Migration, Memory, and Hybrid Identity: Taiwanese-Australian Intercountry Adoptees in Transcultural Narrative Formation

Author : Xiu-Ying Long (Sarah Sabal)

Abstract : This study presents a literature-based case study of Taiwanese-Australian intercountry adoptees, drawing on published qualitative research as part of a broader thesis on adoptee identity and transnational narrative construction. Using narrative identity theory, social identity theory, and postcolonial perspectives, the study examines how adoptees negotiate individuality and belonging across social, familial, and cultural contexts in predominantly white Australian society. Analysis highlights key themes including experiences of subtle and overt racism (“Where are you really from?”), cultural invisibility within adoptive families, and the role of culturally aligned peers or mentors in fostering belonging. Adoptees articulate “hybrid” identities shaped by societal pressures favoring whiteness alongside their Asian heritage, navigating inclusion and exclusion across multiple social spaces. Stoddart et al. (2021) note that some adoptees feel peripheral in both Australian and Taiwanese communities while deriving meaning through selective engagement with cultural traditions. Framed within social, familial, and community influences, the findings show how narrative self-construction mediates personal experience and broader societal structures. This case study foregrounds the ethical, postcolonial, and transnational dimensions of intercountry adoption, contributing to scholarship on migration, memory, identity, and multicultural belonging by centering adoptee narratives and challenging assimilationist frameworks

Keywords : Migration, memory, hybrid identity, intercountry adoption

Conference Name : International Conference on Migration, Memory, and Identity - (IC-MMI-26)

Conference Place : Osh, Kyrgyzstan

Conference Date : 30th May 2026