Narrative themes of Chinese Canadian intergenerational trauma: offspring perspectives of trauma transmission

Abstract

ABSTRACT In a series of two papers, the narrative themes of Intergenerational Trauma (IGT) from both the perspectives of the parent and offspring generation in the Chinese diaspora in Canada are examined. IGT involves parental traumatization, the intergenerational transmission of trauma, and the impact of trauma on subsequent generations. This study focuses on the narratives of the offspring generation and their construction of how their parents’ traumas shaped their lives. Narratives of IGT were constructed using a collaborative narrative method. The offspring narratives were centred on their experiences growing up in Canada and how those experiences were influenced by the transmission of their parents’ traumas. Narratives were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) reflexive thematic analysis. The themes developed from the narratives were as follows: (a) silence and disconnection; (b) saving face and conflicting values; (c) discipline and internalization of insecurities; (d) education as necessity; and (e) preservation and reclamation of heritage. The study illustrates how collective and IGT are understood through the mediated narrative lens of subsequent generations. The role of silence and its construction in these narratives is discussed from a cultural standpoint in relation to dominant trauma discourse. The study has implications for understanding Chinese diasporic IGT through narrative and cultural frameworks and invites trauma and IGT discourses as clinical and research considerations for this population.