The chutney generation : Fiji Indian migration, match-making and media in Sydney

Abstract

The twice displaced Fiji Indian community in Sydney, what I will call here the 'chutney generation', is the largest in the world outside of Fiji. The community inhabits a space where it has adapted to creating a new blend of cultural and social traditions; the clearest demonstration of this being the mobilisation of these concepts around marriage. This work, combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies, explores the traditional and modern intersections of media, migration and their influence on marriage in the maintenance of the Fiji Indian identity in Sydney. Through considering the work of cultural theorists Arjun Appadurai (1996, 2004, 2007), Benedict Anderson (1983, 2006), Neil Postman (2000), James Conroy (2004) and Victor Turner (1969), among other scholars, this research presents the range of media impacts upon the views of arranged marriage, a common practice of the community in Sydney. In this process it promotes a significant understanding of the community in its acceptance of this age-old tradition against a backdrop of migration, modernisation and multiculturalism. This thesis also considers the influence of Bollywood on the community's ideal and celebration of marriage, which in today's Australia reflects much complexity as traditional societies meet modern and contemporary ones, all juxtaposed against globalisation and the modern media. The flows from such intersections create a multitude of ruptures in society, fragmenting and dismantling some, while sustaining others in creative and new ways. Vivah, the Hindi word for marriage, means what supports or carries. The word has created a metaphorical journey for the community into the modern world which challenges its identity, values and morals, which are deeply entwined with marriage and Hindu wedding rituals. This cross-disciplinary research captures this tide of change through the cultural clustering of the community, while analysing how arranged marriage, which has parental approval as an important component, (known to the east as a way of life and to the west as narrow and backward), works through western and diasporic frames for the Fiji Indians. It documents how the community frames its moral universe around marriage as a rite of passage, and how group cohesion within its networks propels gossip, especially to ostracise those who are not married. While the acts and ideals of marriage feed the community's bonds of kinship, they also create a level of fear and anxiety among those who are single, their parents and families.

Date of Award	2011
Original language	English