This paper examines second-generation Italian Australian constructions of ethnicity through longitudinal ethnographic analysis. Original data for this research were collected with second-generation Italian-Australian youth in 1985–1986 and follow-up research was conducted with the same informants more than three decades later. Our findings lead us to critique Herbert Gans’s concept of symbolic ethnicity, which suggests that ethnicity among second and subsequent generations is superficial and that once it disappears from the public realm it is rendered symbolic and not real. We argue that this concept overlooks the important role of family and intimate culture in constructions of ethnicity. It also fails to acknowledge the powerful role of symbols in identity formation. We argue that anthropological notions of “intimate culture” examined through the lens of “familial habitus” are more useful concepts to explain the continuing importance of ethnicity in the lives of second-generation Italian Australians.

中文翻译：

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“作为意大利人，我在社区做的不多，但在我的家庭中我做的很多”：通过对第二代意大利澳大利亚人的纵向研究对象征性种族的批判

本文通过纵向民族志分析研究了第二代意大利澳大利亚人的种族结构。这项研究的原始数据是在 1985-1986 年与第二代意大利 - 澳大利亚青年收集的，并在 30 多年后与相同的线人进行了后续研究。我们的发现使我们批判了赫伯特·甘斯的象征性种族概念，这表明第二代和后代的种族性是肤浅的，一旦它从公共领域消失，它就会变成象征性的而不是真实的。我们认为，这一概念忽视了家庭和亲密文化在种族建构中的重要作用。它也没有承认符号在身份形成中的强大作用。