(Re)Imagining National Identity: Chinese Students’ Everyday Negotiations in a Transnational Context

• In Event: Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual iPresentation Only: Division G - Section 6: Inquiry in the Social Context of Education Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

This study explores how Chinese international students in the UK (re)construct their national identity through everyday interactions. Drawing on six months of ethnographic data—including interviews, audio diaries, and informal conversations—the research traces how students navigate national belonging via cultural practices, peer interactions, and comparisons between China and the UK. The findings reveal that national identity is not static but relational and context-dependent: it is reinforced through shared rituals, challenged by perceived injustice, and reimagined through cross-cultural encounters. By extending Anderson’s concept of imagined communities, the study demonstrates how digital platforms and material practices shape contemporary identity formation. This work contributes to understanding national identity as an evolving, embodied process grounded in lived transnational experience.

Author

• Chufan Qiu, Huazhong University of Science and Technology