ABSTRACT

Nationhood can be conceptualised in many different ways and these conceptualisations determine the level of access that ethnic minorities have to a national identity. This study focuses on social representations of Britishness among British South Asian gay men and their impact for constructing and managing national, ethnic and sexual identities. Fifteen individuals were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule and the data were analysed using thematic analysis and social representations theory. The analysis yielded three themes focusing on the racial representation of Britishness, which emphasised the centrality of race and was perceived to be exclusionary; the multicultural representation, which facilitated both ethnic and British national identification but did not address homophobia in the ethnic ingroup; and the civic/ instrumental representation, which facilitated a sense of belonging in spite of their multiple identities. A civic/ instrumental representation of Britishness appears to be inclusive and may have far-reaching social and psychological benefits.

摘要

民族性可以通过许多不同的方式来概念化，这些概念化决定了少数民族获得民族认同的程度。本研究侧重于英国南亚男同性恋者的英国性社会表征及其对构建和管理民族、种族和性别认同的影响。使用半结构化访谈计划对 15 个人进行访谈，并使用主题分析和社会表征理论分析数据。分析产生了三个主题，重点是英国人的种族代表性，强调种族的中心地位，被认为是排他性的；多元文化代表性，这促进了族裔和英国的民族认同，但没有解决族群内的同性恋恐惧症；以及公民/工具性代表，尽管他们有多重身份，但仍能促进归属感。英国性的公民/工具性表现似乎具有包容性，可能具有深远的社会和心理利益。