Ambiguous immigrants? Examining the changing status of the English in New Zealand

Abstract

Drawing on a qualitative interview‐based study of English migrants in New Zealand, this article examines, if and how, overseas migration triggers national sentiments that were previously relatively amorphous in their country of origin. In those cases where this occurs, it analyses the diverse and contextual orientations migrants display, and discusses the empirical and analytic challenges posed when seeking to conceptualise a category of persons that have been described as ‘ambiguous immigrants’. The study concludes that research on this ambiguity contributes to debates about the relationship between dominant ethnicity and national identity while highlighting the simplicities of many concepts used to describe and analyse ‘the English’.

‘There are times when I feel like a bit of an alien’: middling migrants and the national order of things

“…This paper deals with another possible means of generating such ‘evidence’ by focusing not on a novel method but another group who have been relative under‐theorised in the literature, relatively affluent (or middling) migrants moving between, and settling in, places that are not altogether dissimilar. The experiences of these people are particularly useful in researching everyday nationalism's evidence problem because they occupy an in‐between space, ‘neither completely foreign nor entirely familiar’ (Pearson : 504), that can be used to reflect on the shifting salience, and significance, of the nation in daily lives. In studying these processes, and the changing position of particular groups – migrants and members of the host population – in relation to such practices, we are offered key opportunities to identify the extent to which people continue to make sense of everyday objects and interactions in national terms, thereby unveiling the continuing significance of a national framework in patterning their lives.…”

“…While Smith has argued that studies of middling migration must also attend to local structures, including those associated with the nation‐state, scholars of nationalism have paid relatively little attention to the phenomenon. A notable exception is Pearson (, ), who is also one of the few people to have carried out research on UK migrants living in Australia and New Zealand (see also Bell ; Fraser and McCarthy ; McGlynn et al ). Pearson not only notes the shifting regional and national allegiances that such migrants articulate in response to different contexts and prompts but also how a position of relative power, as someone from a White, Western background, can be undermined by a lack of ‘vernacular cultural credentials’ (Pearson : 517, see also Bell ) at particular moments.…”

“…A notable exception is Pearson (, ), who is also one of the few people to have carried out research on UK migrants living in Australia and New Zealand (see also Bell ; Fraser and McCarthy ; McGlynn et al ). Pearson not only notes the shifting regional and national allegiances that such migrants articulate in response to different contexts and prompts but also how a position of relative power, as someone from a White, Western background, can be undermined by a lack of ‘vernacular cultural credentials’ (Pearson : 517, see also Bell ) at particular moments. This is a point that will be picked up in the analyses of my own empirical materials, but in the next section, I want to outline how these materials were generated and analysed.…”

“…British Empire settler states, like Australia, were not only formed and managed by English migrants but also renewed by subsequent waves of migration from England (and the rest of Britain). This meant that ‘until well into the twentieth century, the majority of … [Australians] with such origins were quite at ease seeing themselves as “British” as well as local born’ (Pearson : 505). With the growing diversity of the Australian population, not to mention some attempts to reposition the country as part of Asia, these historic ties have been called into question.…”

“…In relation to my own data, it's worth noting that while most Australians and British people share the same ‘mother’ tongue, each country features a range of colloquial words and phrases that are not generally used in the other. Therefore, language can be seen as a key marker in establishing an individual's ‘vernacular cultural credentials’ (Pearson : 517), and linguistic anomalies were a notable topic for discussion among many of my respondents. Examples of these included both the use of unfamiliar words, lollies (instead of sweets), bottle shops (instead of ‘off licences’ – where alcohol can be purchased), pants (instead of trousers) and the (over) use of phrases such as ‘No worries’ and the constant shortening of words combined with the adding of an ‘O’ at the end.…”