Negotiating Assimilation and Hybridity

Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which Bruneians who are born into a Chinese-Malay family define their identity, how the state classifies them in terms of “race,” how they negotiate their bicultural practices, and what challenges they face while growing up in the liminal space of inbetweenness. Considering the hegemonic force of assimilation enforced by various state apparatuses, the article critically discusses the ways in which Chinese-Malays negotiate the space between assimilation and hybridity. By examining the experience of between and betwixt among these biracial subjects, the article alludes to the different forces that define the boundaries of exclusion and inclusion, belonging and non-belonging in Brunei Darussalam.