Domesticating the foreign : singing salvation through translation in the Australian Catholic Chinese community

In this study, I attempt to address these questions through examining the contemporary musical performance practice of the ACCC. Through a unique music developed over more than 50 years, the community is able to assert on the one hand, its difference from other Catholics in Sydney, while on the other hand showing a willingness to adapt to its new surroundings. The community is also able to distinguish itself from other Chinese migrants in Sydney. What is often called the 'Chinese community' in Sydney is in fact a number of smaller migrant groups, each with similar values and common lifestyles. Music is closely linked to the cultural and social practices of these groups, bound either by religion, dialect and clanship or some form of common interest. The ACCC as a subgroup exhibits a unique culture in which the issue of translation is all important and has much to do with the current state of its music.6 While this music can be classified overall as 'hybrid', it is by the same token like one of the many 'flavours' of Chinese culture that exists in the globalised world.