individual interviews or even in a virtual context, where, apart from updates for each event, participants have their own space to manifest their personal interests, as Manuela highlighted: On the website, people can write on the blog; there are various sections on various themes. One is about how to speak in Macanese; it’s written entirely in Patuá – the language is still written . . . I don’t even know

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if that is correct or not; there is another section which just has Macanese recipes and people post their recipes there . . . another section relates to the PCB and has descriptions of our parties. (Oeiras, 13 October 2010)

As argued in this chapter, by being elevated to the status of symbols of difference, Macanese cuisine (recipes and commensality practices) and language play an important role in formulating the Macanese identity, going far beyond a merely ethnic definition. Lopes (2000) observed that the Macanese cuisine is more than a material reality; it constitutes a set of individual memories projected onto the group to construct a collective mindset. I have sought to go further by arguing that, as places of memory, Macanese food and multilingualism make it possible to relive old times and return to origins, giving rise to feelings of a shared identity that is disseminated physically and virtually by members of the community. While the Macanese have always identified with the image of ‘Bamboo Macao’12 due to the capacity of this small but resilient Eurasian population to adapt and reinvent itself over the course of its history, the context of the handover of the territory to the PRC has again revealed changes at the level of structural elements of the Macanese identity. This is the backdrop against which the ‘typical Macanese mixture’ has been recognized as a distinctive hallmark of this community, irrespective of ethnic composition or family origins. As has been demonstrated, vectors such as the Catholic religion and fluency in Portuguese (Pina-Cabral and Lourenço 1993) no longer constitute the basis for identifying a Macanese person. The markers the community now indicates as references for the identity of the community are elements that distinguish them as being different, and they turn to the past for memories that sustain this identity. The cuisine and language resulting from a miscegenation with Indo-Portuguese roots – and developed in a space of multi-ethnic and multicultural cohabitation, which has always defined Macao – have gained the status of structural elements of the Macanese identity. As Barth (1969) would say, the most important thing in the process of forming and maintaining an ethnic identity is not so much the content but rather how the ethnic boundaries that demarcate and make it possible to distinguish an ethnic group from other similar groups are negotiated. In this sense, the Macanese community appears as an entity that is constantly readapting, and its continuity depends on the existence of agreements between its members (who are closely linked to each other

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by long-term personal and family ties) on how to constitute the present via the heritage they have received from the past and their aspirations for the future. If there is something that the ethnography of the Macanese community in Portugal tells us it is that the past provides a creative resource for people striving in the present to maintain what can no longer be found in the future. As Augusta, aged 63 years, confessed to me: ‘We go back to the past precisely to guarantee what the future can no longer provide to us’ (Oeiras, 22 February 2011). In addition to the example of the PCB in Portugal, it is nowadays also possible to observe joint efforts and numerous initiatives that various associations and projects linked to the Macanese community are trying to develop, with a more formal organization and with political support. There is a clear strategy for recovering, preserving, reconstructing and affirming the elements of the Macanese cultural and ethnic identity, inside Macao and abroad, which has evolved according to the contextual conditions. The next chapter examines this process of claiming hallmarks of the Macanese ethnic and cultural identity – the gastronomy and theatre performed in Patúa. These were put forward for the status of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the MSAR via applications submitted by the CGM and by the Dóci Papiaçám di Macau respectively. These applications, submitted at a local level, were aimed at eventually obtaining international recognition from UNESCO, as was the case in July 2005, when the Historic Centre of Macao was included in the list of World Heritage Sites, becoming the thirty-first World Heritage Site in China (UNESCO 2013). In Portugal, I examined the tourism campaign ‘Touching Moments, Experience Macao’ developed by the MITO, based in Lisbon. MITO’s aim is to showcase Macao’s cultural heritage and identity throughout Portugal. This excerpt of an interview with R. Faustino, the MITO director in Lisbon at the time, reveals how preserving a colonial historical heritage has been encouraged in Macao, evolving into a logic of safeguarding and promoting this cultural heritage, there being clear economic and political benefits to the project to build a singular identity for Macao locally, nationally and internationally: Now there is a great power behind Macao, which is China. This results in a completely different potential, and in Macao people have begun to think differently. If someone tells them that it is important to preserve their heritage, classify it as World Heritage, to apply for their cuisine to be recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (currently un-

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derway), etc. All this makes it possible to envisage things in a far broader manner and with greater interest in preservation. I believe that these applications are a statement, making a mark, a way of dignifying and elevating the Macanese culture and identity to another level. (Lisbon, 21 June 2011)

What is intriguing in the case of Macao is this active and conscious promotion of a hybrid identity that is unique to the PRC national territory by the post-handover local government – which, as has been seen, is evident in the everyday lives of individuals in Macao and abroad. This identity is rooted in a past marked by the permanent presence of the Portuguese for centuries, where Western and Eastern elements blended together. All the people of Macao should be proud of this history and identity and elevate it to the status of an avowed and valued unique identity – showcase it in a way that never occurred during the Portuguese colonial administration of Macao. What is the purpose of this official propaganda that emphasizes the recognition and safeguarding of Macao’s cultural heritage as a means to serve the political and economic interests of Macao and China and, consequently, their citizens? Following the argument of authors such as Comaroff and Comaroff (2009), I shall try and understand how the Macanese culture and ethnicity can also be hallmarks or ‘ethno-commodities’ or tend to act like corporate entities in the market.

Notes 1. Excerpt from an interview with Vitória, one of the founders and organizers of the PCB parties, in Oeiras on 11 October 2010. Vitória is 63 years old and has lived uninterruptedly in Portugal since 1969, the year when she visited the country for the first time. She remained in Portugal to marry her husband, a Portuguese soldier who had served in Macao, where they had met. 2. A check-in table was placed at the entrance to Casa, where the 2010 Moon Festival party was held. Each guest confirmed their presence and paid the respective fee confirmed beforehand. They were then handed an event programme containing the names or photos of the guests and illustrations relating to the commemorations. Such programmes were distributed at other PCB events I attended over the following twelve months, the intention being to orient the guests but also serve as a souvenir to remember the evening. 3. For further and detailed information about the creation of APIM and the Pedro Nolasco Commercial School, see the book Duas Instituições Macaenses (1998) by João Guedes and José Silveira Machado. APIM (2012) also has information available on its website concerning its statutes, social bodies, publications and activity reports. 4. Notes from my field diary on 25 September 2010. These notes are direct transcriptions of conversations with individuals during the 2010 Moon Festival event.

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  5. Other festivals that the PCB celebrated at the Casa in the following year included the Spring Festival on 7 May and the PCB’s ninth anniversary, along with the fourth anniversary of the PCB website on 20 July.   6. For further information about this traditional Macanese meal, see Ana Maria Amaro, who defines the Chá Gordo as ‘a hybrid of very rich recipes’ (1988: 65).   7. The dining room at the Casa was used to seat guests during a social luncheon, the first of the new calendar year. At this lunch, the main dish was the tacho or chauchau pele, traditionally prepared and eaten during this festive season (Christmas and New Year). It is a stew, similar to a Portuguese stew, that includes various meats, Chinese sweet sausage, vegetables and dehydrated pig skin (a product that is brought from Macao, since it is not sold in Portugal, and it lends its name to the dish, pele meaning skin).   8. A luncheon was organized to celebrate the Chinese New Year on 5 February 2011 that consisted of a Chinese fondue – the ta pin lou. This fondue is always served in Chinese restaurants, normally during festivities to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which, in Macao, also coincides with the coldest time of the year. The ingredients for the ta pin lou were carefully chosen so as to ensure that everyone had an auspicious year.   9. Two examples: (1) The book A Cozinha de Macau do meu Avô by Graça Pacheco Jorge, who has held conferences and workshops on Macanese cuisine as part of various initiatives, was published in Macao in 1992 by the Macao Cultural Institute and was published again in Portugal in 1993 by Editorial Presença, with the title Cozinha de Macau. A Cozinha de Macau da Casa do Meu Avô / The Cuisine of Macao from my Grandfather’s House was reprinted in 2014 by the Macao Cultural Affairs Bureau, in two editions: one in Portuguese-English and another in Chinese language; (2) João Lamas was invited to compile a sort of anthology of his recipe book A Culinária dos Macaenses – with two editions in Portugal in 1995 (sold out) and in 1997 by Lello Editores. In 2009, the book was published by the MGTO with the title Macaense Culinary: 100 Specialties, in a trilingual edition (Portuguese, English and Chinese). 10. The PCB Magazine (2013) and the Projecto Memória Macaense website (Luz 2012) are some examples among many others. The latter has a collection of recipes compiled by the Macanese community in São Paulo. 11. Various master’s dissertations in the field of social and human sciences and cultural studies since the year 2000 have focused on Macao and the Macanese community. Examples include Lopes (2000); Costa (2003) (thesis published as a book by Edições Fim de Século in 2005); Santos (2006); Rangel (2010) (published as a book in 2012 by the Macao International Institute Press). Similarly, Isabel Pinto’s Ph.D. thesis was defended in 2009 and was published by Edições Almedina in 2011. 12. Bamboo is a tropical plant native to southern China. It consists of a long, hollow woody stalk, which makes it very light and strong. Many of the scaffoldings used in civil construction in Macao even today are made of this material. After a Chinese bamboo seed has been planted, it takes approximately five years for its growth to become visible. Until this point, all the plant’s development occurs underground, creating a long and complex structure of roots that extends over the soil and will support the adult plant in the future. The bamboo begins to grow rapidly above the ground only at the end of the fifth year, shooting up quickly and growing to a height of several metres in just a few months (New World Encyclopedia 2013). There are various Chinese proverbs that use the example of the specific properties of bamboo as a life lesson. One of these proverbs states that ‘it is not necessary to be strong, but one must be flexible like bamboo’ to be able to achieve our goals and objectives. In

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Macao, the image of bamboo is closely associated with the idea of durability and permanence: during typhoons, it bends but does not break and rises again, green and flourishing, when good weather returns. This metaphor has been used in literature over the course of Macao’s tumultuous history and, more recently, by Pina-Cabral and Lourenço (1993) and Pina-Cabral (2002) to characterize the Macanese community. The title of this book also references the bamboo plant, being something that the Macanese have taken to their hearts as representing their community.

Chapter 4

Our Cultural Heritage Macanese Cuisine and the Patuá Theatre

Over history Macao has been an important gateway through which western civilization entered China; for hundreds of years this piece of land has nurtured a symbiosis of cultural exchange, shaping the unique identity of Macao. —Macao Guide Book1

This is the first description of Macao in the tourist guide to the city, published by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).2 It presents an exotic image of a small and cosmopolitan place that over the course of centuries has been a harmonious meeting point for the East and West. This contact gave rise to a multi-ethnic local community characterized by a culture of tolerance and mutual respect between different civilizations. This distinctive identity, with strong humanist aspects, is nowadays Macao’s calling card to the world. The post-transition official discourse emphasizes a selective reconstruction of a collective memory by reinterpreting Macao’s colonial history. The city is seen as being tolerant, peaceful and free of conflict. Macao has been reinterpreted as an international city with a legacy of a hybrid identity heritage in order to promote a feeling of local identification and to build new possibilities for local society, which Lam (2010) calls the promotion of a ‘new identity for Macao’. In Lam’s view, the concept of a postcolonial identity in Macao has been a prominent element of discourses by the government of the MSAR. Political narratives on nationalism are essentially economic in nature, where the local and national identities are reproduced as being inextricably intertwined,

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insofar as Macao has become an integral part of China. Turning to Macao’s colonial past corroborates its hybrid nature and international dimension, and these elements have clearly been highlighted to serve the interests of Macao and of China. In this manner, based on concrete economic and political considerations, key concepts concerning Macao and its distinctive cultural and ethnic characteristics have been selected and incorporated into the post-transition government’s official discourse to refer to a new identity being built in Macao: an identity that also reinforces the sense of belonging of the city’s inhabitants with the region. Macao is nowadays conceived as a city with a favourable dual nature: it is a modern and dynamic tourism hub and also has a historic and cultural legacy that was established there over centuries. The first aspect, represented by the gambling industry, reveals its globalized and commercial side while the latter symbolizes its historic and spiritual dimension, which the local government not only preserves but also revitalizes and produces for cultural tourism consumption (Du Cros and McKercher 2015 [2002]; McKercher and du Cros 2005). An example of this is the Historic Centre of Macao being included on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2005.3 This title further reinforced the official discourse on Macao’s importance in the successful integration of Eastern and Western cultures and China’s persistent openness to the influx of western cultural concepts throughout Macao’s history. As an integral part of the city’s life, the conservation of ‘The Historic Centre of Macao’ is crucial to the local community, while in a broader context, it represents a part of Chinese and world history, which, due to its historic and cultural significance must be preserved. (MGTO 2012b: 17)

If successful, this cultural tourism project promoted by Macao’s government could help reduce the excessive dependence of Macao’s economy on the gambling industry. It is also a policy that simultaneously has a strong nationalist mission: that of inculcating in individuals an identification with a historic past along with a recently constructed identity of Macao as a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. This project aims to consolidate in Macao’s society – which has about 553,000 inhabitants, 92 per cent of whom are ethnic Chinese with 52 per cent primarily from mainland China (DSEC 2011) – a sense of belonging to a historic-cultural legacy that defines them as being Ou Mun yan or citizens of Macao,4 irrespective of their origin – this being a reason for pride and motivation to preserve and elevate their heritage on a global scale.

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The notion of heritage is accordingly associated with cultural tourism and select locations of historical interest that were preserved for the nation. It is also used to describe a set of shared values and collective memories. According to Peckham (2003), heritage reveals inherited customs and the perception of accumulated common experiences that are a birthright and that can be expressed through different cultural manifestations. It is thus possible to observe how, in the context of Macao, the past is transformed into a heritage that should above all be preserved as a body of knowledge and a political-cultural process of remembrance and forgetting – that is, by the inclusion or the exclusion of certain elements in a way that increases the individual’s potential for identification in the present. In broader terms, it is clear how Macao’s cultural singularities are framed within China’s national context and its strategic political and economic plans at a global level. In fact, China’s current significant economic growth and its development as a global power are also derived from its tangible and intangible cultural heritage, which manifests the great richness and cultural diversity of China and its numerous ethnic groups. This cultural heritage is raised to the status of a symbol of the nation and is ‘used’ as a valuable source for developing a Chinese self-identity, as well as a providing solid base for promoting and safeguarding the nation’s unification. It even serves as an example for the union of all peoples of the world. While China, as a global economic power, is seen as providing great opportunity for Macao, as it can benefit from support from the central government and thus flourish in various ways,5 if China is keen to launch an economic, social and cultural partnership with Portuguese-speaking countries, Macao is the obvious choice to mediate this cooperation. This is a conscious symbiotic use of Macao’s cultural assets: a heritage inherited from the past that is now part of the sociopolitical context of a Special Administrative Region of China. This cultural legacy serves to legitimize and add value in the present to an authentic and distinctive identity for this territory, which also becomes a highly politicized product (Appadurai 1992 [1986]; Brown 2005; Cohen 1988). This chapter specifically examines two applications for the status of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macao – the candidacy of Macanese Gastronomy, submitted by the Macanese Gastronomic Association (CGM), and the candidacy for Patuá Theatre, submitted by the Dóci Papiaçám di Macau theatre group. They are closely linked to the project for legitimizing the Macanese community’s culture and identity at a local, national and international level, seeking to explore the complexity of cultural policies and identity issues involved in defining Macao’s intangible heritage.

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I argue that contemporary practices related to cultural heritage in Macao reinforce the political and cultural aspirations of local communities, converging on four main aspects: (1) universal recognition and safeguarding of Macao’s cultural diversity by UNESCO; (2) promoting and expanding the PRC’s economic and symbolic interests; (3) defining and objectifying a ‘Macanese identity’ that legitimizes the MSAR government; (4) celebrating and claiming a Eurasian culture and ethnicity among the Macanese community. If nothing else, the idea of a Eurasian Macanese cultural heritage makes it essential to recognize an intangible heritage due to the imminent production, promotion and consumption of a singular identity for Macao – that is, what Comaroff and Comaroff (2009) have called ‘commodification of culture and incorporating identity’. This extraordinarily coherent vision of Beijing’s ongoing intervention to create a new Macao and a new post-handover collective identity in the MSAR was mentioned in interviews with long-term residents and public figures in Macao – characterized by a sense of belonging and pride in the territory’s history. It was highlighted as affording innumerable possibilities for the small Macanese community to affirm itself. As Miguel Senna Fernandes, president of the ADM and director of the Patuá theatre group, stated: Before the handover, differentiating Macao would be viewed merely as regionalism, a region with its own unique characteristics, and the underlying logic would be within this regionalism. It would not have been the same as it is currently, because nowadays its unique characteristics are valued far more due to favourable conditions. Take China, for instance: it sees that this is a community whose roots are not really Chinese but it is perfectly integrated into the Chinese context. It is such a contrast that it really stands out. That is why a lot of attention is being paid to this community, and this attention also encompasses the culture and various other manifestations. The Chinese are very practical, and they say: ‘Now I want to have close ties with Portuguese-speaking nations,’ and for greater China, Macao is the preferred place to reinforce these ties because of its historical legitimacy and its close connection with the Portuguese-speaking world. It is a natural bridge for these nations. Greater China can designate one of its cities for this purpose. If this happens, we have to make the most of this wave to make our mark otherwise it will be very difficult. (Lisbon, 19 August 2011)

If Hong Kong is a prime reference and bridge for Anglo-Saxon countries and Japan, which are key economic partners for China, Macao could serve as a second bridge, leveraging its hybrid identity and expanding it through traditional ties with mainland Europe and ties with main-

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land Europe, Brazil and with the Portuguese-speaking African countries. While these ties with China have been limited in terms of business and culture, especially due to linguistic barriers, developing Macao’s potential in this regard is entirely in keeping with China’s strategy of diversifying its international links among different poles.6 Moreover, by applying Deng Xiaoping’s formula of ‘one country, two systems’ in these two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macao), China can prove to Taiwan – and the rest of the world – that the system works and that it is possible to unify all these territories into a single nation. The basis of the policy guarantees that each Special Administrative Region (SAR) is administered by a local government, with a considerable degree of autonomy being enshrined in the Basic Law for Macao and Hong Kong and existing legal, economic and social policies remaining unchanged for fifty years after the handover. The selection and activation of certain cultural references associated with the past and linking them with present-day interests is a commitment to the identity project that is currently underway in the MSAR. What has been identified as the legacy of a local historic, cultural and linguistic heritage associated with Macao’s unique identity has become a social arena in which political and economic questions are a prime concern. As Prats (2009) has argued, a debate on heritage and identity is always a discussion on power. In this context, heritage is an abstract construct that is made real through official discourses underscoring the singularity and value of an identity and a sense of belonging, which are extremely important for Macao, carving a niche for this diminutive territory on the global stage. Last but not least, UNESCO’s recognition and protection of Macao’s cultural heritage is the ultimate evidence, at an international level, that Macao has far more to offer than just casinos and gambling. The transnational development of heritage policies, encompassing multiple aspects and conservation proposals, is a long and ongoing process, inextricably intertwined with the evolution of nationalism and the profound transformations caused by industrialization, which are deemed to have caused irreversible losses. This dynamic, associated with a renewed quest for traditions and continuity with the past, reached its zenith above all with UNESCO’s regulatory activities, aimed at creating a universal matrix for tangible and intangible global cultural heritage (Lowenthal 1985, 1998). UNESCO approved the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972. This movement for international protection sought to set out legislation to meet the needs of diverse interlocutors to promote and defend local popular cultural traditions deemed to be on the brink of extinction due to overwhelming processes aimed at achieving cultural uniformity on

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a global scale. From then on, neglected intangible world heritage has become increasingly important for various nation states. As a result, in 2003, UNESCO quickly approved a new document setting out legislation to protect intangible cultural heritage: the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Following UNESCO’s example, China, the MSAR and various governments around the world adopted the same terminology used in the UNESCO conventions in national legislation, setting in motion a widespread interest in the potential and scope of cultural manifestations. There are few alternative definitions to those derived from the 2003 Convention. Even though guarantees to protect Macao’s cultural heritage were set out in the MSAR Basic Law7 in 1999, concrete actions to preserve the territory’s cultural heritage only began after the Historical Centre of Macao was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This was due to intensified urban development. To this end, the MSAR government prepared a Legislative Bill to Safeguard the Cultural Heritage of the Macao Special Administrative Region (2009), which, adapting international conventions to the local situation, defines tangible, intangible and architectural heritage and serves as the legal basis for safeguarding the MSAR’s heritage and recognizing the right of residents to continue to enjoy this heritage. According to this model, political authorities, scientific institutions and experts, the tourism industry, local civic associations and the population in general are tasked with actively participating in the restoration, preservation and conservation of Macao’s cultural heritage, promoting it within the city and abroad so as to expand the influence and attraction of Macao’s culture and collective identity.

Applications for Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macao: Macanese Gastronomy and Patuá Theatre Due to promotional campaigns implemented in recent years to raise awareness about local heritage, the efforts to protect Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage have gradually earned the recognition, attention and participation of the Region’s citizens . . . This batch marks the first ever participation by Macanese associations, which have shown great enthusiasm, with two candidacies for the Intangible Cultural Heritage List, namely ‘Macanese Gastronomy’, submitted by the Confraria da Gastronomia Macaense, and ‘Patuá Theatre’, submitted by Dóci Papiaçám di Macau . . . The Macao Museum finished collecting applications in the first half of last year. It then invited a jury of three national specialists on

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intangible cultural heritage and four local individuals with recognised merit in the field to evaluate the submissions. After a rigorous screening process, the jury approved the nomination of all four items to Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List. (Macao Museum 2012a)

The Sino-Portuguese declaration on Macao was signed in 1987. This historical document made it possible to define and prepare the general framework for fundamental questions concerning the ‘future of Macao and its people’ after the 1999 handover (Mendes 2004, 2007). After the agreement was signed, the Portuguese Administration began preparations for handing over Macao to China in twelve years’ time. This was the period that served as the foundation for what can be seen in Macao nowadays: increasing efforts by the MSAR government to preserve the region’s historic and cultural heritage, mainly by creating cultural infrastructure to support this mission.8 The Macao Museum is an example of this. Under the aegis of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (formerly, Cultural Institute), the Macao Museum is the local entity responsible for receiving applications for classification as Intangible Cultural Heritage, organizing the jury and a public consultation for the candidacies that have been submitted. Considered to be relevant legislation, the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is highlighted in relation to ICH on the websites of the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Macao Museum. Just like the 2003 Convention, the Legislative Bill to Safeguard the Cultural Heritage of the Macao Special Administrative Region – which was submitted to the Legislative Assembly in April 2012 after six years of preparation, an analysis by the Executive Council and a public consultation process in 2009 – and the Transitional Regulations for Application and Classification of Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage, in force since 18 June 2008, refer to the following parameters in relation to Intangible Cultural Heritage: 1. Intangible cultural heritage encompasses: 1.1 Oral traditions and expressions; 1.2 Artistic expressions and performance arts; 1.3 Social practices, rituals and festive events; 1.4 Knowledge and practices relating to nature and the universe; 1.5 Competences relating to traditional techniques and practices. 2. Intangible cultural heritage and its different aspects should be treated equally irrespective of the place and method of production or reproduction, or the context and specific dynamics of each community or group.

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3. Sites related with manifestations of intangible cultural heritage must be protected so as to ensure the continuity and authenticity of the respective manifestations.9 The evolutionary and procedural aspects of heritage were emphasized with a view to avoiding inflexible manifestations of ICH and to ensure that younger generations are aware of the importance of the respective heritage, which is ‘handed down from generation to generation’ and ‘constantly recreated’ (UNESCO 2003). Inspired by the 2003 Convention, the legislation concerning Macao’s Cultural Heritage sought to satisfy the same UNESCO requirements and guidelines.10 Thus, the classification of ICH now played a new and more active role in transmitting and safeguarding this heritage. In addition to the principle of encouraging participation by citizens, a Council for Cultural Heritage was created to provide advice to the MSAR government institutions, which are responsible for promoting and safeguarding cultural heritage pursuant to this legislation, by issuing opinions on matters submitted for its consideration.11 In this context, as a sustainable evolution of ICH, the concept of safeguarding introduced by the 2003 Convention is quite different from the idea of protecting a tangible or intangible cultural asset established in the past – that is, an institutional and technical-scientific concept of methods, objectives and tools to protect cultural heritage as a fixed element, with a view to preventing its degradation. Accordingly, those applying for the status of intangible cultural heritage must be the natural successors (groups or individuals) or authorized representatives of the successors of the heritage being proposed and, according to Article 6 of the application regulations, they should: . . . prepare viable protection plans, through which they commit to the following measures to safeguard the respective heritage, namely: (1) Create archives: Complete archives should be created for the respective projects, including compiling, recording, classifying and cataloguing; (2) Conservation: Real, complete and systematic records of the projects are to be prepared, in written, audio, video and digital multimedia formats and material information should actively be collected, to be suitably preserved and used; (3) Continuity: Using concrete realities, social and scholastic education should be used to ensure the continuity of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which, as a living cultural tradition, will be inherited and promoted in Macao, especially among youths; (4) Dissemination: Public knowledge and understanding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage should be developed by means of festive activities, exhibitions, visits, training, studies and specific discussions, in addition

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to dissemination via the press and the internet, with a view to promoting social consensus and sharing; (5) Protection: Concrete and viable measures should be implemented to conserve, continue and develop the heritage and its intellectual fruits and to protect the rights and interests of the successors of the heritage (groups or individuals) in relation to forms of cultural expression and the cultural spaces they have inherited, apart from avoiding misunderstandings, distortions and abuse of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. (Macao Museum 2012b)

While in the past the actors and communities that expressed and reproduced these practices participated in protecting their heritage in a relatively passive manner and, above all, as ‘informants’ of researchers, they have now been asked to participate more actively and comprehensively to safeguard and manage the respective intangible cultural heritage. Such activities were previously exclusively reserved for technical specialists and heritage professionals. Bortolotto (2010) has noted the implications for civil society in the diverse stages of the process of protecting heritage, which now has a new dimension legitimized by international juridical mechanisms. She argued that this approach not only involves actors engaged in cultural practices safeguarding the heritage that has been selected by specialized external agents for the status of a ‘cultural asset’. It also entails the inclusion of cultural components and practices that its producers and holders have indicated have heritage value. The participation of civil society is viewed as being essential even during the phase of attributing heritage value to certain elements, and it thus plays a key role in selection (ibid.: 12). In this manner, cultural heritage is conceived not just on the basis of universal criteria and procedures that seek to be objective and scientific but also includes identity representations and values of what UNESCO (2003) has called ‘heritage communities’. Even though this novelty introduced by participatory policies undoubtedly represents an important step towards making the process of attributing the status of cultural heritage more democratic, a key ambiguity can be detected, at the outset, in the state’s preponderant role. In fact, this status is always attributed by governmental institutions, who maintain their prerogative to make decisions and to manage conservation initiatives at an international level. While at a local level communities are urged to participate in actions to safeguard and transmit cultural heritage, nothing else is stated about, for example, who constitutes these heritage communities; who the legitimate party is in deciding what should be transmitted in the name of which interests and which communities; and whether the recognition and classification of a cultural

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heritage has the unanimous support of a group. Once again, it is the different signatory states that interpret and decide such situations. So, is this state of affairs like what Manuel João Ramos affirms? The understanding that appears to exist among ‘experts’, ‘interested parties’ and ‘decision-makers’ (especially government authorities) in relation to the application process and the notion of ‘intangible heritage’ is that the classification of ‘intangible heritage’ is an instrument that replicates the classification of ‘tangible heritage’ and, thus, the main interest of a ‘popular tradition’ is the political and economic potential derived from such a classification. Declaring a tradition, for example, to be a cultural heritage makes it possible to place a particular site or region on the international cultural tourism map, and this reinforces the self-legitimizing process of the ‘expert’ and the popularity of the ‘decision-maker’. (Ramos 2005: 73)

The shortlist for the 2011 applications for classification as ICH was published on 9 February 2012. For the first time, this process included two Macanese candidates. After approval by the experts appointed to assess applications for the status of intangible cultural heritage (three from the PRC and four from the MSAR), a public consultation was held until 10 March 2012. During this public consultation, local residents were asked to express their opinions or objections in relation to the applications or the assessments. To this end, the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Macao Museum provided public access (in the museum and online) to the applications and videos submitted. The aforementioned news item also highlighted the fact that there has been a growing participation and awareness among the population of the need to preserve Macao’s heritage, which reflects the efforts and the success of the MSAR government campaigns to promote this heritage in recent years. Apart from a greater number of applications, the contemplated areas of intangible heritage were also broader, with the applications for Macanese cuisine and Macanese theatre being especially noteworthy. Over the following paragraphs, I examine the applications that were submitted – specifically, the instructions and fields to be filled out; the plans to safeguard the heritage; recommendations by specialists; and the videos presenting the respective heritage. These were the elements required in applying for the status of intangible cultural heritage. Regarding the application forms, the first field to be filled out is the item Heritage Code to establish the type of heritage it is; applicants face a dichotomy between the classification of ‘tangible’ and ‘intangible’ (Ramos 2003). The two Macao applicants opted for classification as intangible heritage, based on the respective definition. Within the category of

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‘intangible’, applicants have to choose one option out of ten that defines the proposed heritage. If this is the tool to be used to recognize and safeguard the cultural diversity of Macao (and the world), this model of classification is undoubtedly one of the most concerning aspects of the legislation for the protection of human cultures. How is it possible to safeguard cultural diversity through legal mechanisms derived from a culturally determined discursive pattern and that are, consequently, equalizing and alienated from a healthy self-referring conscience? In fact, in the application for Macanese Gastronomy, this space was left blank, while the applicant for Patuá Theatre selected option (IV), corresponding to the category Traditional Drama. However, when I interviewed the person in charge for this application, he indicated that Patuá language theatre had a different definition and context, which, to my (Western) mental image of ‘drama’, seemed more akin to traditional comedy. Theatre in the Patuá language appeared when it was necessary, or at least possible, to transform an essentially oral language into a written form. This happened at the end of the nineteenth century, during Carnival, a permissive time in a society that was very Catholic, that clung to good Christian customs and, above all, was ultra-conservative . . . During Carnival, it was possible to give names to things and people; you could make jokes about everything, or criticize the government, customs, certain people . . . and all this happened in the sphere of theatre. This then is the revue aspect of theatre. I don’t have proof of this, but the first plays during the wild atmosphere of the Carnival were definitely Portuguese revues. I don’t have proof of this, but I am certain this was the case. Patuá Theatre is a lot like Gil Vicente plays,12 it is rich in humour, social satire, scorn and sarcasm.13

The application form then asks for a brief description of the proposed heritage, including its name, geographical location, evolution and historical influences, as well as its historical value. The next step is to identify the Safeguarding Entity, defined as the ‘entity responsible for preserving and transmitting the proposed heritage’, and to identify the respective entity’s Legal Representative. As has been mentioned, in the case of Macanese Gastronomy, the application was submitted by the CGM, created in 2007, and in the case of Patuá Theatre, the Dóci Papiaçám di Macau group, founded 27 years ago, which were the respective ‘Safeguarding Entities’. Both these entities have received funding from the APIM and the MSAR government. The next box requires a Detailed Description of the Heritage, which in this case included a description of the Area of Distribution outside Macao. The two applicants argued that they encompassed the geograph-

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Figure 4.1. Front pages of the application forms submitted to recognize Macanese Gastronomy and Patuá Theatre as intangible cultural heritage of Macao. Source: Macao Museum Website.

ical areas where the vast Macanese diaspora had settled. The next section on General Contents and Related Products was basically a space to include lists of the dishes that best represent Macanese cuisine and the names of plays that had been staged to date. The form then becomes complicated in asking applicants to describe the Historical Origin and Genealogy of the cultural heritage, defined as ‘a clear description of the ascendancy of the heritage’ – that is, how the cultural heritage has been transmitted over time. As Senna Fernandes stated, this requirement makes the application process ‘slow’ and ‘complicated’, but it is necessary to legitimize the concession of the status of intangible cultural heritage. They want to know everything in terms of time, dates, history, the very notion of time, why? Because they are not going to confer this status on something that happened five years ago, isn’t that so?! It is necessary to prove the longevity of the heritage. It is very complicated because there are no records . . . Proof ! The more rigorous the process, the more credible it is. We were very serious about our application, all of us are serious, there is no doubt about that, but you need to keep in mind that they have certain requirements and criteria to assess things. This is a slow process; it can continue like this (insufficient) for a long time . . . It is very complicated because we are dealing with intangible matters . . . What the application requires us to do is to prove the existence of scripts, prove the art form’s longevity, how long it has existed, etc. even if this is very

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difficult. Quantifying everything – for example, it started at this time . . . well can you tell me when Fado first began?! But you have to at least give an idea of it being a social practice that has been in existence for many years, which legitimizes its status. (Lisbon, 19 August 2011)

The next section was Arguments for the Application. The main argument used by these two applicants was that these cultural heritages were strong markers of the Macanese community’s identity – derived from multiple interethnic mixtures over the course of centuries and involving a typical creole language and culture – and they faced the imminent risk of extinction. In the case of Macanese cuisine, this was due to the threat of globalization and the establishment of a growing number of food outlets owned by foreign multinational giants in the city, and in the case of the almost extinct Patuá language (an estimate indicated there were only 500 fluent speakers left in Macao), it was already on the UNESCO List of Endangered Languages,14 and theatre was its sole vehicle for expression and for transmitting it to younger generations. Both Macanese associations, even without being classified as safeguarding entities, had already set initiatives in motion in the past to protect and disseminate these two cultural heritages within Macao and abroad. The origins of the Patuá Theatre date back to Carnival celebrations in Macao before the Pacific War. Later, at the end of the 1970s, it was staged exclusively as theatre shows, with plays by Adé dos Santos Ferreira – a leading figure and reference in the context of the Patuá language, known for his staunch defence of this creole Macanese and the vast body of works he wrote. He ensured a uniform spelling and grammar for the Patuá, which, until then, had essentially been an oral language. With the formation of the Dóci Papiaçám di Macau15 theatre group in the 1990s, Macanese theatre witnessed original plays being staged every year. These original plays were staged as part of the Macao Arts Festival (MAF), initially with the support of the Portuguese administration and later with funding from the MSAR government. Senna Fernandes, co-founder and author of several plays by the Dóci Papiaçám considers the group, its plays and multimedia productions to be the driving force promoting this creole language in Macao and abroad. This has resulted in a Conservation Plan encompassing technical training in the art of acting in Patuá and ongoing training in the language. Senna Fernandes specifies: Essentially, what are we defending? Traditions. Traditions that would be lost if we did not continue them. Nobody has ever approached this in terms of history. I am the only one. Adé has undoubtedly done a lot, but the great impetus to preserve Patuá – ensuring that there are people who like the language and speak it – that all happened due to Dóci Papiaçám.

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The group plays a fundamental role in disseminating the language. Adé played an extremely important role in ensuring the language was uniform and became established. His name is a key reference in the context of the Patuá language. The renewed interest in the Patuá language and the fact that people still speak it are due to the work done by Dóci Papiaçám, and it is essential to make the most of all these synergies so that future generations can benefit and take this in other directions, over which we have no control. We have already seen that, when the right conditions exist, other Patuá theatre groups have been formed – in São Paulo and in Toronto . . . Is it possible to speak of Patuá nowadays in Macao without mentioning Dóci Papiaçám? No, it isn’t! I think the group deserves more recognition; it has been active in this field for 18 years. If our ICH candidacy is successful it will allow us to obtain funding to achieve our objectives. (Lisbon, 19 August 2011)

Macanese cuisine essentially consists of the household culinary traditions of Macanese families with their own recipes – with the exception of some emblematic dishes served at a handful of restaurants in Macao. It started to become well known after some cookbooks were published during the 1990s. One of these books, published in 1992 and reprinted in 2014, entitled A Cozinha de Macau da Casa do Meu Avô / The Cuisine of Macao from my Grandfather’s House is authored by Graça Pacheco Jorge. Graça, a scion of one of the traditional Macanese families, explained her reasons for writing the book. At the time, there was considerable interest in Macao, and Carlos Marreiros was the director of the Macao Cultural Institute. He is Macanese himself and a great enthusiast of all things Macanese. He invited me to write this book on Macanese cuisine. That was precisely my intention when I wrote the book. Firstly, people did not know where to place Macao; they did not really know where it was located and what it was. Then they did not know anything about Macanese cuisine. They thought it was Chinese food or something strange, or that it did not even have its own typical gastronomy. That was why I wrote the book. I wanted to explain Macanese cuisine and its origins, and I published family recipes – they are all family recipes . . . The Macanese have a great problem in relation to gastronomy, especially the older generation. They guard their recipes; they are family secrets, and they do not reveal them to anyone. This is a real pity because these recipes tend to disappear. Many recipes have already disappeared, which the older generations have not passed on to their children and descendants . . . I was very lucky to have been given recipes, handed down by my grandmother, my aunts and my mother, and I was able to publish this book. I have many more recipes, and perhaps one day I will be able to publish another book with new recipes. There are many families who left Macao, when the diaspora scattered

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in the post-war years and after the cultural revolution. They went to the USA, Canada and Australia and became dispersed and many recipes were lost during this process. (Lisbon, 26 May 2011)

In addition to the efforts by those who prepare and share Macanese recipes – such as at the PCB events or at various Macanese associations through workshops and related activities – supporting Macao’s gastronomy (among the diaspora and around the world) is a key element for promoting tourism in the region. ‘The wonderful and varied Macanese cuisine’ is always one of the first aspects to be mentioned in official tourism guides. Recently, the CGM has encouraged gastronomic events, cooking TV shows, conferences and competitions to promote Macanese cuisine16 as well as training initiatives for tourism and hotel operators by means of exchanges with similar organizations and collaborations with local tourism bodies (CGM 2018). The programme of the Macanese communities Encontro held in 2010, the last before the CGM run for the ICH title, already included a full-day event showcasing Macanese cuisine. A conference on Macao’s food culture was organized to mark Gastronomy Day, and Merit and Extraordinary Merit awards were conferred on restaurants in Macao. Plans were also announced to institute and award Quality Certificates for commercial restaurants serving Macanese food, pursuant to quality standards and authenticity. This day dedicated to Macanese cuisine concluded with a gala dinner, where a Macanese menu was served. The Transitional Regulations for Application and Classification of Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage also encompass ideas to value and preserve heritage through the Safeguarding Plan, which promotes inventorying the cultural property to be safeguarded and ‘creating archives, conservation, protection, dissemination and research’. This is also the biggest and most ambitious obligation stipulated by the 2003 UNESCO Convention: creating exhaustive inventories of intangible cultural assets. According to the Convention, protecting, promoting and revitalizing cultural manifestations makes it possible to preserve them for future generations, allowing them to be explored and developed, thus creating new forms of identification for the community. As Nas (2002) argues, although the plan to safeguard intangible cultural heritage proposed by UNESCO can lead to alienation from its popular origin and dependence on national and international governmental organizations, it could, however, play a creative role in the development of humanity. The paradox is clear: the globalization of these cultural manifestations is being used to counter this very globalization. So how can one safeguard and manage a heritage that is mutable and is part of a ‘living culture’ without freezing it in time, making it banal

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or transforming it into a fossil (Nas 2002; Kurin 2004)? In the case of the two examples of ICH being analysed herein, the process of the evolution of the creole language and cuisine has been associated, from the outset, with the introduction of new elements from contact with nearby cultures. This phenomenon has in a certain way enabled such cultural expressions to continue. Senna Fernandes is also a Patuá researcher and, along with linguist Alan Baxter, published the book Maquista Chapado (2001). In the interview conducted in Lisbon, Senna Fernandes summarizes the main conclusions of this study thus: Originally, the Patuá language was a corruption – the traces of archaic Portuguese are clearly evident. This is typically how creole languages were formed. They are corrupted versions of the original language, and they later fuse with various other regional languages that also influence their formation . . . We are speaking of the sixteenth century: we can find elements of Malay, elements from India – everything blends together. Curiously, there was no Chinese element . . . At this time, conditions were ripe for a certain way of communicating to take root. The precursor was the language people used to communicate in Malacca, so much so that many elements of Patuá are derived from and are common to the Papiá Kristang dialect used in Malacca. Another important factor was that when people went to Macao they stayed there for some time, and time is essential for languages, practices and means of communication to take root. It became possible to create all this in Macao. The Cantonese element only emerged later. I am convinced of this because in old texts dating from the nineteenth century the Patuá language was very close to Malay-Portuguese and was very different to the Patuá language used in the twentieth century. The Patuá language has also evolved continuously. In the Patuá language that was used 60 or 70 years ago, for example, Cantonese is already present in the form of idiomatic expressions . . . It is important to note that people always lived side-by-side in Macao; there was no real intermingling of cultures. We Macanese are a fringe phenomenon because we traditionally always lived side-by-side. It was not a question of me being Portuguese and another person being Chinese; rather, I was a Catholic Christian and the other guy was a Buddhist. Religion was the demarcating element. This is why terms like ‘Christian city’ and ‘Chinese city’ were used. The criterion was religion. However, once baptisms began to occur among the Chinese community, the Chinese began to be admitted and they brought their own culture with them. The Macanese community opened up and admitted members through baptisms, marriages, etc. This began to happen during the early twentieth century . . . During the 1970s and 1980s, inter-marriages became very common. Until this point, the Chinese element did not exist in the Macanese Patuá language. From then onward, Cantonese expressions were incorporated,

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adapted to the Macanese context; these words were transliterations of Cantonese. (19 August 2011)

Similarly, as has been mentioned, Macanese cuisine is characterized by a vast and rich range of recipes from different families. The preservation of handwritten recipes left by ancestors in the possession of Macanese families as well as other objects related to Macanese cuisine is one of the measures to safeguard this heritage, according to the CGM. Another aspect of this cuisine is the way it has adapted and been transformed over the course of time and the different contexts that gave rise to new recipes. I attended several PCB parties and tasted various typical Macanese dishes. I was told the names, the ingredients used and the way the recipes were prepared. I then felt the need to observe and participate in the process of cooking some of these dishes. I asked one of my key informants – who had researched Macanese gastronomy, had the original handwritten recipe notebook of the Santos Ferreira family and had authored cookbooks with Macanese recipes – whether she could organize a cooking demonstration. Maria João Ferreira, author of the cookbook O Meu Livro de Cozinha [My Macanese Recipes] (2007), kindly accepted my proposal and prepared a meal based on her interpretation of recipes, in her own kitchen. She described how she selected the menu for that evening: The menu for today’s demonstration was selected according to the ease of finding all the necessary ingredients. Generally – and this is something the Macanese have adopted from the Chinese – all meals include rice, vegetables and proteins: meat or fish, but it usually tends to be meat.17 Nowadays, thanks to my culinary experience, I can adapt Portuguese ingredients and prepare oriental dishes. However, at that time . . . when I arrived here in 1966 . . . it was scary; the lack of ingredients even had a psychological impact . . . All the recipes in my book were tried and tested. I did not have any theoretical training. Everything in that book is from my memory. I cook every day, and when I am with my sisters, I experiment a lot. Life revolves around the table for the Macanese, and the Chinese are like that too, even more so than the Portuguese . . . The website ‘Projeto Memória Macaense’, by our compatriot Rogério Luz, has a collection of Macanese recipes from the Macanese community in São Paulo (Brazil), along with recipes by Celestina. This shows that, using traditional recipes as a base, Macanese scattered around the world are lending their own touch to dishes and are re-creating recipes they remember from the time they lived in Macao. You can find a Macanese bean stew by Natércia da Luz, egg pastry as made by Cecília de Senna Fernandes, Alberto J. da Luz’s minchi, or even the extremely interesting

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Figure 4.2. Macanese cooking demonstration, Lisbon. To the top left, on the oven tray is the baked spareribs (cha siu), and in the pan the prawn and turnip curry; bottom left, dinner’s ingredients preparations. On the right, detail of dinner’s table where the curry, cha siu, chau-chau vegetables and plain rice dishes were plated in different bowls. Chinese spring rolls, also at the table, are a favourite appetizer and are usually eaten with soy sauce. Photos by the author. normal and diet versions of baggi dessert by Henriqueta Oliveira. This is a twist on Macanese cuisine – making the dish lighter – since nowadays people are more concerned about eating healthier food, due to health problems like cholesterol or diabetes. (Lisbon, 21 May 2011)

The opinions of experts – technical specialists and academic researchers – were consulted and compiled for the Macanese applications for ICH status, with a view to reinforcing the aforesaid safeguarding mechanisms. Factors such as the hyper-internationalization of Macao in recent years, its transformation into a typical modern city, which is now part of the PRC and consequently more exposed to Chinese culture, and new waves of emigration among the Macanese community are mentioned as being primarily responsible for the withering of an authentic Macanese culture, identity and tradition in Macao. These experts also noted the desire to preserve the cuisine and the language as an integral part of the Macanese identity, affirming that such efforts should be generated by the community itself; for example, through revitalization projects, appropriately documented by archival and audiovisual material, such as those submitted by entities aiming to safeguard heritage. This trend seems to have been stimulated by the legislation for obtaining the status of ICH, since it is compulsory to submit a video (10 minutes maximum) on the heritage being proposed, with subtitles and a voice-over in Mandarin.18 The video must comply with the regulations set out in

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the Supplementary Material for applications for the status of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macao. The applicant must also submit a minimum of five digital photographs, among other possible complementary material, to support the candidacy. The application form concludes by asking applicants to provide a General Opinion on the heritage being proposed. The application for Patuá Theatre affirmed that rather than being exclusively associated with one community in particular, Macanese theatre manifested the ‘harmonious (cultural and linguistic) multiculturalism’ of the MSAR and could serve as the symbol of a singular identity at a national and international level. Furthermore, the application stated that Patuá Theatre could be an asset in supporting Macao’s role as a bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking nations. The application for Macanese Gastronomy argued that recognizing this creole cuisine at a local level and later at a national level in China would be the first step towards achieving the highly coveted status of World Intangible Cultural Heritage. All members of the community, within Macao and among the diaspora, are in favour of showcasing Macanese cuisine internationally and hope to see this typical feature of the Macanese cultural and ethnic identity recognized at the highest level by UNESCO. For the first time, there is a discernible desire to legitimize an identity, which the community wishes to claim and protect and promote at a global level, being a source of pride for all Macanese people in Macao and the diaspora scattered around the world. In both these contexts, the Eurasian Macanese community is always a minority ethnic community. Based on the 2003 UNESCO Convention, traditional cultural expressions have been treated meticulously as a matter of global intergovernmental policy. This phenomenon seems to be based on the premise, similarly defended by Bendix (2009), that any item or site that is transformed into cultural heritage – which, in turn, is inextricably linked with a local cultural and ethnic identity – can only be recognized and understood, as such, not for its inherent value but rather for the value that people and organizations such as UNESCO attribute to it. However, as Greenwood (1982) has noted, all cultures are constantly involved in a process of re-creation, which Yancey et al. (1976) dubbed ‘emerging ethnicity’. Efforts to acquire a universal status, such as that of being on the UNESCO World Heritage List, have not only revealed a sense of pride among the community but have also served as a source of inspiration to recover the Macanese ethnic and cultural identity in a context that is simultaneously local and global. Needless to say, gambling tourism has contributed significantly to Macao’s economic growth, and similar efforts have currently been directed towards

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developing an emerging cultural market, which the city is now offering to its visitors. Against this backdrop, recognizing and safeguarding the cultural heritage of the MSAR is an integral part of the political agenda and is one of the main factors behind the proliferation of new public policies to represent the identity of Macao.

‘Touching Moments, Experience Macao’: Cultural Tourism Promotion In his argument concerning the touristic commercialization of certain cultural products, Cohen (1988) affirmed that these products often gain a new significance for producers and external consumers during this process, as they become a distinctive hallmark of their ethnic and cultural identity and a means of representing the local people to an external public. He further added that commercialization is often seen not when a culture is at its zenith but rather when it is in decline. In such circumstances, argued Cohen, the emergence of a tourism market helps facilitate the preservation of cultural traditions and, ultimately, a ‘significant’ local or ethnic identity that would otherwise have perished. In this context, it would be opportune to see how the Macao Government Tourism Office is organized and operates, so as to understand the vast powers and scope attributed to it. The MGTO is the public service responsible for implementing the MSAR tourism policy, with a view to ensuring that Macao is a global hub for leisure and tourism. It promotes and encourages the improvement, expansion and diversification of MSAR tourism products and the tourism industry (locally and abroad), issues licenses and oversees establishments and activities that fall within the purview of its jurisdiction as set out in legislation. In the context of these competences, it has a director and different departments for Tourism Promotion, Organizational Planning and Development, Communications and Foreign Relations, Licensing and Inspections, Administration and Finance, Tourism Products and Events and Quality Control and Training. It also has a financially and administratively autonomous Tourism Fund to ensure the smooth functioning of the MGTO.19 To implement a strategy of diversifying tourism in Macao, the MGTO has concentrated on developing and promoting new products for different segments of international markets, as well as cooperation with airlines and regional cooperation, so as to maximize tourism from different segments. In fact, these strategic plans to promote and develop tourism in Macao, with a view to making it a global hub for tourism and leisure ac-

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tivities, have proved to be a positive force for the Macanese community to celebrate its ethnic and cultural identity. By stimulating the cultural pride of this community, closely linked with the aforesaid projects to obtain ICH status in Macao, steps have been set in motion to claim and ensure local and international recognition of a Eurasian Macanese identity. This identity can make a positive contribution to reinforce Macao’s image as a part of China. It simultaneously needs to be compatible with and complement the massive gambling industry, as the dozens of casinos in the territory attract hordes of gamblers to Macao every day. An intense programme of promotional tourism activities has also been developed in Portugal by the Macao International Tourism Office in Lisbon – one of the three official delegations of the MGTO based outside the MSAR. The other two such delegations are located in Beijing and in Brussels. The Lisbon MITO is the only one to have a Macao Tourism Bookshop, and it thus disseminates literature on Macao, China and the Orient in general. Keeping this in mind, my fieldwork also included observing some of the many initiatives to promote Macao’s cultural heritage, which involved innumerable and varied associated activities. ‘Touching Moments, Experience Macao’ was the slogan of the promotional campaigns. This initiative by the MGTO was based on the five senses, namely, seeing, tasting, feeling, hearing and experiencing Macao. As part of the ‘Touching Moments, Experience Macao’ touristic campaigns, the MITO in Lisbon organized multiple events throughout the year, on its premises and at different locations, which showcase different cultural aspects of the MSAR. Such events included an itinerant photography exhibition in Portugal on the theme of Multicultural World Heritage and Macanese Cuisine, cooking shows and food tasting sessions, tourism and book fair participations, etc., making the most of every occasion to promote Macao’s destination. These activities also include celebrations of Chinese festivals and other ‘exotic’ elements from the Far East, such as dragon and lion dances. I would now like to provide an ethnographic description of one such event: the Macao Week. The first Macao Week in 2011 was held in Seixal, a municipality of the Lisbon metropolitan area, from 18 to 23 July. Despite the approximately 12,000 kilometres that separate the two countries, the natural similarity of the Seixal bay to the Praia Grande bay in Macao – bathed by calm waters and lined with trees – afforded visitors a magnificent view, and a humid breeze calmed the summer heat. The event sought to create a Macanese ambiance locally, with a rickshaw parked under a tree and Chinese dragons and lions dancing to the powerful Chinese drum beat of the Tocá Rufar percussion group. This event also included demon-

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Figure 4.3. Special newspaper report on Macao Week (18–23 July 2011). Source: Jornal do Seixal blog.

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strations of martial arts – including tai chi – and dragon boat races on the waters of the Tagus River. An old ferry boat anchored nearby offered passengers a journey through the flavours of Macao’s cuisine, along with a photography exhibition of old Macao, with images contrasted with modern-day MSAR posters, brochures and tourism guides. During Macao Week, the waterfront in Seixal had to be transformed into a stage, awash with auspicious red and gold oriental adornments, while another challenge was re-creating the flavours of Macanese food. On this occasion Dina, the chef on the floating restaurant, created a menu inspired by the old recipes of an aunt who had worked for many years in the houses of Macanese families in Macao. Recently, she had attended a workshop on Macanese cuisine that was part of MITO training initiatives held at the Estoril Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies in Cascais and supervised by Graça Pacheco Jorge. Dina also used recipes from Jorge’s cookbook but emphasized that ‘the dishes have a very personal touch because cuisine is always evolving’. The restaurant menu included a varied and sophisticated range of Macanese dishes, some of which were familiar, such as minchi, Macao-style curry and pork balichão. There were other dishes I had never heard of before, and Dina described the ingredients and method of preparation very precisely: ‘I can find all the ingredients in the Martim Moniz district except, for example, mouse ear mushrooms and the balichão sauce, which we make ourselves’ (Seixal, 18 July 2011). The chef was also keen to include the Macanese dishes that proved to be the most popular of the restaurant’s permanent menu. She was enthusiastic about the possibilities of Macanese cuisine, which she viewed as being Portuguese-style cooking with oriental spices. When I asked R. Faustino, the MITO director in Portugal, about the scope of such promotional campaigns and whether the Portuguese public flocked to such events, he replied: During such initiatives, we always try to include as much as we can and showcase the best of Macao’s heritage through photography exhibitions and gastronomy. We have an ongoing partnership with Graça Pacheco Jorge, who is known for her modern style of cooking in terms of preparation and presentation. She usually participates in these promotional events by organizing talks and workshops . . . Our objective is to ensure that the Portuguese do not think that Macao ended in 1999, and I think we are managing to achieve this. There is a palpable interest in Macao; it is clear the Portuguese like Macao. (Lisbon, 21 June 2011)

In his view, the ‘dissemination of Macao’s heritage means attributing value to certain products’. He firmly believes that if these activities to

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showcase and promote certain products are correctly structured and have a clear and technically capable leadership, cultural tourism could prove to be a vital sector for Macao’s economic activity, creating wealth and fomenting social well-being among the community in Macao and abroad, such as in Portugal. This could be achieved by recognizing and disseminating the Macanese culture and identity, with its artefacts and unique cultural practices dating back more than four hundred years. The MITO director also explained how Macanese cuisine could be appropriated in this context and become a tourist attraction in commercial terms. For us, Macanese cuisine is a tourist product, but it is not just that. It is something real; it is useful as a tourist product . . . Competitions should be held in Macao [and] more people should appear with their recipes and should want to see their recipes being published. We should involve chefs in hotels and restaurants, chefs from Macao, the Macao Institute of Tourism Studies . . . Every restaurant in Macao should have one or two Macanese dishes because that is what makes a difference. Otherwise, the Four Seasons in Macao is identical to the Four Seasons in Lisbon . . . And why shouldn’t food evolve? Food does evolve! It is a cuisine that is easy to like. In Portugal, Macao Tourism intends to connect with all the tourism schools to promote Macanese gastronomy and perhaps even establish a club in the future . . . that is how things happen.

There is a widespread awareness that it is necessary to preserve and, consequently, revitalize the Macanese identity, especially among younger generations, as they are the future.20 The community knows that this also entails disseminating and promoting the hallmarks of the Macanese identity – including at an international level – for touristic purposes. The applications for Macanese Gastronomy and Patuá Theatre to be classified as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macao are examples of this. The candidacies were submitted by entities who are constituted by and represent the Macanese collective and who are trying to ensure these initiatives serve as a reference and bring the community closer (in Macao and among the diaspora). As has been seen, in the case of Macanese cuisine, Macanese families are keen to showcase the flavours of this historic culinary art and to take Macanese gastronomy beyond the confines of their homes. The knowledge that this cuisine could disappear has already induced many Macanese in Macao and abroad to seek to publish their handwritten recipes and to promote Macao’s creole cuisine through culinary workshops and cooking demonstrations, often in collaboration with the MGTO and its delegations around the world. The activities of the CGM are also aimed at internationalizing what, according to Jackson (2004), is one of the ‘oldest fusion cuisines

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in the world’. To this end, it seeks to have Macanese cuisine classified as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage and is also focusing on training chefs (through agreements signed with the Macao Institute of Tourism Studies) and having Macanese dishes served at international restaurants, so as to reach international tourism segments. As for Patuá Theatre, which is currently the only means available for safeguarding and disseminating Macanese creole language, it has only been kept alive thanks to the support of the MSAR Cultural Affairs Bureau, which has provided funding and invited the Dóci Papiaçám theatre group to participate in the MAF,21 an international event that attracts thousands of visitors to Macao every year. The number of tourists visiting Macao has been growing steadily. In 2010, it was the fourth most visited destination in the world, immediately after Hong Kong, Singapore and London. According to official data provided by the DSEC (2012b), 6.9 million people visited Macao in the first quarter of 2012 on trips organized by tourism agencies or with an individual visa, representing a 7.9 per cent growth in visitors as compared to the previous year. Once again, most of these tourists came from mainland China (155,036), especially from the contiguous province of Guangdong, reflecting a newly acquired and growing purchasing power and the new and more liberal border control policy implemented by the PRC. Nonetheless, numerous tourists also visit Macao from Taiwan (68,233), Hong Kong (38,944) and South Korea (34,498), confirming the fact that Macao is a popular regional destination. During the same period, European tourists in Macao increased by 9.4 per cent, amounting to a total of 22,970 visitors. While this mass tourism has largely been due to the liberalization in 2002 of the gambling monopoly by the MSAR government, cultural tourism emerged and began to develop as one of Macao’s prime attractions alongside gambling tourism. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Macao exploded when the PRC implemented a new liberalized policy in 2005 for issuing individual visas. This resulted in vast foreign investments that established new tourism ventures with casinos in the vicinity of Cotai, the isthmus that links the islands of Taipa and Coloane, which became known as the Cotai Strip. Instead of being mutually exclusive, these two forms of tourism have complemented each other (Du Cros 2009). The public and private sectors have both thrown their weight behind the objective of positioning the ‘Macao Brand’ on the market as a global cultural and leisure destination, since there is growing concern about the territory’s excessive economic dependence on revenues from the gambling industry. Similarly, various studies by the Macao Institute

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for Tourism Studies, which have been described in detail in an article by Du Cros (2009), have revealed that the local population is increasingly involved in enhancing, preserving and promoting the city’s historic heritage as a distinctive symbol of Macao’s cultural identity, especially since the Historic Centre of Macao was classified as a World Heritage Site in 2005. This event has boosted a gradual interest in Macao’s intangible heritage associated with the city’s cultural traditions and customs, as well as the celebration of traditional Chinese festivities – especially Chinese New Year, the A-Ma Festival and the Mid-Autumn or Moon Festival – and Catholic festivals that mark the different periods of the liturgical calendar over the year. The latter gained visibility with the Procession of the Passion of Our Lord the God Jesus and the Procession of Our Lady of Fátima. Grand sports events such as the Grand Prix or the International Dragon Boat Races are also held in Macao, along with various other international festivals dedicated to music, gastronomy or the arts, all of which attract large numbers of tourists to the region (for a calendar of events over the year, see MGTO 2015). The case of Macao and aspirations to convert it into a world centre for tourism and leisure activities reflect the extraordinary dimension of tourism and its relevance and scope as a decisive means to ensure the sustainable development of the territory at an economic, social, cultural and environmental level. As such, the MSAR government is taking care to implement a policy of cultural diversity that encourages and supports the promotion and consumption of cultural products for an ample variety of tourism segments. Essentially, this embodies the definition of modern cultural tourism: ‘A form of tourism that relies on a destination’s cultural heritage assets and transforms them into products that can be consumed by tourists’ (McKercher and du Cros 2005: 211–12). Cultural tourism makes it possible to diversify the supply, and hence the demand, for a destination like Macao, which has a lot to offer beyond the casinos that attract hordes of middle-class tourists from mainland China every day. It also mitigates this dependence on the gambling industry that has diminished the city’s image internationally. As has been demonstrated in this chapter, cultural tourism has also enabled the celebration and sustainability of the Macanese community’s ethnic and cultural identity, with its unique characteristics and hybrid traditions. It is clear that the project to create cultural tourism in Macao was only truly set in motion after the Historic Centre of Macao was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since then, this UNESCO World Heritage Site has represented the success of this project implemented and promoted by the MSAR government, as reflected in the growing number of tourists, the creation of hitherto unprecedented legislation to safeguard

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cultural heritage and recognition of the Eurasian Macanese identity. This identity is a cultural legacy of the four-hundred-year Portuguese presence in Macao. As in the case of the historic centre, various cultural manifestations supported by the MSAR and PRC governments – such as the aforesaid Patuá Theatre and Macanese Gastronomy – have submitted applications for the status of ICH, first at a local level, then at a national level, with a view to being included in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Once again, the preponderant role UNESCO plays in legitimizing the Macanese cultural and ethnic identity is clearly evident.

Conclusion: Macanese Cultural Survival To date, most literature concerning Macao has been unanimous in heralding the impending extinction of the Macanese community, its social traditions and the symbols of its identity. This prediction was especially pessimistic in the years after the 1999 handover, due to the city’s greater exposure to Chinese culture. However, I have sought to demonstrate that nowadays in Macao (and throughout the Macanese community scattered around the world) it is possible to discern a kind of ‘cultural survival’ (Comaroff and Comaroff 2009), which has ensured the continuity of the Macanese identity through its unique creole culture and identity. The end of the Portuguese administration in Macao also marked the end of the separation between the political and economic spheres. The MSAR was instituted in 1999 as a space with a high degree of autonomy – that is, its own legislation and government – to be left unchanged for fifty years. The political programme instituted by the local government was inextricably intertwined with ambitions to ensure the region’s economic prosperity. At the outset, in 2002, the MSAR government decided not to renew the gambling monopoly held by companies owned by the magnate Stanley Ho. This decision resulted in the profound transformation of the territory’s economy; the door was open to North American billionaires active in this sector, and they established a growing number of casino and resort complexes and earned far higher revenues than those generated in Las Vegas. Considering that the MSAR government charges the gambling industry 35 per cent in direct taxes and about 4 per cent in indirect taxes, in addition to operating licences and a series of monthly fees for each slot machine open to the public, it is nevertheless the economic engine of Macao, dubbed the gambling capital of the world.22

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In this context, based on the arguments of Comaroff and Comaroff in Ethnicity, Inc. (2009), I can affirm that a market economy has become the main underlying element of the political system in force in Macao. As such, ‘good governance’ and a capacity to ‘act as a seller’ create the necessary conditions for its citizens, who are considered to be enterprising by nature in achieving their ambitions and acting as corporate groups in the market. In this sense, the economic and political value of the identity project currently being promoted by the MSAR government is quite obvious. There is a local, national and transnational (hyper)recognition of Macao’s singular heritage that is presented as the product of a symbiosis and a harmonious blending of the East and West in this territory in southern China. This has made it possible to launch and commercialize the Macao Brand and its ‘ethno-commodities’, such as a ‘multicultural heritage’, ‘outstanding gastronomy’, ‘people with a unique lifestyle’ and ‘religious tolerance’ in an emerging cultural tourism market. There is political value in offering a unique identity for Macao and its inhabitants based on the underlying principle that the holders of this identity should be proud of it and strive to preserve and expand it. The Macao model thus exemplifies what Comaroff and Comaroff (ibid.) have conceived as a dialectic product of two processes: ‘the commodification of culture and the incorporation of identity’. By commodification of culture, they mean effective entry into the sphere of the market of domains of human existence that were previously outside it, such as the identity symbols of a group or its cultural practices and the incorporation of identity. This is the process by which identity is claimed by ethnic groups on the basis of ownership systems, which can be applied in the case of the Macanese identity. The authors have also argued that, since ethnicity is an ample and unstable repertoire of cultural signs through which relationships are constructed and communicated, once on the market, ethnic groups can create new patterns of sociability, reanimate cultural subjectivity and reinforce the group’s collective self-awareness. Based on the principle that while ethnicity is built and used under the influence of neoliberal ideologies the market goes beyond merely selling goods and services – that is, just like commodities become explicitly cultural, culture too becomes increasingly commercial – a prudent political approach to tourism would be similar to what has been adopted in the MSAR: that of involving the Macanese community itself in promoting Macao’s unique identity by viewing tourism as a driver of economic development and one of the main cultural manifestations of the modern world (Cohen 1988). In this chapter, using the example of the political project to construct an identity for the newly established Macao Special Administrative Re-

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gion, I demonstrated how nowadays the Macanese identity is viewed as corresponding to a creole culture. Contrary to the feared imminent risk of uniformity after Macao was reintegrated into China, the creation of the MSAR has enabled the economic and cultural development of Macao based on its characteristic creole identity. I have thus sought to show that the current recognition and promotion of a typical hybrid identity heritage in the MSAR has totally eliminated the ‘ethnic project of Portuguese-ness’ that characterized the Macanese during the Portuguese colonial period. I have also examined the inevitable ‘interculturality’ as propounded by Pina-Cabral and Lourenço (1993) that the Macanese had to contend with in the postcolonial period. The political commitment to the principle of ‘one country, two systems’ is based on a multicultural local identity that is a harmonious blend of the Chinese and Portuguese cultures, deliberately incorporated and promoted. It not only legitimizes the MSAR government itself but is also part of a logic of legitimizing the leadership of the PRC in the context of Portuguese-speaking markets, without which the economic and political spheres would lack symbolic justifications (Piteira 2007). In this manner, ties between the PRC and Portuguese-speaking nations not only find economic and political motivations but also symbolic commonalities by continuing in the postcolonial period the secular singularity that has marked the territory of Macao over the course of centuries. This singularity has been showcased and reinvigorated by celebrating difference, based on recognizing Macao’s cultural heritage and the Macanese Eurasian community that the historic Portuguese presence produced in Macao. The case of Macao thus demonstrates an identity policy whereby the Macanese ethnic and cultural identity began to be experienced and negotiated as being typical and unique in the political spheres of the contemporary world, revealing the ambivalence of its social actors to an evident strategy that has evolved according to contextual conditions. In the next chapter, I focus on the phenomenological experience of the Macanese community’s identity ambivalence by examining and analysing actors and social structures. If culture and ethnicity are complex repertoires that individuals experience and use in their everyday social lives, what kind of feelings, attitudes and behaviours do they produce in relation to themselves and others? In the context of the Macanese diaspora in Portugal, how have changes in Macao’s political, economic and social life influenced the plasticity of the community’s ethnic and cultural identity and redefined the personal definitions of the Macanese? What cultural symbols are used to legitimize processes of internal communication and to produce and communicate relationships among members of the Macanese community? In my view, the ambivalence

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concept applied to the Macanese community case study and to Macanese notions of self-identity can help understand and explain their choices for a seemingly paradoxical cultural orientation.

Notes 1. Quote from the chapter ‘The Historic Centre of Macau’ in the Macau Guide Book (MGTO 2012b: 16), a free publication produced and distributed by the MGTO. 2. The MGTO also has a website. Its content is available in fifteen different languages. 3. Further information on the Historic Centre of Macao and the UNESCO World Heritage List is available on the UNESCO website (2013). The inclusion of the Historic Centre of Macao on the World Heritage List and details concerning Macao’s application can also be found on the Macao World Heritage website (2013). 4. Lam (2010) and Ngai (1999) emphasize the fact that population growth in Macao is primarily sustained by the immigration of unskilled workers from mainland China, who know very little about Macao’s history and continue to identify themselves as Chinese born in China (Chung Kuo yan) and not as citizens of Macao (Ou Mun yan). Unlike in Hong Kong, where the city’s inhabitants have a strong feeling of belonging and take great pride in being Hong Kong yan, identification with the territory is far weaker in Macao and shared by far fewer people. 5. An example of this is the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed between the PRC and the MSAR, which has made it possible for the inhabitants of mainland China to obtain individual visas to travel to Macao, thus facilitating visits to Macao by Chinese citizens, who form the bulk of visitors. In 2010, Macao was the fourth most popular tourism destination in the world, having received 13 million tourists (H. Almeida 2012). This agreement also allowed Macao to lease land near the border – that is, Chinese lands adjoining the territory – to foment new investments within the jurisdiction of the MSAR government. This is the case of the University of Macao’s campus on Hengqin Island, one of the largest university campuses in southern China. 6. The Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Forum Macao) was created in 2003. It has enabled China to expand its commercial relations and investments among Portuguese-speaking nations (Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, East Timor). As can be seen on its website, the Forum is an official and non-political initiative to create a mechanism for cooperation and economic development. Brazil is China’s main trading partner among Portuguese-speaking nations. According to Chinese customs data published by the Macao Forum, during the first quarter of 2012, the volume of trade between China and Brazil reached USD 17.9 billion. China imported a total of USD 19.2 billion worth of goods from the seven Portuguese-speaking nations combined, some 21 per cent more than the previous year, while overall it exported USD 8.6 billion of goods to this set of countries – about 16 per cent more than the previous year (Forum Macao 2012). 7. Article 125 reads: The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region shall protect by law scenic spots, historical sites and other historical relics as well as the lawful rights and interests of the owners of antiques (MSAR Government 2013). 8. In relation to the 10th anniversary of Macao’s handover, Christiansen and Giese (2009) edited a special issue of the Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, entitled ‘Macau:

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10.

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14. 15.

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Ten Years After the Handover’. This publication included six articles that focused on various pertinent issues derived from recent developments in Macao, namely the political-economic system, the evolution of the city’s architecture and urban growth, heritage, tourism and cultural identity, as well as the concept of ‘border people’ as applied to the residents of Macao. The book Political Change in Macao (2008) by Lo is also noteworthy, being extremely useful as an updated and initial assessment of the early years after Macao was handed over to China. Article 65 of the Legislative Bill to Safeguard the Cultural Heritage of the Macao Special Administrative Region (2009). The Cultural Heritage of Macao website (2018) contains the Macao Heritage Protection Law (11/2013) – which came into force on 1 March 2014, replacing the 2009 Legislative Bill – and other legislation currently applicable to the MSAR as well as a list with detailed descriptions of all cultural items classified as intangible heritage of Macao. The JTM of 13 April 2012 published the following statement by the director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau affirming that the legislative bill complied with international rules: ‘You may rest assured that we have taken this into account and we have drafted many proposals to this end . . . This bill was prepared in response to UNESCO guidelines [it may be noted that the UNESCO Council requested the preparation of this law], we strive ceaselessly to protect heritage, to negotiate with owners and to promote dissemination’ (Carvalho 2012a). Article 17: Nature and Objectives of the Cultural Heritage Council for the Legislative Bill to Safeguard the Cultural Heritage of the Macao Special Administrative Region (2009). Sixteenth-century Portuguese court dramatist – author of comedies, tragicomedies, farces and allegories that explore, above all, the satirical and comic side of popular figures and language. For additional information about Gil Vicente, see Encyclopaedia Britannica (2015). Interview with Miguel Senna Fernandes, playwright and director of the Dóci Papiaçám di Macau theatre group, in Lisbon, 19 August 2011. The application for Patuá Theatre – as well as for Macanese Gastronomy – for the status of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macao had been submitted at the Macao Museum on 31 March 2011 (with extensive media coverage by the local Portuguese press). An initial assessment by experts was underway at the time, and they had asked the representative of the proposed heritage (Patuá Theatre) – in this case, Senna Fernandes – to submit further elements at the level of arguments and audiovisual material, in addition to what had already been submitted along with the application form (the application for Macanese Gastronomy also received similar instructions). During this interview, Senna Fernandes constantly referred to this new request by the panel of experts to reformulate the application and the difficulties of satisfying their criteria. Macanese Patuá is one of the languages of China included in the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger (UNESCO 2012). The Dóci Papiaçám di Macau theatre group currently has a cast and creative team that produces all the group’s multimedia projects. According to the founders, it attracts many youths. The Dóci Papiaçám di Macau website (2012) describes the group’s history, the names of the plays it has staged and some of the videos screened at the Macao Arts Festival. The 3rd Competition of Macanese Gastronomy was held in Macao in May 2012. Ten chefs representing different hotels participated in the event. The first prize was awarded to Chef Chan Mei Kei of the Sands Macau Hotel with the following dishes: tacho (a meat stew), African-style chicken and milk bebinca (dessert). In an inter-

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view, Hugo Robarts Bandeira, the event organizer and member of the jury, stated: ‘The Macao Institute of Tourism Studies initiative aims to promote young chefs working in hotels and to try and keep Macanese cuisine alive . . . perhaps these are the very chefs who will promote this cuisine internationally’ (JTM, 7 May 2012: 11). The meal included the following dishes: Appetizers: Chinese spring rolls Fish course: prawn and turnip curry Meat course: baked spareribs (cha siu) Side dishes: plain rice and sautéed Chinese vegetables (chau-chau) Dessert: Coconut milk jelly. The videos and the applications of Patuá Theatre and Macanese Gastronomy for ICH were subjected to a public consultation between 10 February and 10 March 2012. The organizational flowchart of the MGTO is set out in Administrative Regulation No. 18/2011 and can be consulted on the MGTO website. In his article, Picassinos reproduces the statement of a young Macanese, Hugo Robarts Bandeira, regarding intangible cultural heritage. In Bandeira’s view, youngsters mainly need to focus on safeguarding the Patuá language and Macanese gastronomy to preserve the Macanese identity (2010: 18). The Macao Arts Festival is an annual event organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau in May every year. The MAF programme follows the principle of ‘promoting the development of the local artistic panorama, presenting high-quality shows from around the world and promoting the Chinese culture’ (IC 2012). Every year during this festival the Dóci Papiaçám di Macau group presents a new play in Patuá, and short comic videos specially produced for the occasion are screened during performances breaks. During the 23rd edition of the MAF, the theatre group staged the play Spooky-Doo / Aqui tem Diabo (with subtitles in Chinese, Portuguese and English), inspired by local folk beliefs in spirits or souls. It was meant to be a satirical representation of contemporary Macao. Gambling revenues in Macao, including concessions for casinos, horse and greyhound racing, lotteries and betting, have consistently surpassed revenues generated by the Las Vegas Strip in the USA, and Macao has held the top ranking on the list of major gambling cities around the world. According to DICJ official data (2013), back in 2012 the local government forecast earning more than MOP 106,750 million (USD 13,313 million) from taxes on gambling. Gambling revenues were estimated to be MOP 305,000 million (USD 37,756 million), which represented a growth of 13.5 per cent as compared to 2011. In 1990, when Macao was under Portuguese rule and the gambling monopoly was held by the Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM), owned by Stanley Ho, casinos in the territory never recorded gross annual revenues of more than MOP 7,000 million (USD 87 million at current exchange rates). In 2012, after the liberalization of the gambling industry, the MSAR (peninsula, Taipa and the Cotai Strip) had thirty-five casinos operated by six companies, three concessionaires and three sub-concessionaires: SJM (20), Galaxy Casino (6), Sands China (4), Melco Crown Gaming (3), Wynn Resorts (1) and MGM Grand Paradise (1). The DICJ data for 2012 also reveals that SJM had again become a leader in the gambling sector, with a market share of about 26.7 per cent. However, it suffered a setback of 2 per cent as compared to 2011, primarily due to the growth of Galaxy and Sands China, two of the newest concessionaires operating on the Cotai Strip in Macao.

Chapter 5

(De)Constructing the Macanese Self-Identity A Strategic Ambivalence

Historically, Macao and the Macanese are the result of a daily negotiation. The Macanese community has always managed to survive all the stages of its existence because it has known how to constantly adapt. This adaptation is the reason for its survival and is a characteristic of the Macanese and of Macao itself. Macao in the present and Macao in the past – both are authentic realities. –––José Luís Sales Marques1

The summer months are the perfect time to temporarily leave Macao. This season is known for typhoons, high temperatures and intense humidity, evident from May onwards, and many Macanese leave the city during this time of the year. They head for picture-perfect seaside destinations in neighbouring South East Asian countries and/or the more amenable climate of Europe. Macao attracts hordes of tourists during these months (an increasingly difficult problem for locals, judging from my experience living in Macao during the summer of 2010), and free from the constraints of this narrow territory, they try to combine their leisure trips with family obligations, staying abroad for extended periods of time. Macao is currently characterized by rapid growth. New skyscrapers rising up on land reclaimed from the Pearl River Delta are seemingly scattered at random with no geometric urban plan but in fact conform with the instructions of masters of the traditional Chinese practice of geomancy or feng shui.2 Despite the frenetic expansion underway in Macao, the area of its territory (encompassing 29.5 km²) has not kept pace with the frenzy of residents and visitors, who throng

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the narrow streets and alleys, totally suffocated by the pollution generated by the heavy vehicular traffic and the innumerable air-conditioning units. It is quite rare to find Macanese people in Macao during this time of the year, at least individuals from the Macanese elite that had been suggested to me by my network of contacts. Nonetheless, the advantage of being in a small location and sharing the same nationality and language as the minority resident Portuguese-speaking community meant that I was quickly incorporated into their social circles. I was able to meet some people and, above all, receive information and recommendations about the Macanese families based in Portugal. About a year after my stint in Macao, I was able to meet Francisco, a scion of one of the most renowned traditional Macanese families and a successful lawyer in Macao. At the age of 51, he had succeeded his father as a leading figure in the community and was known for his dynamism in keeping the Macanese identity alive through associative activities. I had narrowly missed meeting him in Macao as he had just left for his holidays when I arrived. We were finally going to meet in person after chatting many times online. Even though he had informed me of the dates he would be in Portugal, I was also invited by Vitória – my host within the Macanese community in Lisbon in general and the PCB group in particular – to attend Francisco’s welcome dinner. The meeting took place in Lisbon on a pleasantly warm evening in August 2011. The idea was to bring together a select group of thirteen friends who would have the opportunity to be with Francisco. Once the date was selected, Vitória took charge of booking the venue and inviting the guests. To my surprise, she specifically asked me to choose the restaurant where we would meet Francisco. This was a dual thrill for me. First, it reflected how far I had come; a year after I began my systematic fieldwork among the Macanese community I was now being invited to participate in a select gathering of close friends outside the context of the PCB events. Second, I felt fulfilled as an anthropologist, doing fieldwork in a highly participatory manner. No longer was I ‘just’ a guest invited to attend the habitual PCB parties, which in itself represented a great advance in terms of progress; rather, I was now actively participating in organizing a reunion of absent friends who had a long history together. It was a meeting of the ‘Macao folks’, as they called it, to welcome a beloved and highly esteemed friend, where physical distances had made such occasions increasingly infrequent. Everyone was therefore keen to make the most of his presence in Lisbon. I was equally anxious to make the most of this opportunity to meet a person who was such a privileged source of information and knowledge

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about Macao and the gwailou,3 which, in his words, ‘is the expression that the Chinese in Macao use to identify us’. His reference to gwailou was interesting, since the formal Chinese expression associated with the Macanese community is tusheng puren – that is, locally born Portuguese. This reveals the ambivalent place occupied by the Macanese: they are familiar with and practise the etiquette of the Chinese culture yet they are not Chinese. For this special occasion, I thought it would be apt to suggest a restaurant with an elegant ambiance and pleasing decor and, above all, excellent service, similar to the kind of restaurant that Francisco and his wife would be accustomed to in Macao. Since there were not many options to savour authentic Portuguese food in Macao and the Portuguese restaurants that did exist there did not have the same quality or variety, it was an easy decision to choose one of Lisbon’s oldest and most feted restaurants, Repasto das Flores, with its esplanade on the Flores square, which had inspired its name. The delicious Portuguese food could delight the guests and Vitória was pleased with my suggestion. The pleasant breeze that evening meant that we could sit outside and enjoy Lisbon al fresco, eating under the stars, which is practically impossible to do in Macao. When I arrived at the appointed time, most of the guests were already at the Flores square. As soon as I joined the group I was identified and introduced to Francisco, who immediately commented: ‘so this is the Marisa who everyone is speaking about and who has perfectly integrated into the PCB?’ All were excited to meet Francisco, taking countless photographs and competing for his attention with questions about Macao. The latest news from Macao was a favourite topic, as was clarifying doubts about his latest project: that of compiling a historical social portrait of the Macanese community. This initiative consisted of asking members of the community to provide as many images as possible of Macao from the period between the 1950s and 1970s; people, places, events, dates and other curiosities would later compiled for a photography exhibition and the publication of a book. Francisco described the initiative and showed the photographs that had been collected up to that point on his iPad. Guests were curious to know more about the project, asking about the provenance of the images or technical aspects such as the necessary resolution for scanning photographs. At the table that had been set up for us, it was I who was seated next to Francisco. Among the many conversations I had, this enabled me to describe my research far more accurately than had been the case via email or Facebook. I informed him how my research had progressed after I had returned from Macao and how his recommendation of a con-

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tact in Lisbon – ‘Sis Vitória’, as he calls her – had played a fundamental role in my being introduced to and becoming part of the PCB group. I was also able to schedule an interview with him in the future; among general themes concerning the Macanese identity, I wished to delve into one particular aspect, and he was the most suitable person to ask. ‘Francisco is wonderful!’ This was a phrase I heard repeatedly both before and after I met him in person. He is well known for being approachable and kind, as well as for his characteristic enthusiasm and entrepreneurial skills. The leadership role he inherited from his father does not end there: he is actively involved in the activities of different associations, Patuá Theatre plays and a set of initiatives that involve and mobilize much of the community in Macao and the vast diaspora, such as the aforesaid project to compile a historical social portrait of the Macanese. The entire Macao gang assembled there that evening had great admiration and gratitude for Francisco, who humbly tried to pay equal attention to all the various themes of the multiple conversations that criss-crossed that vast rectangular table. The buzz at our large table was interrupted by the restaurant manager, who informed us of the restaurant’s most emblematic dishes. Orders were then placed. Ignoring Vitória’s suggestion to re-create a Chinese-style meal by ordering and sharing different plates, individual choices came to the fore, and each diner eventually chose their own food. The meals were mostly selected from the fish menu, including grilled horse mackerel and sardines or salted codfish (bacalhau) cooked in different styles. Most people picked one of their favourite foods in terms of preparation and consumption in both Macao and in Portugal. It was a curious and interesting experience for me as an anthropologist to observe the divergences between the discourses and eating practices of these social actors. The food was tasted cautiously and in very small portions. Some people thought the flavours were not very familiar or that the food was tasteless or undercooked: ‘the rice is still raw!’ commented Manuela, one of the guests, with regards to a traditional tomato rice they had ordered. I observed the way the food was randomly circulated from one person to another, up and down the table: ‘here, try some of the fried horse mackerel’, Nuno exclaimed. In general, praise for the dishes was tepid or non-existent, in stark contrast to the previous flattering comments about the Macanese cuisine served at the PCB gatherings or the Cantonese delicacies from the Chinese restaurants deemed to be the best in the city. There is no doubt that the Macanese like to eat and they lose no opportunity to savour good food, seeking it out, classifying it and going to different places specifically to eat. The highly popular PCB events captured this perfectly, with most of the guests at these gatherings promptly

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disappearing as soon as the meal was finished. The awkward situation that evening at the Portuguese restaurant made me realize the absence of Portuguese food on the Macanese gastronomic scene during my year of fieldwork. When it came to eating out, a common practice among the Macanese, they systematically chose Chinese restaurants, and when they are in Macao these include some of the finest in southern China, some of which had even been awarded Michelin stars. When guests arrived in Lisbon they always chose to meet at one of the four favourite Cantonese restaurants in the Greater Lisbon area. This was also the case when I was invited to meet Francisco again, during a lunch that extended well into the afternoon, at the Ta Pin Lou restaurant, which served Cantonese food, including a delectable dim sum. In this final chapter, I aim to demonstrate how (de)constructing the Macanese self-identity reveals a critical and ambivalent strategy on the part of social agents in terms of a set of political, cultural and economic factors that define the terms by which different types of ‘collective identities’ are publicly recognized in the contemporary postcolonial context of Macao. The ambivalence of this ‘(de)constructing’ results from the fluid process of ‘differentiation-identification’ (Pina-Cabral 2010), which is characteristic of the hybrid ethnic and cultural identity of the Macanese.

Fluid Modernity: Ambivalence as a Cultural Orientation Since the very first contact between Portuguese and Chinese, Macao has been at various times a sheltering port, due to different circumstances, and a crossroads for cultures and people, giving rise to the Macanese. Its evolutionary narrative has given rise to the current context of a transition of values and hierarchies in Macao, which has reinforced the Macanese identity, legitimizing it from a symbolic, political or economic point of view while making the hybrid domain and ambivalence of the Macanese more uniform. Their inconsistent attitudes and discursive uncertainties whilst struggling with their multiple identity affiliations encapsulate this hybridization at the heart of their origin and formation. Returning to the aforementioned episode, the description of the dinner aimed to highlight the strategic use that the Macanese make of their identity ambivalence during different commensality interactions with friends and with me, the researcher and an outsider to the group. Let us review the sequence of events: initially, the decision of where to dine out had been left to me – that is, someone external to the group. While my choice of a restaurant serving Portuguese cuisine received consent, as the meal evolved it became progressively more awkward and even

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assumed an ironical stance. Their decisions regarding what to eat exposed their embarrassment, and then, as if to shed this discomfort, I witnessed an assumed collective identification with the format of the occasion and their decision to ignore a single shy request to share different main courses. However, after the meals were served and the guests had tasted them, the food embarked on a tour around the table, resembling the type of etiquette generally observed during a Chinese banquet. Ambivalence regarding the food and table etiquette was then evidenced throughout the meal in stark contrast with the satisfaction that Macanese and Chinese delicacies regularly produced at other events, such as the PCB gatherings. The meal revealed the manipulation of commensal practices amidst the dynamics of sameness and difference. The sequence of inconsistencies showed the complicity within the group. The performance of the social actors showed how they systematically relied on the manipulation of their ethnic attributes and their sociocultural practical knowledge in relation to the circumstances they faced. Even though I was especially interested in the actions of these social actors during that occasion, I could not fail to note how they simultaneously used both the Portuguese and Cantonese languages, and some Patuá creole expressions, while interacting. This ethnographic event illustrates how through the manipulation of various actions, languages and behaviours towards food, the group developed a ‘dynamic situation of identification and differentiation’ (Pina-Cabral 2010).4 Throughout the meal, I witnessed the ambivalent nature of the Macanese identity grounded in their: (1) lack of definition, since they are neither Portuguese nor Chinese ethnically or culturally; (2) control of both Portuguese and Cantonese languages; (3) their historically acquired ‘capital of Portuguese-ness’ (Pina-Cabral and Lourenço 1993); and (4) new forms of affinities with Chinese culture, which enables the Macanese people to access and live in both Portuguese and Chinese worlds. This chapter analyses the ambivalent configurations of Macanese identity as they are experienced and produced by people. To this end, it first explores how literature conceives ambivalence, in terms of its meanings and sociological applications. The concept refers to the quality of having two (opposing or different) values; the coexistence of antagonistic feelings in relation to the same object; and a subjective experience that does not have social causes and, thus, is an understandable and predictable phenomenon. Most sociological uses of this term reflect these notions, though mostly ambivalence is treated as being the result of contrasting social pressures on social actors.5 Merton (1976), one of the first sociologists to study this concept, was particularly interested not in the type of ambivalence generated by dif-

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ferent behaviours or the distinct personalities manifested by social actors but rather in the ambivalence inherent to the social positions they held. Using a general structural-functional approach, Merton thus sought to identify the inconsistencies and ambiguities in social structures to explain the ambivalence of subjects according to structural characteristics and not in terms of personal frailties. In contrast, Bauman (1991) suggests that, historically, the experience of ambivalence is a result of a delayed modernity, of fluid modernity. While modernity aspires to order, control and predict, its most recent phases have given rise to disorder, confusion and randomness. In Bauman’s view, in the later stages of modernity, ambivalence has become a general cultural orientation characterized as the possibility of classifying an object or an event in more than one category. However, he defends any fault that might be attributed to this in terms of language – that is, a lack of precision or incorrect usage – and argues that ambivalence is not a pathology of the discourse or the language. Rather, it is a normal aspect of linguistic practice and is derived from its functions of nominating and classifying. According to Bauman, ‘ambivalence is therefore the alter ego of language, and its permanent companion – indeed, its normal condition’ (1991: 1). Later, Smelser (1998), greatly influenced by Freud, who he called ‘the great theorist of ambivalence’, argued that ambivalence is a psychological postulate that is essential for understanding not only individual behaviour but also social institutions and the human condition in general. The psychological and behavioural reactions involved in ambivalence – namely, the accompanying anxiety – are thus, in all likelihood, immediate and adaptable responses to emotions, albeit with varying degrees of success and only understandable within the logic of ambivalence. Smelser then affirms that the notion of ambivalence is fundamental to explain phenomena such as reactions to death, separation and even perceptions of love, while being equally essential to understanding organizations and social movements, attitudes in relation to consumption, political institutions and practices and, in general, the fundamental values of Western democratic traditions. Other configurations of ambivalence are applied to those social groups, organizations and movements that require commitment, membership and loyalty from their members. These include religious groups, ethnic groups, labour unions and other movements involving social classes and manifestations in general. The dependence observed in any of these organizations occurs through commitment to a belief, a cause or to achieve a common objective for all members of the group involved in such participation. These groups and associations thus evidence a principle of intra-group solidarity and extra-group hostility.

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In all the possible formulations and applications of the notion of ambivalence described herein, it is possible to note an emphasis on the use of the term as an analytical tool that allows us to deal with situations where there is no discernible correspondence between cultural attributions, verbal formulations and shared actions that, however, are part of more general processes. A creative process of successive transformations occurred during the inter-subject interaction described herein, arising from different angles of identification and differentiation. In other words, the social actors constantly manipulated their ethnic and cultural attributes as well as shared actions and discourses, which enabled them to constantly produce identification and differentiation in relation to the circumstances they faced and to systematically reassess this entire fluid process. This dynamism was similarly caused by the reaction of the people involved in the social interaction and the specific ethnic and cultural condition of the subjects, without overlooking their memory, which ultimately defines and characterizes the Macanese identity. As mentioned, a few days later I met Francisco again, this time at the Ta Pin Lou Chinese restaurant. As the lunch evolved, Francisco commented: There is no doubt that our culture is the result of a mixture, and we emphasize that Macao is a fusion. It is a lie to say that the Macanese has a Portuguese culture! It does not! It naturally has a great deal of Portuguese in its ancestry but also a lot of Cantonese. The Cantonese element is very important in the Macanese culture. For example, what does a Macanese here in Portugal look for? Cantonese food! That is a given. Thus, we do not seek out Portuguese food. The Macanese look for dim sum . . . all those things. We miss oriental flavours. The same thing happens in Macao. There is no room for nostalgia for Portuguese food. Orientalism is part of the Macanese culture and is an inherent part of the community. It is a mistake to think that the Macanese community is a Portuguese community in the same terms as we think of the Portuguese culture here. It is not at all similar! Despite having all the vestiges of Portuguese-ness: we have Portuguese names, we are Catholics and all the rest . . . This has nothing to do with genetic legacies. It is a feeling of belonging. The Macanese community inherits from two worlds and transforms these elements. (Lisbon, 19 August 2011)

This remark was motivated by Francisco’s need to explain the reactions to Portuguese food at the dinner. Hearing his clarifications about that paradoxical event, reflecting upon it a posteriori, I would say he used the very notion of ambivalence produced by practice and inherent to the natural condition of the Macanese to present a plausible justifica-

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tion for the successive divergences of the social actors. I could clearly see that there effectively existed a divergence between the discourses and the actions of these individuals, but what intrigued me the most about his explanation was that for the first time I heard someone say that the Macanese did not have a greater affinity with the Portuguese culture to the detriment of the Chinese culture. This argument thus reveals the Macanese association with a certain ‘Portuguese-ness’ that was the legacy of a distant past in Macao’s history and that gave rise to the community. However, it clarified that in their daily social lives the Macanese are closer to the ‘orientalism’ of Macao, due to the attachment to their homeland and the notion that they all share a part of that culture by enjoying the food and mastering the language, having coexisted with it for centuries in that diminutive territory. This explanation claims that the Macanese space is derived from legacies inherited from both these worlds, which the Macanese transform into something new and unique. I borrow Homi Bhabha’s thought to analyse this aforesaid Macanese cultural identity as a phenomenon that emerges in a ‘third space of enunciation’ (1994: 37), a contradictory and ambivalent space that makes the concept of purity and the hierarchy of cultures obsolete. According to the author, this liminal space is a hybrid site that effectively witnesses the production – and not just the reflection – of imagined ‘constructions’ of identity. In Bhabha’s numerous essays on the representation of the ‘other’ (1990, 1994), he argued in favour of recognizing an authorized hybridism that goes far beyond the limited vision of the mere exoticism of cultural diversity. As such, he debated the question of difference, resorting to the use of deconstruction as a critical and positive strategy that made it possible to reveal the ambivalence involved in the process of identity construction, rather than considering it to be a merely negative mechanism that objectifies the subject and mutilates the various social senses. Bhabha (1994) suggests that identity (cultural or national) is always hybrid, unstable, ambivalent and negotiated between the private interests and the public meanings ascribed to it in a given historical period. Similarly, the Macanese cultural and ethnic identity also revealed this hybrid, mutable and ambivalent character associated with the category – according to the Western classification system – of ‘mixed racial identities’ in which the Macanese have been ideologically classified. The strategic use of ambivalence in daily social choices according to a given cultural orientation and how difference is kept alive by means of an active and ongoing demarcation, both individually and within the group, from extra-group subjects and other groups, is a dominant characteristic of the Macanese identity.

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Even though the Macanese have a lot in common, it is clear that there are no unanimous opinions or interests among the members of the community. If this fact has to do with the ambivalent nature of ethnic groups in general, in its turn, this ambivalence is fuelled by a lack of consensus about how the subjects view themselves as being part of a particular ethnic community. In the case of the Macanese, this is an even more delicate topic due to the relative freedom of personal identity choices that characterizes the community and further reinforces their ambivalent expression. Who is Macanese? What does it mean to be Macanese? As shall shortly be seen, such questions are keenly voiced among the community, which continues to debate these matters as though they were ‘a case to be solved’. While they might not be discussing these questions face-to-face for fear of suspicions, conflicts or retaliations with their compatriots, they use other mechanisms that allow them to maintain a certain distance.6 Macanese official associations have also begun to feel the need to debate, frame and prepare the community to deal with a Macao that is undergoing an accelerated process of transformation and internationalization at a sociopolitical and economic level. ‘Who are we after all?’ was the question the ADM posed to be discussed by the Macanese during the colloquium entitled ‘Macanese: A Collective Look at the Community’, held on 27–28 October 2012. The session was structured into panels on identity, economy and politics, aiming to achieve a dialogue encompassing all these domains. According to the president of the ADM and the mentor of this initiative, the Macanese felt that it was time to ‘take stock of our current situation’ – delimit the contours of the community that were staking their claim in Macao to later ascertain ‘what we can count on in the future’ (JTM,11 September 2012: 6). Despite the difficulties of organizing an open debate that ‘stirs many sensitivities’, Miguel Senna Fernandes cited one year before the conference took place that he had already stated that: The Macanese community suffers from problems concerning their identity and from various types of issues [not just political], which merit collective reflection, since it is fundamental for our survival as a community, [which includes] youths and the new generations of Macanese, who will continue the community. What will they inherit if the current generation does not discuss what needs to be discussed? Naturally, it is us, and not others, who will determine the continuity of the community. (Lisbon, 19 August 2011)

Despite the plethora of often contradictory opinions, there is nowadays a palpable sense of freedom and a desire among members of the Macanese collective to find common interests in the past and in the present

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that can unite them so they can together tread a path to the community’s future.

Threats and Opportunities: A Place for Young Macanese Macao’s recent historiography has consecrated the ‘Macao formula’ (Fok 1996) to explain the continued Portuguese presence in the territory. Despite the lack of consensus among Portuguese and Chinese historians about any accurate version of the Portuguese settlement in Macao, this oscillates between a lease and donation of that piece of land to the Portuguese. The most accepted version is that of Beijing’s court strategy concerning its economic interests derived from customs duties on the products traded in Macao, as well as the Portuguese military defence of the region in repelling invaders, rebels and pirates (Loureiro 1999). Portuguese rule over Macao is a topic of ongoing research even today. The process in every way resembles that of the Portuguese expansion itself, which was never monolithic and instead progressed in accordance with existing currents and cross-currents and the hegemonic trends of pressure groups. Nonetheless, it can be said that the Portuguese modus

Figure 5.1.  The Leal Senado building, the official name for the Macao City Council during the Portuguese administration of Macao. It is a classified historical monument that is part of the Historic Centre of Macao, and it currently houses the Municipal Affairs Bureau. Photo by the author.

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operandi differed from that of other European powers that similarly established a presence in the Far East. This differentiation was, above all, achieved by means of forms of economic, financial and political management based on a decentralized system that was already evident as early as the sixteenth century in the constitution of the Senate (Senado da Câmara) and the Holy House of Mercy (Santa Casa da Misericórdia) – colonial institutions that closely followed the pattern of institutions in Portugal but subsequently evolved and underwent changes. The origin of the Senado da Câmara de Macau, later known as the Leal Senado, can be traced back to 1583. It was a form of local government similar to that practised in cities in Portugal and cities in the Portuguese Estado da Índia. It constituted a city council comprised of magistrates, aldermen, an attorney general and a secretary, ‘all of whom were respectable white citizens’ who were not connected to each other ‘by kinship or business ties’ (Boxer 1965). One of the aldermen was alternately appointed as the chairman. All its members were entitled to vote in the council meetings, and they were collectively known as city council officials. These officials were elected by means of a complicated system of secret votes and vote lists, which were prepared every three

Figure 5.2.  The Holy House of Mercy adjoining the Leal Senado building in the Senado Square. It is part of a set of historical monuments that was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Photo by the author.

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years under the supervision of a royal magistrate. In relation to the class and ‘racial’ composition of colonial city councils, it is clear that requirements concerning ‘pure blood’ could not be met in a place like Macao (ibid.). Nonetheless, the Macao City Council was consistently the most important governmental body in this colony for more than 250 years. Chinese authorities only negotiated with the Council, which was represented by its attorney general, and not with the Governor, whose authority was limited to commanding the fortresses and garrisons. While other city councils lost all their powers, except for administrative functions, in 1822, the Macao City Council maintained all its powers until 1833. Along with his well-documented historical studies on the origins of the Macao Senate, Charles Boxer also researched another equally peculiar institution that wielded power locally: the Holy House of Mercy.7 Boxer (1969) claimed that both these institutions enjoyed great freedom in relation to the remote power of the Estado da Índia, which, in turn, represented the Portuguese Crown. They played an identical and fundamental role in the dynamics of power and governance in Macao and can be described as ‘twin pillars of Portuguese colonial society’. The colonial branches of the Holy House of Mercy (Misericórdias) were generally founded at the same time as the local city councils, as in this case. The colonial Misericórdias followed the model of such institutions in Portugal, more specifically that of the mother-house in Lisbon. This charitable brotherhood maintained a medieval-style organization in large cities, with members divided into nobles and plebeians, until the nineteenth century. The Macao Holy House of Mercy was founded in 1569 with a view to providing support for orphans and widows of sailors who had perished at sea and any individual in need without distinguishing on the basis of ‘race or colour’. It was entirely constituted by qualified brothers (irmãos de maior condição) and a provost (provedor) – or chairman of the council of curators – who was the most important of the officials elected to serve at the Holy House of Mercy. They came from identical or comparable social circles to the aldermen of the city council. Together, the members of these two institutions constituted the colony’s elite. In reality, they were often the same individuals. Initially, the individuals elected to hold office in one institution were not meant to simultaneously hold office in the other; however, this condition was increasingly disregarded, especially in diminutive colonies such as Macao, with a small population and a consequent scarcity of qualified men. Despite a preference for European individuals to hold these offices, the permanent shortage of white women in all the Portuguese colonies meant that educated Eurasians were also included. Thus, in different

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ways, the City Council and the Holy House of Mercy provided a form of representation and refuge for all classes of Portuguese society. In Macao, besides the colonization approach based on miscegenation with local populations, a distinctive aspect was a strategy of political and diplomatic relations – that is, adapting different forms of integration reflected in local networks and the use of prevailing local procedures. Portuguese Colonial Cities in the Early Modern World (2008) provides differentiated research on various Portuguese colonial cities and their connections with the Portuguese Empire between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Brockey, who organized this edition, suggests that although these Portuguese cities as cultural and political spaces constituted and shared common bases to support missionary activities and serve as commercial entrepôts in a vast geographic area – enjoying considerable autonomy in relation to central Portuguese power – their particular characteristics and locations inevitably affected local forms of religion and trade that developed in each of these cities. The author actually states that these cities ‘could not exist independently of their exotic surroundings’ (2008: 8). The chronology of Macao’s history is also punctuated by political and social events, the most significant of which was the collapse in the negotiating equilibrium between the Portuguese and Chinese authorities over the peculiar informal mediation concerning the governance of Macao, which disregarded the interests of the Chinese community in this territory. Morbey (1999) attributes the cause of such conflicts, which had an indelible impact on life in Macao, to the serious democratic deficit that always characterized the political system in force in the territory administered by Portugal, which, in his view, judging by the Basic Law proposed for governing the MSAR, would continue after the handover in 1999. The future of Macao’s citizens seemed to be uncertain during the years preceding Macao’s inevitable reintegration into China, even for the Chinese, who, despite claiming sovereignty over the territory, did not want to lose the benefits derived from the Portuguese rule. The political proposal of a self-governed region that had a ‘unique historical and cultural identity’ softened the transition and successfully underpinned the ‘one country, two systems’ Chinese formula. The two decades that preceded Macao’s handover were, surprisingly, a period of incomparable prosperity in the city. Deng Xiaoping’s reforms of opening up the Chinese economy meant that Macao would be the destination of a wholly new population eager to make a living and of an increasingly wealthier number of mainland Chinese tourists visiting local casinos. Finally, the Portuguese investment in the full modernization of Macao’s public ser-

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vices helped the Macanese succeed in renovating their ethnic monopoly and reconstructing themselves as an ‘administrative elite’ (Pina-Cabral 2000, 2002). The new Macanese generations that assumed powerful socio-economic positions in this prosperous Macao began to downplay their identification with the Portuguese culture and gradually started cultivating new forms of interculturality instilled by official discourses (Pina-Cabral and Lourenço 1993). In fact, during this transition period, a massive campaign was launched by the Portuguese state, with the support of Beijing and Chinese local elites, praising the ‘glorious past’ of Macao and re-creating the city as the only place in China that was a product and symbol of cooperation and sharing of cultures between Europeans and Asians. The Macanese thus became a living symbol par excellence of this ‘hybridity’ and the ultimate expression of continuous exchanges between both cultures. In her study Sovereignty at the Edge (2009), on the practices of sovereignty operating in Macao during the 1990s, Clayton provides an ethnography centred on this political-ideological propaganda of a ‘unique identity for Macao’. Based on the ‘true’ historic identity of Macao, this small location in the Pearl River Delta was promoted as a meeting place between the East and the West, with 450 years of a permanent Portuguese presence that knew how to recognize Macao as sovereign Chinese soil, with its specific civilizational structure. It was framed as the first and last location with the longest and most enduring relations of friendship and respect between the Chinese and Portuguese civilizations. Macao was thus promoted as an example of ‘tolerance’ and ‘multiculturalism’ that could only emerge due to the specific practice of a ‘sort-of sovereignty’ that was operational throughout the Portuguese administration – that is, a shared sovereign power marked by flexibility, compromise and ambiguity, a mode of governance unique in the modern world (2009: 51). According to Clayton, this subjective form of power, which articulates specific symbols of the history, culture, experiences and desires of the collective subject, managed to create an extremely coherent vision of a new Macao, which was quite significant for communities within Macao and abroad in appealing to feelings of belonging and pride in their ‘Macanese’ origins. Rather than limiting the promotion of a new identity for Macao to its tiny physical territory, special attention was paid from the outset to the intrinsic transnational aspect of the territory’s history. In my view, this was the most visionary moment of the project to build a ‘unique identity for Macao’. As described in previous chapters, the great Macanese diaspora has given rise to culture and leisure associations in different host nations due to the private initiatives of Macanese living there. Leisure

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associations resulted in the foundation of various Macao Houses8 that, in the words of Vítor Serra de Almeida, the former president of Portugal’s Macao House, sought to: . . . bring together and keep alive Macanese traditions, culture and families. This was where they met to nurture many of their cultural habits, starting with cuisine. They served Macanese food . . . and it was always a tradition at a Casa to bring people together around a table, with Portuguese, Macanese and Chinese food. There were periods when lots of activities happened and other periods when things were quieter . . . from 1990 onward, we had Governor Rocha Vieira, who provided great support for the Casa, providing invaluable funding. This induced us to found the Casa de Macau Foundation that, in its turn, acquired the building on Gago Coutinho Avenue, because the previous building could no longer accommodate all the members. The ground floor has a dining room, which continues to serve Macanese meals, and the upper floors have a games room, a bar, a small library and the administrative boardroom. It also has a garden, which is where we hold events in summer, and a space adjoining the Casa is a multipurpose facility. The Portuguese administration helped create the habit of the Encontros, providing logistical support and some subsidies that helped reduce the cost of the journeys to Macao. (Lisbon, 15 October 2010)

In fact, since the 1990s, with substantial support from the Macao government injected into local and overseas Macanese associations, it has been possible to revitalize, stimulate and intensify a new series of initiatives and activities to promote Macao – its culture and the Macanese community – through talks, book launches, exhibitions, workshops, culinary competitions, Patuá Theatre, choir groups and the very popular Chá Gordo meals on festive occasions. It was at this time too, more precisely in 1993, when the first Encontros of Macanese communities was held, with a commitment to hold such an event every three years. This pilgrimage to Macao started out as a partnership between the government, local Macanese institutions and various Macao Houses and Clubs that encouraged members of the different associations to participate in these meetings, thus fomenting closer ties between these collective organizations and their relations with Macao. Above all, it made it possible for many Macanese who had emigrated to return to their birthplace, in many cases after decades of absence. This allowed them to strengthen their roots and ties with the city and to meet family and friends living in Macao and abroad in emotional reunions (Luz 2012). The MSAR political authorities have remained committed to supporting these Macanese gatherings, and since 1999 six more events have been hosted to promote closer bonds and a collective memory of Macao as the homeland of

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Figure 5.3. Group photograph in front of the Ruins of St Paul’s during the Encontro of Macanese communities, November 2010. Various personalities from the Macanese community and local government members are in the front row. At the centre can be seen Chui Sai On, former Chief Executive of the MSAR, alongside with Vasco Rocha Vieira, the last Portuguese Governor of Macao. Photo provided by CCM.

the Macanese people. This process of linking the homeland with the diaspora communities, something that Darieva (2011) called ‘creative cosmopolitanism’, may constitute a new motivating force that can renew diaspora identifications and connections among second and third generations. After 1999, the Encontros continued to be organized by APIM until the Council for Macanese Communities (CCM) was created in Macao in November 2004. The CCM is an institution governed by private law, and its main objective is to integrate the interests and desires of Macanese communities that form the diaspora with local Macanese organizations. The CCM includes MSAR non-governmental organizations, Macao Houses and Clubs and other similar organizations dotted across four continents.9 The CCM statutes (2018) describe promoting ties among these communities by intensifying relations with the MSAR and organizing conferences, meetings and congresses in a language that tries to prove the community is alive and well. Another of its main tasks is to promote better knowledge of Macao among Macanese youths in the diaspora, serving as a bridge between them and the MSAR, namely

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by organizing periodical educational, sports and cultural events (Article 3 of the CCM statutes). To this end, in keeping with its statutory objectives, the CCM organized the first meeting of Macanese youths in 2009. The second meeting was held in April 2012, with the slogan Youth 2012. A trip to visit their Macanese roots was organized, and a vision of the city’s economy going beyond the gambling industry was promoted, with the underlying idea that Macao could be a ‘land of opportunity’ for many of the participants in their future professional careers. This reunion of younger generations of Macanese who had travelled to Macao with those who lived there was marked, above all, by a commitment to work closely to ‘continue the community’, together forging a secure path to safeguard the Macanese identity for posterity.10 One of the first results of this project was the imminent creation of the Macanese Youth Association, which aims to serve as a ‘platform to unite and support the community inside and outside Macao’. The Central Government Liaison Office in the MSAR promoted this initiative, again ‘reiterating its support for the community, which it believes will play a decisive role in Beijing’s plans for the region’ (F. Almeida 2012). In recent years, the political project of a unified Macao identity based on the selection and activation of certain cultural references from the past identified as historical, cultural and linguistic heritage has particularly focused on younger generations as being the natural successors. In addition to the meetings of youths aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the community and the Macanese identity, other measures are being implemented, such as teaching the history of Macao in all educational curricula of official MSAR schools. The Macao Portuguese School (EPM) was founded in 1998 by the Portuguese state, the Orient Foundation and APIM to ensure Portuguese language teaching for basic and secondary education in Macao. It was a pioneer in this readjustment and adaptation of the basic education curriculum in the 2009/10 academic year, substituting the course on the History and Geography of Portugal with a course on the History and Geography of Portugal and Macao, while also adapting Environmental Studies to the local situation.11 Similarly, the mission of the Macao Foundation (MF)12 is to promote, develop and study Macao through cultural, social, economic, scientific, academic and philanthropic activities. In collaboration with researchers from Macao, China, Hong Kong and Portugal, the MF prepared the ‘Macao Memory project’. The main objective of this initiative is to make local history more approachable and accessible to citizens and students and also promote it outside the MSAR. This project consists of a digital database with photographs, engravings and historical sources – basically

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as much information as possible about Macao – and was released at the end of 2013. According to the director of the MF, Wu Zhiliang, this platform can help reinforce the historic and cultural identity of Macao, in addition to forming a collective memory (Carvalho 2012b). At the same time, the MF developed another research project, organized by teams of specialists, to carry out a survey of Macao’s intangible heritage. This project to compile the ‘culture and folklore of Macao’ was part of a broader PRC initiative to create a comprehensive inventory of the cultural traditions of each of the Chinese provinces. The public commitment by the MSAR government to disseminate the history and culture of Macao, whether by knowledge of the past in schools or by investing in the creation of tools to facilitate access to this knowledge, reinforces the main premises of the condition of ‘being Macanese’. The following statement by Mena shows the importance of some requirements as compared to others. To be Macanese, you have to feel you are Macanese in addition to having been born in Macao. It is not enough to just be born there . . . This feeling of being Macanese does not occur just by being born there, or whether you have Western features or not, it means enjoying . . . and living our Macanese traditions and customs . . . Being born there is indubitably a condition for being Macanese, there is no doubt about that, but on the other hand, how can you be Macanese and not know the history of Macao, not know what the Ruins of St. Paul’s or the Mount Fortress represent, not be interested in Macao’s history . . . ? In my view, this means you are not Macanese! I have always taught the history of Macao and the history of different monuments to my daughters, ever since they were very young, so as to inculcate an interest in this history in them. (Oeiras, 10 October 2010)

Unlike the political mission to arouse a sense of belonging in Macanese society, as well as an identification with the local history and culture (where the Macanese community plays an autonomous role, being described in official discourses as an example of ‘East-West cultural pluralism’), the topic of the threat to and extinction of the Macanese, their identity and culture was a transversal theme for most of my interlocutors. As haunted by the spectre of extinction today, this generation is described as the ‘last Macanese’, the last generation to still preserve and reproduce traditional practices, the language, cuisine, habits and customs of this community. I was repeatedly told that ‘none of this will be passed on’ to future generations, with the conviction of people like Alberto, who confessed to actually discerning an apathy and the absence of a sense of community.

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I feel even more Macanese nowadays because the Macao I knew has already disappeared. It is rare to find a Macanese, so we are proud to say we are Macanese. There are not many of us left, and when this generation finishes, we will be even fewer. I think this is being lost, here and there – over there [in Macao] because people are disappearing. I think the people there are so habituated they no longer notice anything; they go about their lives normally, none of this even influences them, perhaps they do not even think about it. They have always led that life, life goes on. There were some fears after Macao was handed over to China, but since nothing happened, on the contrary, living standards even improved, well, that means everything is fine, everything is dandy. (Lisbon, 27 October 2010).

Macao’s current historical circumstances, two decades after the MSAR was established, have been reconfigured to make it one of the most prosperous regions of the Pearl River Delta and, by extension, of the Greater Bay Area. Consequently, it is nowadays far more attractive for migrants and visitors than in the past, as people crowd into this narrow territory every day, exposing it to permeability and transformation. Are these concrete facts the main threat to the Macanese identity? Or, on the contrary, will the Macanese community find multiple opportunities to affirm itself as the symbolic representation of the so-called unique identity of Macao in this context of Macao opening up to China and to the world? The feeling of a relative identity crisis among the Macanese is linked to the changes underway in Macao’s political, economic and social life. The ‘disappearance of the Macao I knew’ and ‘another Macao nowadays’ set the tone for redefining the Macanese self-identity, which is always linked by an identification with the territory. While for the more suspicious individuals these changes could upset the comfort of familiarity with something they know, the great uncertainty in relation to Macao’s future has proved to be more advantageous for the survival of the collective ethnic and cultural identity of the Macanese community by allowing it to play a key role in defining an identity for the newly created MSAR. In other words, the definition of the Macanese is inextricably intertwined with that of Macao and the definition of Macao with that of the Macanese. A ‘unique identity for Macao’ is created on the basis of this particular interpretation of Macao’s history, which the Macanese could represent by tying all its citizens to this unique place – that is, by converting all of them into ‘Macanese’, for whom, like Francisco, ‘the ties to the land are so strong that it is impossible to understand a Macanese without referring to Macao . . . Macao is the be all and end all’ (Lisboa, 19 August 2011). Therefore, whenever the discourse on the Macanese identity is challenged by the threat of change, the survival of this identity is closely

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associated with the renewal of the community, or the community’s leaders, by the ‘new’ generation13 of Macanese youths. Now that the political authorities have reiterated the historic importance of the community, it is hoped that members of the emerging generation participate more actively in MSAR matters, both in terms of pure politics and civic matters as well as causes such as safeguarding Macao’s intangible cultural heritage, which has become a central theme for the community. Great demands are also placed on youths from the new generation who have been educated at prestigious universities in Portugal, Europe and the USA and are gradually returning to Macao to actively participate in local life. They have been handed ‘command’ of the community and the future of the Macanese identity, and it is hoped that they will occupy responsible positions and posts in Macao, on their own merit, and prove to be indispensable for consultations and decisions concerning the evolution of the MSAR.14 As in the past, handing the torch over to the next generation means establishing a continuity adapted to the MSAR’s current political and economic situation. This is no longer achieved in relation to the rights of sovereignty of a colonial administration but by means of the historical contribution Macao represents for the PRC and, particularly, the presence of the Macanese, who are the result of several centuries of cross-cultural dialogue with Europe. However, contrary to the feeling of insecurity that preceded the 1999 handover, which, to a greater or lesser degree, marked the lives of the Macanese of previous generations, this new generation lives in a Macao that is experiencing an unprecedented economic growth. This is where they have decided to lay the foundations of a secure professional career, which would have been far more uncertain in any European or American destination associated with Macanese emigration in the past. The spectre of abandonment that has haunted the Macanese community almost throughout its history has thus been demystified by youths who have chosen to settle in Macao and validate their unique condition of being local offspring so as to ensure not just the survival but also an ethnic and cultural celebration of the community they represent.

An Unresolved Ambivalence: Being Macanese To further develop this analysis of ambivalence, it would be opportune to examine some structures and social processes that serve, among other things, as vehicles for expression and for engaging in (and never resolving) this individual and group ambivalence. These include politi-

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cal institutions and the executive power that can create opportunities to convert ambivalent feelings into single preferences, in a certain way delegitimizing the implicit ambivalence of such acts. Whenever I asked the question ‘what does it mean to be Macanese?’, the responses were always incoherent. Individuals found it hard to choose the right words, while confusion, contradictions, hesitations and even conflicts were clearly evident in their discourses. They started by approaching the question based on place of birth, with having been born in Macao a requirement for the condition of ‘being Macanese’. However, this immediately led to the next question: Is a person of Chinese ethnicity born in Macao Macanese? This is now widely considered to be the case in Macao and is generically attributed to all MSAR citizens without any ethnic distinctions. However, for the universe of my analysis, the ‘Macanese are something more’. The ‘more’ is defined as a reference to a certain ancestry – following a certain lifestyle with typical customs and traditions – and, above all, as an attachment to their homeland that, according to my informants, is only possible for someone who was born in Macao and has lived there for most of their life. When questioned about it, Tina began her answer by demarcating the Macanese from the Portuguese: . . . that because they have lived in Macao and have incorporated a lifestyle that is partly not theirs. In the view of many Macanese, these Portuguese have ‘inserted themselves’ – they are Portuguese from here. I do not consider them to be Macanese. They have no roots there and they will not create such roots when they are adults . . . I am Macanese, Macao is my homeland, those are my roots . . . I and all of us Macanese people have always considered ourselves to be Portuguese and we have always been Portuguese citizens, but we are different from the Portuguese here. (Lisbon, 30 September 2010)

The nationality on their identification documents immediately played a role in the self-definition of the Macanese. For them, the concept of nationality quickly went beyond a mere juridical and political status of being a Portuguese citizen and became a symbol of belonging to Portugal. Macao’s historic origins, Portuguese nationality and, consequently, the language and certain elements of the Portuguese culture became a link to unite them and partly define them both before and after the end of Portuguese rule in Macao. In this context, the Nationality Law of the People’s Republic of China was applied to permanent residents of the MSAR from 20 December 1999 onwards. It proved to be a fraught process, not just for the Macanese but also for Chinese who held Portuguese passports and decided to remain in the territory after the handover. On

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29 December 1998, after considering the ‘historic backdrop and current context in Macao’, the Sixth Session of the Ninth Legislature of the National People’s Assembly of the PRC issued the following clarifications on the application of the PRC’s Nationality Law in the MSAR. 1. Residents of Macao with Chinese ancestry born in the territory of China (including Macao) are Chinese citizens, as are other individuals who meet the requirements for acquiring Chinese nationality as set out in the PRC’s Nationality Law, irrespective of whether they hold Portuguese travel or identification documents. 2. Residents of the MSAR with Chinese and Portuguese ancestry can opt, voluntarily, to be a citizen of the People’s Republic of China or of the Republic of Portugal. Whoever chooses one of these nationalities cannot hold the other. Before opting for one of these nationalities, the aforesaid residents of the MSAR shall enjoy the rights set out in the Basic Law of the MSAR, except when these rights are conditioned by holding a specific nationality.15

The nationality of MSAR citizens who held Portuguese passports attributed during Portuguese rule in Macao was one of the most pertinent questions for Portugal during the process of negotiations for handing over the administration of Macao. According to Mendes (2007, 2013), the divergences between Portugal and the PRC in relation to nationality were due to the fact that the Chinese concept of nationality is based on ethnic criteria (jus sanguinis) and rejects dual nationality, while Portugal applies a territorial criterion (jus soli) in attributing Portuguese nationality. Reconciling these two positions, by means of various memorandums exchanged as part of the Joint Declaration (1987), Portugal achieved what it felt was a satisfactory solution in terms of the application of the Chinese nationality law; namely, all ethnically Chinese inhabitants born in Macao are eligible for Chinese citizenship and, as a rule, they have been considered to be Chinese citizens. For citizens who do not have Chinese ancestry and who held a Portuguese passport on the day of the handover, they retained their previous Portuguese nationality but had an absolute right to reside in the MSAR. However, Macao citizens who were ethnically Chinese and also held Portuguese identification documents were allowed to choose one of the two nationalities without prejudice to their right to reside in Macao after the handover. Finally, in the case of individuals born in Macao with ‘Chinese and Portuguese ancestry’ – understood to be the ‘Eurasian Macanese’ in the majority, even though this was never explicitly mentioned in the law – Chinese legislation stated that they would have the same rights as the aforesaid citizens – that is, to choose between Portuguese or Chinese national-

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ity, and all their rights of being able to reside in the MSAR were safeguarded. All MSAR residents holding Portuguese passports, which the PRC calls ‘Portuguese travel or identification documents’, can use them outside China and Macao; however, within the limits of the national territory, MSAR residents who are ethnically Chinese cannot identify as Portuguese citizens. However, criticism of this exception to the PRC’s Nationality Law in the MSAR swiftly ensued. On the Chinese side, Chinese-language newspapers in Macao at that time harshly criticised Beijing for having approved a ‘soft and very generous’ law for individuals who, during the long history of Portuguese sovereignty in Macao, were frequently associated with the colonial regime and its racial discrimination in their intolerance of the Chinese community. For the local offspring, the PRC’s decision to force them to choose between being Portuguese citizens or Chinese citizens meant that, for many Macanese, their origins, which had made them what they are, were ‘disappearing’. As they interpreted the situation, China was recognizing the Macanese as foreigners in their own land by excluding them from full rights as citizens of Macao and an active participation in the MSAR’s political landscape, since those who held Portuguese nationality lost rights after the handover or they were made identical to any other citizen of the PRC if they opted for Chinese citizenship, not to mention other residents of Macao who identified as Macanese and were recognized as such by everyone but did not fall into the category of ‘Portuguese descendants’ specified in the Chinese nationality law. Thus, from the point of view of the Macanese, being forced to choose between one of the two nationalities was absurd, perverse and even, in a certain way, threatening. The nationalization process for Macanese who decided to continue their lives in the MSAR thus became critical in the period of negotiations and preparations for the handover of Macao. It gave rise to prolonged discussions between the Chinese and Portuguese authorities and, outside the arena of the formal negotiations, within the Macanese elite, since the Chinese negotiators had stipulated that representatives of Macao would not participate in the negotiations, and this principle has always been upheld (Mendes 2013). For the Macanese, this meant questioning something they felt was unquestionable – that is, a fact they had always viewed as being natural and social: the constant presence, from their remote past, of a certain ‘Portuguese-ness’ throughout their existence, be it genetic, educational, religious, linguistic and cultural, or simply acquired by having inherited a Portuguese name (Clayton 2009: 121–29). The Macanese did not even contemplate whether there were alternatives to Portuguese citizenship or not – on numerous occasions I

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heard them say ‘it would make no sense to renounce my Portuguese nationality’. Rather, it was their status as residents in the future MSAR for which, more seriously, it was necessary to find a ‘solution’ by requiring them to opt for one of the two nationalities. It is thus possible to observe how the PRC decision in relation to the nationality of permanent residents of the MSAR sought to redefine, neutralize and pacify hitherto paradoxical situations and resolve public ambivalence, as was the case of about 80,000 individuals born in the territory who were ethnically Chinese but held Portuguese passports and those born in Macao with dual Chinese and Portuguese ancestry who held Portuguese citizenship. After the Portuguese Nationality Law was amended in 1981 and descendants of holders of Portuguese passports were deemed to be citizens with equal rights to obtain Portuguese citizenship even if born outside Macao, until the date Macao was handed over to China on 20 December 1999, the number of individuals holding Portuguese identification documents reached 130,000 individuals out of a universe of 355,000 inhabitants (Clayton 2009; Mendes 2004, 2013). While the PRC’s decision allowed the Macanese the choice of obtaining another nationality, it also served to underscore the ‘strangeness’ of the Macanese by enabling them to disavow a legitimate adoption of Chinese nationality, not for reasons of blood or belonging to the land but due to the nature and the legacy of the Portuguese presence in Macao, of which they were an integral part. It is this strangeness of the Macanese – individuals who can opt and choose, who have the freedom to make decisions but are subjected to a vigilant and distrustful exam because their adhesion has been compromised from the outset – that was underscored in this political attempt to overcome ambivalence and promote the monosemic clarity of uniformity. This can be seen in the presupposed definition of MSAR residents as Chinese citizens, even when some of them equally have Portuguese blood flowing through their veins. As argued by Bauman, in the last instance, the duty of resolving ambivalence falls upon the people who are in the ambivalent situation. This is true even when the phenomenon of strangeness is socially structured and the status of being strange is assumed: ‘its attendant ambiguity, with all its burdensome over- and under-definition, carries attributes which in the end are constructed, sustained and deployed with the active participation of their carriers: in the psychical process of self-constitution’ (1991: 75). In terms of their biography, in the past and in the present, the Macanese are the result of simultaneously living in these two divergent worlds (Portuguese and Chinese), and this is the basis for their selfconstitution and identity ambivalence. Just like all the other roles they

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play during their everyday social lives (or perhaps a little more than the other roles), the role of an ‘ambivalent identity’ requires learning and acquiring knowledge and practical skills. While on the one hand the freedom it offers can give rise to a feeling of profound uncertainty among such individuals and being eternally condemned to not belonging completely to either of these worlds, on the other hand, it is valued as being evident and inevitable, further reinforcing their demarcation from non-Macanese and legitimizing the Macanese identity, ensuring the community can avail itself of various symbolic, political or economic benefits. Over the course of its history, Macao has always been a crossroads between the East and the West and the home of various communities separated by language, ethnicity, nationality and ideology. The Macanese – the local offspring – have emerged from this history as a symbiosis of multiple cultures in Macao. Thus, the ambivalent identity that qualifies them as such is bolstered by social tools, such as their ethnic and cultural condition and orientation according to common community interests, to ensure that the group’s identity is celebrated and, consequently, survives. Similarly, this concrete interpretation of its history makes Macao a unique region in China, with a plural and pluralist society, which the government hopes will make the local population identify with the MSAR, moulded according to loyalty to the territory. Accordingly, the city of Macao is reinterpreted as an international space that has inherited a hybrid historic, cultural and linguistic heritage and that has to make the most of its economic potential, resulting in new opportunities for the population and the ideological construction of an identity for the established MSAR. This is the case of the political project being implemented in Macao to reconstruct an identity for the MSAR based on a local multicultural heritage resulting from a harmonious historic and cultural intermingling of the Chinese and Portuguese cultures, deliberately incorporated and promoted by the MSAR government. This ideological campaign seeks to inculcate in Macanese society – which consists mainly of individuals with Chinese ancestry, most of whom are migrants from mainland China – a tried and tested identity, which is typical and unique, inducing them to define themselves as Ou Mun yan – that is, Macao person or Macanese. There is a clear parallelism here between the ‘uniformization’ of MSAR residents that is implicit to the PRC Nationality Law and the process of building a unique identity for Macao. Just as the legislation considers all individuals with Chinese ancestry to be national citizens of China, even in cases of mixed Chinese and Portuguese ancestry and/or if the respective individuals have Portuguese identification

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documents, similarly, the political project being implemented in Macao seeks to homogenize Macao’s multicultural society, projecting upon it a single identity that implies identifying everyone as ‘Macanese’. In a certain way, this has reinforced the suspicion that, despite all the promises of autonomous rights attributed to a local government under the ‘one country, two systems’ policy, the territory of Macao was incorporated into the nation-state of China after the 1999 handover, and since then all individuals born in Macao have been identified as citizens of the PRC, with nuances at a macro-social level in the context of mainland China. The example of Macao demonstrates how the principle of multiculturalism can give way to conversion into single preferences, through an identity policy distorted from the reality, which minimizes and – in the process – delegitimizes the ambiguity and the ambivalence of its protagonists in their everyday social lives. The commitment to the political project to define and objectify a unique identity for Macao that in turn validates the MSAR government itself has focused on Macao’s role as a commercial and cultural entrepôt in the historical context and, nowadays, as a privileged platform for cooperation between the PRC and Portuguese-speaking countries. The ‘economic-nationalist’ mission to try and inculcate in the local population a feeling of pride and belonging to the land, by connecting its residents with this past and present of Macao’s history, converges, totally, in favour of a strategy of globalization and diversification to convert Macao into an international leisure and tourism hub and allow China to expand and internationalize its business partnerships within the Lusophone world. Despite implementing their economic and political plans, the study by Silva (2011) also revealed that the MSAR and central PRC governments’ statements on the importance of the Portuguese language and culture to achieve policies that were of fundamental importance for the region and the country have helped promote both these elements in Macao. This is partly reflected in the promotion and increasing demand for learning the Portuguese language by non-native speakers.16 She also argued that the results of her analysis made it very clear that it was not convenient for either of the two political powers to forget Macao’s particular history and culture, since this would transform it into any place in China, making it just like any other Chinese city. The Portuguese language and culture serve as elements the instituted powers use to establish their discourse of difference. This is the field in which the Eurasian Macanese community has stood out as being extremely relevant, being part and parcel of Macao’s history and even merging itself with it, as such representing everything that is being promoted to build a unique identity for Macao.

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Conclusion: The Strange Macanese This chapter, on the ambivalent identity of the Eurasian Macanese, provided an ethnographic description of a reunion, revealing the intimate sociality of a small group of friends from Macao who shared a meal in Lisbon when an esteemed member of the community visited Portugal. This description sought to illustrate the dynamism and creativity of identity ambivalence characteristic of ‘in-between’ Macanese people and the use they make of it with respect to their ongoing choices for individual or collective convergence or demarcation strategies. The different interactions revealed alternations between identification and differentiation by the participants, who were constantly manipulating their ethnic attributes and the cultural knowledge acquired throughout their lives (consciously and unconsciously), as well as the actions and discourses they shared, in order to adjust their behaviour concerning social practices relating to food and table manners. The fact that the Macanese are not, ethnically and culturally, either Portuguese or Chinese, despite displaying considerable qualities that might allow themselves to be identified as either, combined with the lack of consensus among members of the community about the way in which each of them imagine themselves as being part of the group, reinforces their ambivalence. Here, the ambivalence emphasizes Macanese self-identification narratives, rooted in the complexity of their genealogical and historical backgrounds. I argued that a (de)construction of the Macanese identity revealed the hybrid, ambivalent and volatile nature of the community since its origin, as well as how individuals use it strategically in terms of their day-to-day choices, based on a certain cultural orientation and an active individual and group demarcation to sustain the difference of the Macanese. The Macanese are discussing the maintenance and survival of their identity in live debates and social media. Despite the divergence of opinions within the group, there is a convergence of common interests from the past and present that amalgamate the Macanese around causes like safeguarding the community’s intangible cultural heritage, such as Macanese Gastronomy and Patuá Theatre, officially recognized by the MSAR government in 2012. The current political, social and economic situation of the MSAR has made it one of the most prosperous regions of the Pearl River Delta. Its global nature means that it is exposed to intense permeability and transformations. These changes in postcolonial Macao’s living conditions have given rise to personal and collective reflections about the future role the Macanese community should be playing both inside and outside Macao. Rather than threatening the existence of their identity,

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adapting to these new circumstances might represent an opportunity for their symbolic legitimacy at a time when the vaunted East-West cultural pluralism of Macao is being openly crowned by success and singularity. The Macanese have repositioned themselves ethnically and culturally in the context of the MSAR as the community takes on a new shape with youngsters replacing elders. The political project to build an identity for Macao is based on all its residents identifying with the territory’s historic, cultural and linguistic heritage and, above all, has focused on younger generations as a means to promote identification with the MSAR and the sustainability of this political ideology. The MSAR government promulgated two measures with this in mind; namely, that Macao’s history would be taught in all official educational curricula and, secondly, that teaching the Portuguese language to a growing number of non-native speakers would be encouraged. In addition to these initiatives, which more or less encompass all educational institutions in Macao, other projects are being prepared, funded by the MSAR government. They aim to ensure that the general population identifies more closely with Macao’s historic and cultural heritage, simultaneously seeking to promote the city abroad to expand and diversify tourism. In relation to the Macanese community living in Macao and the diaspora – especially youths, who are natural successors – the MSAR and PRC governments have reiterated their support for ensuring that the community endures, and they have highlighted the decisive role the community could play in the plans that have been chalked out for Macao and for China. It has, however, been demonstrated how political institutions and executive powers can convert the ambiguity and ambivalence of social actors into single acts and exclusive preferences by handing down a national policy based on a distorted vision of reality. An example would be if a single identity project was imposed on the cultural and linguistic diversity that has always been part of Macao’s society, signs of which were reflected in the effort to standardize citizens of both Chinese and Portuguese descent as Chinese nationals even when they apparently had the right to choose their own citizenship. Even while allowing Macanese to acquire Chinese citizenship, the PRC nationality law applied to the MSAR caught them in a paradox of potentiality that ended up reinforcing the strangeness of the Macanese and the character of their identity ambivalence. It could even be said that: It seems that in the world of universal ambivalence of strangerhood, the stranger is no more obsessed with the ambivalence of what is and the absoluteness of what ought to be. This is a new experience for the stranger.

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And since the stranger’s experience is one most of us now share, this is also a new situation for the world. With such new experience, neither the stranger nor his world are likely to remain the same. (Bauman 1991: 101)

Notes 1. Interview in Macao on 5 July 2010 with José Luís Sales Marques who was actively involved in the political and educational systems in Macao and was the last mayor of Macao during the Portuguese administration. 2. Feng shui or fong soi (in Cantonese) is a traditional Chinese practice of geomancy. This popular cosmology connects astrological signs with cosmological elements. According to this line of thought, the characters feng and shui (respectively, wind and water) represent knowledge of the forces necessary to conserve and maximize positive influences that, supposedly, are present in a given space and to redirect negative influences, to the benefit of those who use the space. Believing that human destiny is controlled by atmospheric influences, any structures, be they private residences or public buildings, temples, tombs, commemorative arches or bridges, are built only after first studying the auspicious or inauspicious aspects of the respective terrain. If an individual seeking to build an edifice manages to find a piece of land that has favorable conditions according to the rules of geomancy, they can rest assured that good fortune will come knocking on their door one day in the not too distant future. For more detailed information on this age-old Chinese practice, see the article ‘A Geomancia’ (Gomes 1994 [1952]: 101–9). 3. The expression gwailou or gweilo (literally ‘ghost man’) is generally used informally by Cantonese speakers to refer to foreigners, non-natives and strangers in general. In Macao and Hong Kong, the term is particularly used in relation to Westerners of European descent. For further information on the use and the context of the noun, see the autobiography by Booth (2005), who penned a historical portrait of Hong Kong society during the 1950s. Even though the category gwailou contains both racial as well as cultural aspects, nowadays it is more cultural than racial – that is, a gwailou is more a person who does not known how to behave appropriately rather than a person who has a different biological constitution or physical appearance. 4. Pina-Cabral, who also witnessed a similar situation, which he describes as ‘extremely ambiguous and potentially dangerous but also, ultimately, rewarding’ (2010: 176), focuses his discussion on the manipulation of the first-person plural in the Portuguese and Chinese languages by a Macanese police officer with whom, among other Portuguese and Chinese guests, he shared a meal in Macao. 5. According to the definitions provided by the Oxford Dictionary of English (2010) and The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (Yair 2007). 6. A Facebook closed group created in 2011 entitled ‘Chitchat among the Macao Folks’ (Conversa entre a Malta) (2012) that reached about 800 members who actively participate in lively debates on the most diverse events and topics concerning Macao’s civil and political society. There was a heated discussion about the ‘Macanese question’ and the survival and sustainability of the community. 7. More recent studies, such as those by Isabel dos Guimarães Sá (1997) and Isabel Leonor de Seabra (2011), describe the fabulous history of the Holy House of Mercy in Macao and the important role that the Macanese played at this institution.

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8. Among the main Macanese associations abroad, the following are particularly noteworthy: UMA – Macanese American Union, Hillsborough; Lusitano Club, San Francisco; Casa Macau USA, San Francisco; Casa Macau, Toronto; Macao Club, Toronto; Casa Macau Club, Vancouver; Macau Cultural Association, Richmond; Casa Macau, Rio de Janeiro; Associação Casa Macau, São Paulo; Casa Macau, Lisbon; UK Macau House; Casa Macau, Sydney; Club Lusitano, Hong Kong. 9. In addition to the thirteen Macao Houses listed in endnote 8, the CCM General Council also includes the APIM, ADM, Macao Club, APOMAC, the Holy House of Mercy, the International Institute of Macao (IIM), the Macao Military Club and individuals or collectives from Macao or the diaspora of recognized merit (Article 8 of the statutes of the CCM). 10. See also the online questionnaire used by Xavier (2012) in August and September 2012 for ‘Portuguese-Macanese’ living outside Macao. Xavier received 168 replies, and based on the results, he concluded that the younger generations of Macanese are more connected than ever before. Thanks to new technologies there is intense communication across national and linguistic barriers among youth in the diaspora, who are rarely interested in the existing Macanese associations. On online discussion boards, they talk about the feeling of belonging to a community with specific cultural characteristics and a familiar past, which unites them and offers a unique opportunity to reconstruct an identity that runs the risk of becoming extinct. 11. The new basic education curriculum of the EPM was approved by Order No. 940/2009, published by the Portuguese Ministry of Education in Diário da República (20 August 2009, I Series, 161: 5474–5481). 12. The MF website (2012) describes the history of MF since its foundation in 2001 and the various phases of its development up to its current configuration. The MF is a legal entity governed by public law and has administrative, financial and patrimonial autonomy. It is constituted by a Council of Curators, Board of Directors and Financial Board. In addition to a general-secretary and secretariat, it has departments for Administration and Finance, Subsidies and Cooperation, a Research Institute and the UNESCO Centre in Macao. The website contains a flowchart showing the foundation’s organization, as well as relevant legislation. 13. Pina-Cabral and Lourenço (1993: 75–76) identified three generations of Macanese in terms of political power: the waning generation, born between the 1920s and 1940s, which had already left positions of power by the early 1990s; the controlling generation, born between the 1940s and 1950s, which included people holding leadership positions in Macao at the time; and finally the emerging generation, consisting of youths who were embarking on their professional careers in the territory during the early 1990s, having been born between the 1960s and 1970s. I have followed a similar distinction among generations and, moreover, represent the natural succession between parents and children and so forth, leaping ahead by twenty years in the current context. Nowadays, when one speaks of a ‘new generation’ of Macanese, it is in reference to working age individuals aged between 20 and 40 years. 14. In its twentieth edition published in September 2010, the Revista Macau had a cover article assessing the first decade after the establishment of the MSAR. In this article, the journalist Carlos Picassinos cited various decisive figures – ‘notable dinosaurs’ – among the Macanese community. He wrote about the identity crisis of the Macanese and how the future of the community has been entrusted to a generation of youths from the Macanese elite (highlighting some names such as Daniel Senna Fernandes, Sérgio Perez, Rodolfo Nogueira Fão, Rafael Sales Marques, Duarte Alves), who are ready to take on the present and the future.

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15. The first two points set out by the Standing Committee Resolution of the Ninth National People’s Congress implementing the People’s Republic of China nationality law in the Macao Special Administrative Region, according to Article No. 18 and Annex III No. 3 of the Basic Law of the MSAR (2013). 16. The government’s publicly funded linguistic plan that entered into effect in the 2012/13 academic year was implemented in MSAR schools up to the higher education level, focusing especially on teaching Mandarin, Portuguese and English. To encourage study of the Portuguese language, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) appointed the EPM to organize Portuguese courses for secondary school students, as well as courses in Portuguese studies. At the level of extra-curricular education, the Portuguese Orient Institute – a Portuguese institution created by the Orient Foundation – began teaching Portuguese to a growing number of non-native speakers, as a working language, in partnership with institutions representing professional activities in Macao (IPOR 2012). As for higher education, there are two universities that teach Portuguese studies: the University of Macao and the Macao Polytechnic Institute, which inaugurated the Centre for Portuguese Studies on 6 November 2012. This centre seeks to promote and develop the Portuguese language in East Asia, through partnerships with other universities and the preparation of didactic material and new courses to train translators, legal professionals and teachers. The City University of Macao has now also implemented a Bachelor’s degree in Portuguese Studies and opened the Institute for Research on Portuguese-Speaking Countries (Yi 2012).

Conclusion

Macao (Still) My Land?

Nowadays, what still remains of old Macao, with its singular personality, its palatial mansions with grand gardens and resplendent green trees, some of which are ablaze with flowers in summer, such as the flame of the forest or the frangipani trees with their heady perfume? The city is uncharacteristically frenetic, like any great metropolis, crammed into a small space, with the frantic energy that only money and pleasure can achieve. —Ana Maria Amaro, Das Cabanas de Palha às Torres de Betão1

Macao was returned to China on 20 December 1999. The Macao Special Administrative Region was then created, governed by the Basic Law, which sets out the principles to ensure that the territory remains autonomous and retains its established organic structure for at least the next five decades. This legislation brought some assurances for those who were anxious about the changes that the handover would signify for their everyday lives. In truth, enormous changes began to be evident merely two years after the handover, in terms of the population density and economy of the MSAR. A few years later, Macao was already the wealthiest gambling enclave in the world, a rank it has retained year after year. This success was due to the liberalization of the gambling industry from 2002 onward, when the government began to issue licences to North American companies operating in Las Vegas, whose large investments in Macao are represented by their imposing and magnificent tourism resorts, which house the most lucrative casinos in the world. By capturing these intensive foreign investments and streamlining legislation to allow Chinese citizens greater access via individual visas to enter Macao, the PRC central government and the MSAR executive authorities have converted the enclave into one of the most prosperous territories in the Pearl River Delta region. Macao has grown both

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physically (through land reclamations) and financially to a hitherto unimaginable size. Hordes of tourists visit the ‘Las Vegas of the Orient’ to try their luck at the casinos, and new waves of migrants who arrive are immediately absorbed by the innumerable services that comprise and support the gambling industry. Similarly, local youths are seduced by the relatively high salaries they can earn as croupiers, and many of them choose to go directly from the classroom to work at the gambling tables. Even the Macao public administration and civil service, once the largest and most attractive employer in the city, has been definitively dethroned by the aggressive competition of the tourism and gambling industry in Macao. The irreversible changes that have rapidly taken place to create a new and modern Macao have completely altered living conditions and the city’s ethnic profile. These changes are not just limited to concrete skyscrapers and a capitalist economy, shaped by an auspicious feng shui. A number of historical urban buildings – which have retained their original functions and are still an integral part of the local population’s daily life – have been rehabilitated and selected to be part of the Historic Centre of Macao. Being depicted as a ‘living testimony to the assimilation and continued co-existence of eastern and western cultures’ (MGTO 2012b: 16), the Historic Centre of Macao applied for international recognition and in 2005 was included in the list of World Heritage Sites, becoming the thirty-first such site in China (UNESCO 2013). Since then, not only has ‘old Macao become visibly more beautiful and cleaner, attracting far more tourists’ – to use the exact words uttered by Alberto, one of my key informants – but, after receiving World Heritage Site status, publicity and education campaigns among the local inhabitants have intensified so as to raise awareness of the value of local heritage and expand people’s knowledge and understanding of the role Macao played in the history of China and the world. By inculcating this sense of belonging and pride in relation to the territory’s historic and cultural heritage and the unique civilization legacy that developed there, the political authorities seek to achieve their ultimate objectives; namely, prove the success of the ‘one country, two systems’ concept and bolster the government’s credibility by means of constant improvements to the economic, cultural and living conditions of the local population. This mission of reconstructing a unique identity for the MSAR and for all its citizens is an ambitious project and is based on implementing a policy of respect and appreciation for cultural diversity, sustained by the slogan of an ‘exchange and symbiosis of cultures’, which has always characterized Macao. As Kymlicka (1995) argues, multiculturalism implies two kinds of cultural diversity: diversity of cultures within a certain

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society – what he called ‘societal cultures’ – and multi-ethnic diversity derived from individual and family migration. According to this author, a societal culture offers its members significant lifestyles in all domains of human activity, including social, educational, religious and economic aspects, in both the public and private spheres. In his view, this entails sharing not just collective values and memories but also a common language and territory, on the part of cultural groups defined in terms of the integration of their members into a vast cultural community, without reference to a given ethnic origin (1995: 76–80). The recipe for a multicultural unitary ideology for Macao involves several ingredients. First and foremost, it involves a multi-ethnic population, primarily represented by individuals of Chinese ethnicity, most of whom are migrants from mainland China. Hence, they bring their culture of origin, speak different languages and seek better living standards and employment opportunities. They had limited knowledge of Portugal’s permanent presence in the territory over more than four centuries, until the day Macao was ceremoniously handed over to China and the Portuguese flag removed from all public buildings and the PRC and MSAR flags hoisted side by side in its stead. Now, as in the past, it is not possible to say that a form of multiculturalism exists in Macao. Rather, various communities live side by side but occupy distinct social universes. It is almost as though they inhabit different cities within Macao, separated by language, religion, cultural practices, educational and political choices, professional activities and social circles. Despite all the differences that keep people apart, they live perfectly integrated into each of these distinct habitats. One of my informants, Francisco, used precisely this image of long-term tolerance for each other to describe how Macao’s residents went about their everyday lives. Recent arguments on these issues suggest that the promotion of cultural diversity per se does not necessarily justify protecting one particular culture. Moreover, if more cultural diversity is better than less cultural diversity then all cultural practices should be valued in a multicultural manner and merit tolerance and respect. Or are only some worthy of this? There is no doubt that not all cultural manifestations will receive the same appreciation and support, and there will always be some that stand out. Culture is crucially important for individuals, since a large part of their identity is defined according to culture, yet some scholars (Bhabha 1994; Connolly 1995) argue that there is no identity without difference and thus to speak of ‘societal cultures’ or even an original ‘cosmopolitan culture’ means running the risk of losing the inherent hybridism and multiplicity of political and cultural identities. According to this view, the key task of a correct identity policy is to remain

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critically sensitive to this fluidity and diversity, rather than forcing new apparitions or reinforcing existing cultural structures. Making Macao’s citizens loyal to a singular and coherent locality does not presuppose a uniform Macanese culture in terms of unique and stable identity preferences, distorted by reality and the daily lives of social actors. On the contrary, they should be free to make their own personal choices, to move between cultures and to adapt to each other. The Macanese Eurasian community was able to emerge from these individual dynamics between the interstitial spaces of cultural groups with greater power and representation in Macao. It has been argued that this community is an open group of people connected to each other by long-standing ties of personal knowledge, integrated into complex social networks, where each of them produces their own future based on a reflexive interaction between self-identity and collective identity. This can be viewed as a constantly changing identification process, set against a historic and local backdrop, which helps build and strengthen a community identity and provides an illusion of a certain stability and permanence over the course of time. Consequently, the Macanese identity is defined by resorting to conscious and strategic forms of selfrepresentation, which the actors of this ‘imagined community’ have utilized in sociocultural, economic and political contexts. There is no consensus among the Macanese community as to the ways they can imagine themselves as members of this ethnic group; there is great subjectivity, since identity is based on personal preferences that not even physical appearance seems to reveal. My book also demonstrated how the Macanese community proved to be a centripetal force in bringing together individuals from different family origins who, upon becoming part of the group, cut their previous ethnic ties and thus developed a shared feeling of belonging to a community and an exclusively Macanese ethnic and cultural identity. The objective was to understand how the Macanese self-identity is interpreted and disseminated through memory, which sustains the social representations of the Macanese community in the present context of Portugal. It is clear that this self-identity is supported by two types of memory: (1) a family memory from an environment marked by a Portuguese and Catholic education and culture; (2) and an ethnic memory, the result of daily social experiences marked by Macao’s multi-ethnic context and of perfect integration into this environment, which induces the Macanese to identify themselves as hybrid or mestizo and inspires the development of a creole culture that defines their identity. The PCB gatherings relive and remember precisely these memories of youth lived in Macao. At these events, guests meet old school colleagues

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and recall the parties they attended at the gymnasium of the Infante D. Henrique Lyceum, where they played the latest hits from the USA and UK and swooned over the songs of Elvis Presley or The Beatles in the 1960s and 1970s. Not only do they remember their youth and dance to the hits of their idols, which reached Macao via Hong Kong – the films screened at cinemas in the two territories were identical – but even more enthusiastically they relive songs by musical groups formed by Macanese friends and relatives, such as The Thunders, well known for a musical style and image influenced by Anglo-American pop music. One of the obligatory songs sung as karaoke at PCB events, with the words affixed to large placards so that everyone can join in the singing even if their voices tremble with emotion, is ‘Macao, My Land’ (Macau, Terra Minha) (1970) by The Thunders.2 The PCB reunions offer far more than just songs celebrating a florid and tranquil Macao. They provide a veritable return to the past that is marked by common reference points and memories of a Macao that no longer exists due to the enormous transformations the city has undergone in the last couple of decades. Vitória described their leisure activities in Macao thus: ‘We would go to the cinema, to cafes, eat chi cheong fan, go for strolls and take a dip in the swimming pool at the Hotel Estoril or swim from the bamboo bathing huts built over the river near the reservoir’. The Macanese spoke of the São Lourenço, Sé, and São Lázaro neighbourhoods, among others, where they grew up and the houses where they lived, which no longer exist. In these neighbourhoods inhabited by many Macanese families, their neighbours were civil service colleagues, and everyone had friends in common. They all had nicknames, which are used even today. Amidst giggles and guffaws, often after uttering an expression in the creole Patuá, they revealed minor hostilities due to old rivalries between neighbourhoods or sports clubs, or because they attended different Portuguese educational institutions. Macanese youths almost always attended one of the two main scholastic establishments in Macao where, as mentioned by my interlocutors, ‘communities [Chinese and Macanese] did not mix, even at school’. This exclusivity was a bilateral phenomenon among both the Portuguese and Chinese-speaking communities and is beautifully illustrated in the rich and detailed narratives of novels by Henrique de Senna Fernandes.3 The collective memories of the Macanese are a creative resource for the community to maintain a link to the past, above all by means of photographs, songs, peculiar forms of communication, smells and flavours. They have produced a process for constructing the group’s identity, which is cemented by nostalgic Macanese cuisine. Food is, undoubtedly, the strongest and most solid element uniting the group’s

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members, inculcating a feeling of belonging to the Macanese community. As has been seen, traditional food plays a key role at PCB events – physically having pride of place at the venues where the events are held – and it is the main reason why the group’s members go to events and meet. However, the Macanese cuisine involves far more than social communion among the Macanese. The preparation and exchange of food that takes place along with the shared sociability at PCB reunions reinforces interdependence and a community unit among individuals, by referring to a common historic origin, and thus these gatherings become a place of memory to build a Macanese ethnic and cultural identity. Macanese cuisine is the result of the fusion of Portuguese culinary traditions and different Asian cuisines over the centuries in multi-ethnic and multicultural contexts in Macao and among the diaspora. The food and language have gained the status of being structural axes of the Macanese identity and were indicated as being references for the Macanese community during the MSAR post-handover period. It is possible to observe a clear choice for a certain creole cultural orientation and the respective selection of creole hallmarks left by a long-standing phenomenon of ‘creolization’ (Knörr 2014). This has shaped the process of an ambivalent re-creation of a particular Macanese identity that demarcates and distinguishes the group from other ethnic groups – that is, the Chinese and the Portuguese. This Macanese difference is being celebrated and showcased in Macao nowadays. ‘Macao, a World of difference, the difference is Macao’ is an appealing slogan used to promote Macao as a global hub for tourism and leisure activities. It is also used for political propaganda by the MSAR government. This difference can be ‘seen, tasted, felt, heard and experienced’ and has been recognized at an international level by UNESCO, through its World Heritage status. The notion of heritage is thus associated with the MSAR government’s strategic plans to promote, develop and diversify tourism in the city, based on aspects such as the commodification and folklorization of a singular identity for Macao, freeing it from an excessive association and dependence on its gigantic gambling industry. A set of shared values and collective memories is being promoted in this context, increasing the potential for identification in the present. Against this backdrop, the Macanese Eurasian community has found various opportunities to affirm its identity, while the local Portuguese historic and cultural legacy has been recognized and celebrated, serving as the basis to project a new identity for the MSAR. In 2012, Macanese Gastronomy and Patuá Theatre were put forward as candiates to Intangible Cultural Heritage of Macao. The representative entities; namely, the CGM and the Dóci Papiaçám theatre group

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were successful in their efforts, and the MSAR authorities granted this status. This act represents official recognition of their value and a commitment to safeguarding this heritage and the community that produces it. Moreover, all Macanese associations based in Macao have received government financial support to develop their respective activities. The Patuá theatre company, for example, is invited to stage a new play every year as part of the MAF, entirely funded by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, which organizes this event. Macanese cuisine is already well known outside Macao as several cookbooks were published during the 1990s containing recipes shared by some Macanese families. However, the touristic promotion of ‘Macao’s excellent gastronomy’ has given it pride of place among other regional specialities showcased by MGTO campaigns. It was further promoted by the creation, in 2007, of the CGM, which seeks to promote international awareness of this fusion cuisine and has made sterling efforts to advertise Macanese flavours outside the Macanese community. The CGM has thus focused on gastronomic exchanges with its counterparts around the world, organizing gastronomic festivals, culinary demonstrations and TV cooking shows, training chefs and introducing some Macanese dishes into the menus of renowned international restaurants in Macao’s casino and resort hotels. This association also aims to achieve recognition for Macanese cuisine at a national level in China, to later focus its efforts on attaining the ultimate prize of being classified as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The perception that celebrating and safeguarding the Macanese heritage entails tourism promotion and dissemination – including at an international level – of the cultural manifestations of the Macanese identity, especially now, when the community’s historical importance has been reiterated by the PRC and MSAR political authorities, has become a key focus among the community, even though it is a recent and unprecedented phenomenon among the group. The current Macanese elite’s attempts to represent Macao’s cultural heritage reveal their quest for a new logic of privileges through practices of community legitimization. Having been deprived of its powers as an administrative elite, this community seeks to play a reasonably prominent role in the historic, ideological and symbolic contribution that Macao represents for China. It is hoped that young Macanese leaders will continue these efforts to revitalize the community using the same strategy. Resorting to this well-prepared emerging generation, which has the potential to succeed in Macao’s competitive society, Macanese associations aim to ensure their continuity and recognition by preserving the unique ethnic and cultural identity of the Macanese. Various initiatives, particularly aimed at youths, have been implemented by Macanese collectives,

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which are focused on establishing an enduring identity and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. The Dóci Papiaçám now has a team of creative staff and a cast that includes a growing number of youths, who are increasingly keen to participate in this amateur theatre project – acting in plays on stage or participating in the multimedia production of videos. Through this project, they learn and practise the creole Patuá spoken by their great-grandparents. Similarly, Macanese cuisine brings together not only aficionados but also professionals in this field, via joint actions by the CGM, the Institute of Tourism Studies and MGTO, such as training for chefs representing different restaurants and campaigns to promote Macanese cuisine internationally. The ADM made the most of its elections to restructure its managing board, including young and dynamic individuals. The second edition of the youth Macanese meetings, promoted by the CCM, was held in 2012. Aware that the regular Encontros of the Macanese diaspora did not attract younger participants, instead being a nostalgic pilgrimage for their grandparents, the CCM instituted separate youth meetings with different objectives. Joint efforts are being made among new generations from the diaspora and those living in Macao to ensure the survival and continuity of the Macanese community and its identity. While the various Macao Houses that can be found around the world worry that they will not survive coming generations – in fact the PCB parties are clear proof of this phenomenon, since I was the only person in my age group or even the immediately older age group to attend – young Macanese are more united than ever on online forums. The younger generations of the diaspora display intense communication via new information technologies, which allow them to maintain a dialogue on topics such as: a common origin; family ancestors that connect them to a land that many of them have never visited but about which they have always heard stories from their parents and grandparents; the feeling of belonging (or not) to a Eurasian community – rooted in Macao, China – with a unique identity and intangible cultural heritage that, in a certain way, is now in their hands to preserve. More than two decades after Macao was handed over to China and the establishment of the MSAR – which has raced towards a capitalist model and unprecedented modernity, definitively transforming its physical and social configuration – where are the Macanese and how are they doing? The Macanese are a small minority community that until the handover existed demographically, politically and economically on the fringe of two different social universes – the Portuguese and the Chinese – although linked historically – in terms of religion, citizenship, education or language – to the Portuguese administration and the cult

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of a ‘forced Portuguese-ness’. Even though Portuguese is considered to be an official language in the MSAR, it has been substituted by Cantonese and Mandarin as functional and official languages for the current Macao civil services. Hence, the role of translators and intermediaries that the Macanese played in the past virtually no longer exists. Has this placed the community in a subaltern position now that it has seemingly become irrelevant under the Chinese political authorities? This book has sought to show how the Macanese Eurasian community – consisting of a whole formed by intricate networks of social actors who occupy multiple positions – has responded to the profound impact that this change has had on their internal dynamics. My research has primarily focused on themes concerning the construction of the Macanese identity that nowadays seem to be part of complex political and economic processes to legitimize China, Macao and even Portugal in a context that is simultaneously local and global. Reinforcing Macao’s historic importance as a commercial and cultural entrepôt and a gateway to China for centuries, the MSAR presently represents a service platform for trade, economic and cultural development and cooperation between the PRC and Portuguese-speaking countries. The cultural legacy left by the Portuguese presence has thereby been adopted clearly and unambiguously because there are no longer any constraints. On the contrary, there is pride in being a citizen of Macao (Ou Mun yan) – a citizen of a territory that is at the crossroads of East and West and is classified as a World Heritage Site, with its own single identity – and adopting their own cultural diversity derived from the perception of the city’s peerless legacy in China. With the end of foreign governance in Macao, the points of tension between some, more explicit, manifestations and behaviours seem to have dissipated: the Chinese are obviously pragmatic about the tourism opportunities of a Mediterranean-style city, while the Portuguese community has lost a certain arrogance that it used to have. However, standing at the top of the Macao Tower – a height of 338 metres and with a panoramic 360º view over the entire MSAR peninsula and islands – it seemed as if the older European style of architecture was being swallowed up by a victorious and modern China – where each building seemed to want to be what it is not – that is, the most attractive gambling site in the world. There is still great nostalgia for the Macao of yore, namely among the Macanese who believe they are constantly losing something and that the MSAR is not the same place where they spent the best years of their lives. They do not know the modern Macao nor do they understand it, at least not as well as they did before. The before and after is not necessarily linked with the integration of Macao into China in 1999. Rather,

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the major changes that the city has undergone since then are due to American gambling interests, which have completely altered the ethnic profile and living conditions of the local inhabitants. According to Anabela, the turning points that have had an irreversible impact on the Macanese way of life in Macao have to do with the fact that they ‘rarely encounter, by chance, people they know, who will stop for a chat; the majority of traditional shops with genuine Chinese wares and good silk have closed, as have the small food stalls’. Today, in Macao’s cramped land area, buildings interrupt the flow of air, and there is a lot of traffic and pollution. Chinese people from mainland China arrive every day in growing numbers, and Mandarin can be heard everywhere (but is not understood), audible even amidst the hubbub of people on the streets. Despite everything that has changed, Macanese people still say that in Macao the food continues to taste the same, and this is what they all seek out, to try and sate their immense nostalgia. A relative feeling of an identity crisis has affected the Macanese precisely during this juncture when Macao is opening up to China and the world. For some, this is expressed in a need for action and preparation for what the future of this new Macao holds for them, while others observe the inevitable disappearance of the community’s lifestyle, which leaves them mourning the loss of the past and feeling apathy in relation to the present. As always, the differing opinions among the Macanese on how each of them view themselves as members of this community, particularly evident in situations of change, explain how each individual identity is chosen with a certain degree of personal freedom and undergoes changes over the course of time. This phenomenon effectively reflects the production of imagined constructions of identity in hybrid and contradictory spaces that go far beyond the limited vision of the mere exoticism of cultural diversity and make concepts of purity and the hierarchy of cultures obsolete. As such, it reveals the ambivalence involved in the process of creating the identity of Macanese individuals and the Macanese collective – that is, the hybrid, unstable and ambivalent nature of their ethnic and cultural identity and how this identity is negotiated according to underlying private interests and public interpretations during specific historic periods.

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Notes 1. Das Cabanas de Palha às Torres de Betão (1998: 88). This volume is part of the ‘Studies and Documents’ collection of ISCSP editions, and was simultaneously published by Livros do Oriente in Macao. 2. The Thunders reached the height of their popularity between 1968 and 1972, not just in Macao but also in the neighbouring British colony of Hong Kong. The group was formed by Herculano Airosa (Alou) on keyboards, Armando Sales Richie on bass, Domingos Rosa Duque (Lelé) on the guitar, Rigoberto do Rosário Jr. (Api) as the songwriter, musical arrangements and guitar, and Manuel Costa on drums and percussion. The Thunders’ greatest hits in English, ‘She’s in Hong Kong’ and ‘My Love is a Dream’, were recorded in 1968 by Columbia/EMI Records, and ‘Macau’, a single in Portuguese, was launched two years later by the same label. The band reunited and played in 2004 during the Macanese Encontro, for an audience that had not forgotten their hit songs and who were able to hear them live and purchase one of the 2,000 highly coveted CDs produced for the occasion. The limited edition CD was accompanied by a booklet on the group’s history, summarized by Cecília Jorge. In relation to the song ‘Macao, My Land’ (1970), she wrote: ‘This was the most popular song by The Thunders, both in Macao and abroad. Various groups have interpreted it, the song has been used to open programmes and has been the soundtrack for shows and it has been played on the most diverse occasions. It was also one of the most popular songs sung when Macao was handed over to China in 1999’. Song lyrics and video available on YouTube (2013). 3. Two of his novels have even been adapted for cinema: Amor e Dedinhos de Pé (1991), a film by the Portuguese director Luís Filipe Rocha, produced by Tino Navarro in a co-production with MGN Filmes (Lisbon), and A Trança Feiticeira (1996), directed by Cai Yuan-Yuan and produced by the Cai Brothers Film Company (Macao).

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Index

Note: Locators in italics refer to figures. Locators with an ‘n’ indicate a footnote. A actor-network theory, 4–7 ADM (Macanese Association), 44, 50n15, 158, 188 Alberto (informant), 63, 167–68, 182 Álvares, Jorge (Portuguese explorer), 16, 60–61 Amaro, A.M., 115n6, 181 ambivalence China’s identity policy for Macao and, 169–75, 177–78 concept of, 154–56 constructing collective identity and, 8–12, 27–28, 153, 157–59 Amit, V., 30 amnesia achieving political goals through, 117–19, 174–75 creating identity and, 53–57, 64–65, 72, 78 internet and, 67–68 Anabela (informant), 24, 50n14, 60–61, 82n6, 190 Anderson, B., 20, 29, 109–10 Anok family, 59 Anthias, F., 41 APIM (Association to Promote Education for the Macanese), 91, 127, 165, 166

Appadurai, A., 44, 110 Astuti, R., 80, 84n16 Augusta (informant), 113 Augustin-Jean, L., 103 B Badaraco family, 61 ‘Bamboo Macao’, 112–13, 115n12 Barth, F., 30–31, 112 Batalha, G.N., 13 Bauman, Z., 155, 173, 177–78 Bernal, V., 110 Bhabha, H.K., 157 Bloch, M.E.F., 35, 57 Bortolotto, C., 125 Bourdieu, P., 70 Boxer, C.R., 27, 160, 161 Boyol family, 62 Brandtstädter, S., 57 Brockey, L.M., 162 Brubaker, R., 31, 73, 78 C Callon, M., 4 Candau, J., 54, 55–56 Casa Macau (Macao House), 45, 82n8, 100, 102, 164, 188 Castells, M., 110 Catholicism and Macanese identity, 21–22, 73–74, 77, 105–6, 112, 132 in Macao, 17, 40–41, 79, 80 CCCM (Macao Scientific and Cultural Centre), 38–40

Index

CCM (Macanese Communities Council), 45, 82n8, 165–66, 179n9, 188 CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Agreement), 146n5 CGM (Macanese Gastronomic Association), 44–45, 101, 127, 131–33, 140–41, 186–87, 188 Chá Gordo meal (‘fat tea’), 99–100, 115n6 Chahn lineage village, 56–57 Cheng, C., viii chi cheong fan (Chinese dish), 99–100 China. See People’s Republic of China (PRC) ‘Chitchat among the Macao Folks’(website), 178n6 Clayton, C.H., viii, 163 Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), 146n5 Cohen, A.P., 29 Cohen, E., 136 ‘collective imagination’, 44, 110 collective memory, 34–36, 53–57, 78–79, 81n2, 94–97. See also PCB (Food and Drinks Party) Comaroff, J. & J., 120, 144 commodification of culture/ incorporation of identity, 3, 8, 120, 144, 186 ‘communities of complicity’, 29 ‘communities of practice’, 6, 109, 111 Connorton, P., 35–36, 97 Conqueror/Conquistador (song), 37, 52n19 Constança (informant), 62, 76, 93 Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972), 121–22 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003), 122–24, 131, 135

209

Conway, M.A., 53 cookbooks and recipes, 115nn9–10, 130–31 cooking demonstrations, 133–34, 134, 148n17 Costa, F. Lima da, 108 Creighton, M.R., 83n12 creole culture, definition, 21 creole identity Macanese self-definition of, viii–ix, 8–11, 20–21, 72–78, 157, 184, 186 markers of, 106–8 political project and Macanese, 114, 117–22, 144–45 process of creolization, 25–28 See also Patuá language cuisine. See food Cultural Affairs Bureau, 9, 115n9, 123, 126, 141, 148n21, 187 D Deng Xiaoping, 7, 15, 162 diaspora Macanese, 5, 22, 66, 91–93, 163–66 Macanese youth in, 179n10, 188 digital technology and internet, 5–7, 44, 66–70, 74–75, 110–11, 179n10, 188 dim sum (Yam Chah), 99 Dina (chef ), 139 Dóci Papiaçám di Macau Intangible Cultural Heritage application, 44, 119, 127, 186 origin and activities, 129–30, 147n15, 148n21, 188 Douglas, M., 97 Du Cros, H., 142 E Encontros (meetings), 5, 82n8, 131, 164–66, 165, 188 EPM (Macao Portuguese School), 166, 180n16

210

Eritrea, 110 ethnicity community and, 29, 81, 112 memory and, 71–72 population movements and, 41 theoretical approaches to, 29–32 See also creole identity EXPO’89 (Universal Exhibition), 37–38, 39 F Facebook, 44, 68–70, 83n10, 178n6 Faustino, R. (informant), 113–14, 139–40 feng shui (geomancy), 149, 178n2 Fernandes, Henrique de Senna (novelist), 24, 40–41, 185, 191n3 Fernandes, M. da Silva, 19 Fernandes, Miguel de Senna (informant), 19, 120, 127–30, 132–33, 147n13, 158 Ferreira, Adé dos Santos (playwright and poet), 129 Ferreira, Maria João dos Santos (cookbook author), 133–34, 134 FM (Macao Foundation), 166–67, 179n12 food anthropological research on, 97–104 application for Intangible Heritage Status, 128, 130–36, 134, 140–41 cultural tourism and Macanese, 44–45, 137–40, 138, 147n16, 187–88 identity and, 6, 11, 85–90, 106, 112, 150–54, 156, 185–86 Food and Drinks Party. See PCB (Food and Drinks Party) forgetting memories. See amnesia Forjaz, J., 64, 82n7 Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and

Index

Portuguese-speaking Countries (Forum Macao), 8, 12n3, 146n6 Francisco (informant), 150–53, 156–57, 168, 183 G Gabriela (informant), 101–2 gambling changes since 1999, 143–44, 181–82, 189–90 extent, 148n22 reducing reliance on, 7, 118, 186 tourism, 1–4, 2, 47, 137, 141 Garcia Leandro, José E.M. (governor), 23 genealogy, memory and identity, 10, 56–65, 79, 82nn6–7 GenteDeMacau (website), 45, 68, 93, 111 geomancy (feng shui), 149, 178n2 Gillis, J.R., 55, 66, 78 Goody, J., 97–98 gwailou (foreigners), 9, 151, 178n3 H Halbwachs, M., 34, 51n18, 53, 78, 81n2, 94 Hannerz, U., 26 heritage. See Intangible Cultural Heritage Hobsbawn, E., 34, 82n4, 96 Holy House of Mercy (Santa Casa da Misericórdia), 160, 160, 161–62 hybridity. See creole identity I identity concept of, 32–33 creating a creole, 25–28, 72–78 ethnicity and, 29–32, 65–66, 83n12, 157 family in Macanese, 57–65 markers of, 11, 21, 105–6, 112 memory and, 34–37, 55–57, 78–81, 82n4, 95

Index

nationality and, 170–73, 177–78 political project of creating a Macanese, 1–4, 113–14, 117–22, 143–46, 162–69, 174–75, 182–89 See also ambivalence; food; PCB (Food and Drinks Party) ‘imagined community’, 6, 12, 29–32, 109–11, 184 incorporation of identity/ commodification of culture, 3, 8, 120, 144, 186 Infante D. Henrique National Lyceum (National Macao Lyceum), 91, 107, 185 Intangible Cultural Heritage Macanese cuisine and language applications for, 113–14, 126–36, 128, 147n13, 186–88 official requirements for achieving, 122–26 value of promoting, 3, 8, 11, 119–22, 140–41, 148n20 internet and digital technology, 5–7, 44, 66–70, 74–75, 110–11, 179n10, 188 interviews, research, 43–44, 52n21 J Japan and Macao, 17, 18, 20 Jenkins, H., 67 Jenkins, R., 31 Jesuits, 17 João (informant), 24, 91 Joint Declaration (1987), 15, 49n9, 75, 123, 171 Jorge family, 60–61 Jorge, Graça Pacheco (cookbook author), 103, 106, 115n9, 130–31, 139 K kinship, 43, 56–59 Kristang community, 28, 77, 132 Kymlicka, W., 182–83

211

L lai see (gift), 76, 83n15 Lam, W.M., 117, 146n4 Latour, B., 4–5 Lave, J., 109 Le Wita, B., 62 Leal Senado (Senado da Câmara, Senate), 159, 160–61 Legislative Assembly (AL), 25, 51n16 Legislative Bill to Safeguard the Cultural Heritage of the Macao Special Administrative Region, 122, 123–25, 147nn9–10 Lévi-Strauss, C., 97 Lima, A. Pedroso de, 62 Lopes, F.S., 112 Lou Lim Ieoc garden, 38, 39 Loureiro, R.M., 49n8 Lourenço, N., 21–22, 23, 73, 75, 105, 107, 179n13 M Macanese Association (ADM), 44, 50n15, 158, 188 ‘Macanese: a collective look at the community’ (conference), 50n15, 158 Macanese Communities Council (CCM), 45, 82n8, 165–66, 179n9, 188 Macanese Gastronomic Association (CGM), 44–45, 101, 127, 131–33, 140–41, 186–87, 188 Macanese Youth Association, 166 Macao. See MSAR (Macao Special Administrative Region) Macao Arts Festival (MAF), 9, 129, 148n21, 187 Macao City Council, 159, 160–62 Macao Foundation (FM), 166–67, 179n12 Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), 8, 45, 117–18, 136–37, 187

212

Macao House (Casa Macau), 45, 82n8, 100, 102, 164, 188 Macao Institute of Tourism Studies, 140–42, 147n16, 188 Macao International Tourism Office (MITO, Lisbon), 113, 137, 139–40 Macao Museum, 122–23, 126 Macao Portuguese School (EPM), 166, 180n16 Macao Scientific and Cultural Centre (CCCM), 38–40 Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR). See MSAR (Macao Special Administrative Region) Macao Week (2011), 137–39, 138 McKercher, B., 142 MAF (Macao Arts Festival), 9, 129, 148n21, 187 Malinowski, B.K., 43 Manhão, Francisco (president of association), 51n16 Manuela (informant), 68–69, 72, 73–74, 99, 102, 107, 108, 111–12 Martín-Barbero, J., 66–67 memory concept of, 32–33, 53–55 identity and, 34–37, 55–57, 78–81, 82n4, 95 Macanese ethnic, 65–72, 100–104 Macanese family, 57–65, 79 Macao Memory Project, 166–67 palaces of virtual, 6, 10–11, 67–70 places of, 33, 104–9, 112 types of, 35 See also PCB (Food and Drinks Party) Mena (informant), 71, 74–75, 101, 105–6, 167 Mendes, C.A., 49n9, 171 Mendes Pinto, Fernão (Portuguese explorer), 16–17, 49n6 Merton, R.K., 154–55

Index

methodology, research, 42–48, 52n21, 83n10, 84n16, 85–90, 150–53 MGTO (Macao Government Tourism Office), 8, 45, 117–18, 136–37, 187 MITO Macao International Tourism Office (Lisbon), 113, 137, 139–40 Montalto de Jesus, C.A., 49n7 Moon Festival, 48, 85–90, 87, 88, 89, 90, 114n2 Morbey, J., 22, 50n11, 162 MSAR (Macao Special Administrative Region) Basic Law, 24, 50n15, 121, 122, 146n7 the city, 1–2, 2, 3, 14, 46–47, 48n2, 189–90 governance, 51n16, 143–44, 146n5, 181–82 history, 13–19, 49n9, 75, 123, 171 population, 22, 50n11, 118 promoting identity through education, 147n16, 166–67, 177, 180n16 See also gambling; Nationality Law; tourism N Nas, P.J.M., 131 National Macao Lyceum (Infante D. Henrique National Lyceum), 91, 107, 185 nationalism and nationality, 49n9, 83n12, 110–11, 117–18 Nationality Law, 170–75, 177 Ngai, G., 146n4 Nora, P., 58, 104–5 nostalgia, 36, 55, 81, 95–97, 100–104, 189–90 Nuno (informant), 98, 107–8 O observation, participant, 43–44, 81, 84n16, 85–90, 98, 150–53

Index

Olick, J.K., 54 ‘one country, two systems’ policy, 7, 15, 24, 121, 145, 175, 182 O’Neill, B.J., 77 P palaces of virtual memory, 6, 10–11, 67–70 participant observation, 43–44, 81, 84n16, 85–90, 98, 150–53 Patuá language origin and evolution, 132–33 usage, 9, 89, 106–8, 111, 129–30, 147n14 Patuá Theatre application for Intangible Cultural Heritage status, 11, 126–30, 128, 135, 140–41, 147n13, 186–87 support for, 106, 122, 141, 148n21, 188 Paulo (informant), 63, 100, 102 PCB (Food and Drinks Party) linking past, future and identity, 94–99, 105, 109, 111–12, 184–86 Moon Festival, 48, 85–90, 87, 88, 89, 90, 114n2 origin, 45, 90–94 role and activities, 5–7, 11, 71, 99–100, 102–3, 107, 115n5 website and magazine, 68–69, 70, 83n9 welcoming Francisco, 150–53 Peckham, R.S., 119 Pedro Nolasco Commercial School, 70, 91–92, 107 People’s Republic of China (PRC) Macao as link between Portuguesespeaking countries and, 2, 4, 119, 146n6 migrants from, 47, 146n4, 183, 190 nationality policy in Macao, 170–75 policies regarding Macao, 15, 49n9, 51n16, 120–21, 181–82

213

promoting Macanese heritage and identity, 7, 113–14, 117–22, 145, 167 tourists from, 1, 141, 146n5 Peregrinação, 16–17, 49n6 photographic exhibitions, 44, 83n14, 138–39, 151 photographs and memory, 6, 55, 70–71, 82n6, 96–97, 166–67 Picassinos, C., 179n14 Pina-Cabral, J. de, 21–22, 23, 73, 75, 105, 107, 179n13 Pires, Tomé (Portuguese diplomat), 16 places of memory, 33, 104–9, 112 Pollak, M., 78 Porter, J., viii Portugal as fatherland, 83n12 handing over Macao to China, 15, 23–24, 49n9, 75, 123, 170–73 history in Macao, 13–19, 92, 159–62, 159, 160 Macanese migration to, 91–93, 106 miscegenation in colonies, 26–28 Portuguese language as identity marker, 21–22, 105, 112 official status, 14, 189 preservation, 2, 46–47, 50n15, 166, 175, 177, 180n16 proficiency in, 9, 17–18, 20, 69, 71, 73–74, 106–9 Portuguese-ness, 9, 72–75, 145, 156–57, 172, 188–89 Prats, L., 121 PRC. See People’s Republic of China (PRC) print capitalism, 109–11 R Ramos, M.J., 126 Ranger, T., 34–35, 82n4, 96 Rapport, N., 30

214

recipes and cookbooks, 115nn9–10, 130–31 religion. See Catholicism Remembering is Living (Facebook group), 70 Ribeiro, A., 49n6 Richards, A., 97 Rita (informant), 95 Robbins, J., 54 Ruins of St Paul, 8, 17, 38, 39, 46, 87 S St Paul’s Church, 8, 17, 38, 39, 46, 87 Sales Marques, José Luís (informant), 149, 178n1 Santos, G.D., 27, 56, 57 Santos, Rita (Forum Macao Secretary-General), 12n3 Serra de Almeida, Vítor (informant), 164 Serro, Cíntia Conceição (cookbook author), 87 Silva, P.S., 175 Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration (1987), 15, 49n9, 75, 123, 171 Smelser, N.J., 155 ‘social frameworks of memory’, 94 Society of Jesus (Jesuits), 17 Stafford, C., 96 Steinmüller, H., 29 Sutton, D.E., 101 T Teixeira, M., 21 The Thunders (pop group), 185, 191n2 theatre. See Patuá Theatre ‘third space of enunciation’, 157 Tina (informant), 63, 71–72, 91, 92, 102, 170 tourism definition of cultural, 142 extent, 141, 146n5 growth in, 1–3, 181–2 Macanese culture and, 117–22, 136–46, 146n7, 186

Index

promoting cultural, 7–8, 46–47, 117–19, 131, 186–88 Trade and Friendship Treaty (1888), 18 ‘traditional families’, 21–22, 40, 59–62, 82n7 Transitional Regulations for Application and Classification of Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage, 123–25, 131 translocational positionality, 41–42 transnationalism, 65–66, 82n8, 110–11, 163–4 U UNESCO, acknowledging heritage, 113, 121–25, 129, 131, 135, 142–43, 147n14 Universal Exhibition EXPO ’89, 37–38, 39 V Vale de Almeida, M., 26, 27 Vezo community, 80, 84n16 Vitória (informant), 64, 107 on the PCB, 85, 86–87, 111, 114n1, 150, 152, 185 W Wenger, E., 109 World Heritage Site status, 1–2, 46–47, 113, 118, 121–22, 142–43, 182 X Xavier, R.E., 50n12, 179n10 Y Yam Chah (dim sum), 99 youth, ensuring community survival, 147n16, 165–69, 177, 179n10, 179n13, 180n16, 187–88 Z Zerubavel, E., 55, 56, 96