Cross-Border Marriages within East Asia

Abstract

This chapter follows on from Chapter 6 as an exploration of a particular type of cross-border marriage migration. Chapter 6 considered marriages that may be considered transnational according to definitions employed in this book. They are made within communities that are linked across international borders by practical, emotional and symbolic ties and in this, markedly contrast with the marriages described in this chapter. Here, the subject of the chapter is cross-border marriages between ethnic and cultural groups. These marriages are made by individuals or networks rather than within communities and in contrast to transnational marriages, the partners may have little practical knowledge of the lives and expectations of their new spouses. Marriages within East Asia will be used as a sample to explore not least as there has been a great deal of research done in the area from a variety of perspectives and these marriages hold an important place in the national imaginations of the host countries as to what migration is and who migrants are. The importance of these marriage within the context of this book, however, is that I argue these marriages are not transnational — cross-national but not transnational. I argue further that some of them may be developing transnational sensibilities and logics, but that, as they stand, they cannot be considered transnational by accepted definitions.