Sheets of scattered sand : Cantonese protestants and the secular dream of the Pacific Rim
Publication Type
Book
Publication Date
11-2024
Abstract
The author captures the voices of Cantonese Protestant Christians from the San Francisco, Vancouver, and Hong Kong metropolitan areas as they reflect on their efforts to adapt to secular communities while retaining their identity and beliefs.In the context of the transpacific region between Asia and the Americas, the “Pacific Rim” refers to a window of time in which predominant narratives emphasized skilled migration and the rise of multicultural societies—the era before the rise of Chinese nationalism in 2012 and the Hong Kong protests. Diasporic Cantonese Protestant Christians of this time were frequently portrayed as a homogenous people bringing their Chinese culture and Christian communities from Hong Kong to cities such as Vancouver and San Francisco—sometimes contesting liberal developments like same-sex marriage but also offering new democratic awareness.Sheets of Scattered Sand challenges that depiction of Cantonese Protestants with authentic voices from the community. Based on research done in the San Francisco Bay area, Vancouver, and Hong Kong, author Justin K.H. Tse finds that Cantonese Protestants consider themselves “sheets of scattered sand”—politically disparate and ideologically fragmented, but united in a sense of tension with the secular world. Tse’s work serves as an illuminating prequel to contemporary stories of the Hong Kong protests and a newly emergent Asian American politics, underscoring the importance of incorporating these voices in wider reflections on Christianity and secularity.
Keywords
Cantonese Protestant Christians, Secular communities, Christianity, Secularity
Discipline
Asian Studies | Community-Based Research | Religion
Research Areas
Integrative Research Areas
ISBN
9780268208714
Publisher
University of Notre Dame Press
City or Country
Notre Dame, IN
Citation
TSE, Justin Kh.
Sheets of scattered sand : Cantonese protestants and the secular dream of the Pacific Rim. (2024).
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cis_research/272
Additional URL
https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268208714/sheets-of-scattered-sand/
