2. Estado del Arte
2.3. Estado actual de la investigación
2.3.2. Curso de laboratorio de sistemas de comunicaciones inalámbricas
T he m ajo rity of V ietnam ese living in C an b erra entered A u stra lia during the
1970’s and 1980’s, decades also m arked by the political em brace of
m u ltic u ltu ra lism . A u stra lia cam e to be popularly referred to as "a land of
im m ig ra n ts " , and m in o rity group food won favour as a symbol of the c o u n try ’s
recen tly recognised c u ltu ral d iv ersity. Enlarged m ajority food choices and changing
e atin g h a b its provided an o p p o rtu n ity for V ietnam ese en trep ren eu rs to carve out an econom ic niche on th e periphery of th e A nglo-C eltic business sector, thereby c re a tin g em ploym en t for them selves and th eir c o m p a trio ts in an otherw ise restricted lab o u r m a rk e t.
H ow ever w hile A u stra lia n s now savour ethnic food, finding it "exotic and
d elightfully cosm op o litan expressive c u ltu re" IKasnitz 1984-167;, some m em bers of th e A n glo-C eltic m ajo rity are less enam oured w ith th e fam ilial mode of its p ro d u ctio n . Cries of "unfair c o m p e titio n ", "cheap loans" and "free labour" sound m ore like th e rh eto ric of exclusion th a n the celebration of diversity or "appreciation
of a v ariety of lifestyles" iZubrzycki 1982-xi. Indeed in 1982 the A u stralian
C ouncil of P o p u la tio n and E th n ic Affairs saw fit to add a fourth principle to the
m u ltic u ltu ra l m aste rp lan , nam ely "equal responsibility for. co m m itm ent to and
p a rtic ip a tio n in society" j 1982-121. T h e C hairm an w rote "m inority groups w ith a non-E nglish speaking background m u st not flourish on th e m argin and at th e expense of th e to ta l A u stra lia n society" T982-xi. T his s ta te m e n t spells out in no u n c e rtain term s th e view th a t relatio n s between the m inority and the m ajority are to c u ltu ra l (and confined to th e non-controversial) ra th e r th an s tru c tu ra l a n d /o r
p olitically loaded. C u ltu ra l d iv ersity serves to enrich the n atio n as a whole - "a
m u ltic u ltu ra l society is in te re stin g and colourful" ; 1982-16; - w hereas s tru c tu ra l d iv ersity (and aspects of V ietnam ese political culture) are viewed w ith suspicion as
p o te n tia lly divisive. All of w hich begs the question of who A u stralia s
m u ltic u ltu ra l policy benefits and th e concept of cu ltu re it heralds.
In C h a p te r 3 A u stra lia n p reo ccu p atio n w ith V ietnam ese ethnic food’s s ta tu s as a "preserved" or p ristin e c u ltu ra l p ro d u c t was described. In trin sic to the m ajo rity 's v e n tu re in to "oth ern ess" th ro u g h consum ption is a s ta tic notion of culture and
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c u ltu ra l prod u cts as old forms bro ug ht o u t for display on contrived occasions, such
as eth n ic food festivals. Yet to be accepted V ietnam ese food had to be
'd o m estic a te d " and "civilized" to fit th e A u stralian palate. Once converted the new form (presented though as unchanged) has been incorp o rated into A ustralian
po p u lar eatin g h ab its. M uga 1984-2] describes the process of a p p ro p riatio n and
conversion thus: " th a t p a rt of th e eth n ic sub-cultu re considered ‘respectable’ is
ro m an ticized, stereoty p ed, seized upon com m ercially, the rest of th e cultu re is
defined o u t of existence". A d v en turou s eatin g, I suggest, reflects th e process of
c u ltu ra l in co rp o ratio n , and as such signals the m in o rity ’s su b ju g atio n . F o o d ’s a e sth e tic qualities have been latched on to , and prised from th e social s tru c tu re
and associated beliefs and values w hich underscore its p rod uctio n . D etached
frag m en ts now stan d for th e "whole" V ietnam ese cooking h eritag e. T hus by
p a rtic ip a tin g in m u lticu ltu ralism th ro u g h eating , th e A u stra lia n consum er helps co n stru c t th e ‘c u ltu re ’ the political eth n ic ideology is ostensibly designed to p ro tect.
It is leg itim ate to question the a d v a n ta g e th a t has accrued to successive
A u stra lia n governm ents by in corp orating ethnicity into th eir political platform s. Jakubow icz ! 1981-61; argues ethn icity is "the invalid ation of class history of ethnic A u stra lia , and the reco nstru ctio n of th eir experience and history in their countries of origin an d A u stra lia as to ta lly cu ltu ral .... t h a t is th e effective outcom e of m u ltic u ltu ra lism " . He continues "the S ta te has engaged in such a task be it under
th e term inology of assim ilation , in teg ratio n or m u ltic u ltu ra lism ". C ertainly, as
M uga suggests above, th e p rom otion of ethnic ideology has allowed the
"em ascu latin g" of m inority cultures in th e nam e of th eir glorification. B ut fu rth er, th e presence of re s ta u ra n ts representin g c u ltu ral diversity th ro u g h food (see page 11) gives th e s ta te an o p p o rtu n ity to ap p ear to recognise th e m u ltic u ltu ra l reality
of A u stra lia n society iK akakios and Van Der Velden 1984-162], while
sim ultan eo usly deflecting challenges to its hegem ony. G ra ssb v ’s p a th to "unity
'
th ro u g h div ersity " (see page 8) begins to look m ore and m ore like social control;
th e m ajo rity can rest easy, secure in the knowledge th a t th e overriding
c o m m itm en t of all citizens is to the A u stra lia n nation .
Herein lies the V ietnam ese challenge. T he re s ta u ra n t, as p ro p e rty , reinforces the
" tra d itio n a l" V ietnam ese fam ily (n h a) by k n ittin g husband and wife to g eth er in term s of m u tu a l in te rest in th e jo in t venture, and stre n g th e n in g ties to th eir
children th ro u g h claim s to fam ily resources both now and in the future.
F u rth e rm o re in the re s ta u ra n t se ttin g th e young in herit V ietnam ese ethnic identity th ro u g h "lived experience" ra th e r th a n by way of passive in stru ctio n received at
sterile S a tu rd a y m orning cu ltu ral and linguistic "p reserv atio n " classes. It is
t h a t th e young come "to know" them selves as fam ily, and by extension as co m m u n ity , m em bers who s tru c tu re them selves according to hierarchies of a u th o rity
and m oral obligatio n . These principles underpin both flag and fam ily, key m arkers
of V ietnam ese ethnic id en tity in C an b erra. Fam ily labour m ediates the
c o n stru ctio n of these aspects of V ietnam ese ethnic id en tity . M oreover the
re s ta u ra n t co ntain s w ithin itself th e seeds of co n tin u ity , for in this space the
d ialectic betw een m an th e producer and his prod u ct - denied by the "cultural p lu ralism th a t is taken as m u lticu ltu ralism - is m ain tained .
T hu s the m icro-w orld of th e re s ta u ra n t, quietly existing on th e p erim eter, is
m uch m ore th a n a q u ain t or harm less exam ple of cu ltu ral distinctiveness. It is the
in stitu tio n a l expression of th e V ietnam ese social order and consensual values and
beliefs. It represen ts dynam ic cu ltu ral p ractice, creating and recreatin g m eaning to
Fit new realities b u t nonetheless con tinu ing to be distinctively V ietnam ese.
However V ietnam ese hopes and plans are for the coming generation to establish
them selves th ro u g h ed ucation in professions and w'hite collar businesses. These
plans preclude th e p e rp e tu atio n of th e nh a as the u nit of production and
consequently c o n trib u te to weakening c u ltu ral distinctiveness and com m unity
cohesion. T h u s re stru c tu rin g according to each V ietnam ese fam ily’s class interests
along A u stra lia n , nuclear fam ily lines m ay well in itia te a quiet revolution from
w ith in . Already th ere is evidence th a t a m ulti-faceted V ietnam ese self is emerging
am ong the young, m ore edu cated V ietnam ese in C anberra; a self which incorporates b o th V ietnam ese and A u stra lia n c o n trib u tio n s to V ietnam ese ethnic id en tity in A u stralia.
A p lu ralist self m ay in fact be a necessity if the V ietnam ese are to realize the hopes and d ream s th a t b ro u g h t them to A u stra lia , for given th eir conspicuous physical ap p earance, "passing" as a m em ber of the w hite m ajority is simply not
possible. Cox 1983(a)-342i recognizes this when he w rites "we m ay Find Asians
sp earheading a new form of m u ltic u ltu ra l developm ent epitom ised by ethnic
developm ents th a t parallel m ain stream ra th e r th an ju s t facilitatin g the use of
th em (m ainstream in stitu tio n s). However Cox does not go far enough. The
V ietnam ese, I suggest, h ave the ability to m ove beyond C o x’s "degree of separate developm ent" and th e unidim ensional existence governm ent envisages; to operate
w ith in several social Fields w ith o u t denying any. Dual p articip a tio n provides
V ietnam ese w ith th e o p p o rtu n ity to achieve m ate ria l and social b e tte rm e n t w itho ut
h aving to pay th e price dem anded by m onocu ltural A u stra lia , namely the