Communicating across difference: Co-cultural theory, capital and multicultural families in Korea^*

ABSTRACT

Utilizing Orbe’s co-cultural theory and Bourdieu’s theories of capital, this study examines the lived experiences and the communicative interactions employed by members of seven multicultural families in South Korea. Findings show the intertwined roles of economic capital, social capital, cultural capital and symbolic capital with co-cultural communication orientations, when interacting with members of the majority group. Particularly, findings reveal differences between Korean husbands and immigrant wives. For Korean husbands, economic and social capital are the most critical influential factors in their choices of communication orientations, while for immigrant wives, cultural and symbolic capital are most significant. Additionally, contrary to previous research, Confucianism and patriarchy played key roles in the marginalization of Korean men in multicultural families and influenced their co-cultural communication orientations.

KEYWORDS:

• Co-cultural theory
• Bourdieu
• capital
• multicultural families
• immigrant women

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank to Dr Jeanne McPherson, Dr Joe Miller, and Dr Masahiro Yamamoto who provided thoughtful comments on the very first draft of this manuscript as well as three anonymous reviewers.

Notes

* An earlier version of this manuscript was presented to the annual meeting of the NCA (National Communication Association), Las Vegas, 2015.

1. Cho-Seon-Jok (조선족) is the term used by mainstream Chinese to refer to Koreans as one of many ethnic minorities in mainland China. In Korea, the term Cho-Seon-Jok (조선족) refers to ethnic Koreans from China. Because we find this terminology problematic and supportive of systems of othering, we use the term “ethnic Koreans from China,” or EKC. The EKC women in this study referred to themselves as “people from China” (중국에서 온 사람들).

2. Multicultural Family (Da-Mun-Hwa-Ga-Jok ; 다문화가족) in Korea refers to any family which consists of a native Korean citizen, his/her non-native Korean spouse who obtained Korean citizenship through marriage immigration, and their offspring (Lee, 2010). Several different terms are used interchangeably, but multicultural family (Da-Mun-Hwa-Ga-Jok; 다문화가족) is the most commonly used term in Korea.

3. Gye (계) is a traditional private trust fund where members deposit a small amount of money on a monthly basis, and take turns withdrawing a lump sum share. In addition to financially helping each other the Gye (계) is a social network, particularly for people in rural communities who do not have professional networks. Gye (계) in Korean society is similar to the “Hui” (Sandel, 2000, p. 81) in Taiwan. Refer to Sandel’s (2000) work for detailed information about the advantages and risks of joining Hui as well as how it works.