Gardens, transitions and identity reconstruction among older Chinese immigrants to New Zealand

Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Li, Wendy Wen;Hodgetts, Darrin;Ho, Elsie
Abstract

Psychologists have foregrounded the importance of links between places and daily practices in the construction of subjectivities and well-being. This article explores domestic gardening practices among older Chinese immigrants. Initial and follow-up interviews were conducted with 32 Chinese adults ranging in age from 62 to 77 years. Participants recount activities such as gardening as a means of forging a new sense of self and place in their adoptive country. Gardening provides a strategy for self-reconstruction through spatiotemporally establishing biographical continuity between participants’ old lives in China and their new lives in New Zealand.

Journal

Journal of Health Psychology

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Volume

15

ISBN/ISSN

1461-7277

Edition

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Issue

5

Pages Count

11

Location

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Publisher

Sage

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Publisher Location

N/A

Publish Date

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Url

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Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

10.1177/1359105310368179