PhD thesis final - Royal Holloway, University of London

Chapter 4- Home, domesticity and belongingoperation control department manager living with his family in Shanghai for two years,in his 50s) within the shortest time. Such thinking has led them to develop specificrelationships with objects and have a different interpretation of using and deployingobjects at home. For instance, it was not uncommon to hear that some may believe thatthere are no objects which are necessary and cannot be replaced to perform the samefunction. Nevertheless, it does not mean that household material culture is excludedfrom this group of expatriate workers‘ imagination of home and belonging; it was justmanifested in different ways.For example, it was found that Taiwanese expatriates‘ use of objects to fulfill theirimagination of home often includes articles brought from Taiwan or characterised byTaiwanese elements that are considered as irreplaceable to continue their lifestyle. AsKaren illustrates:I didn‘t move my house to here, although I really wanted to [laugh]. But every time whenI go back to Taiwan, I bring a lot of stuff. [Yuhui: like what?] Clothes, cosmetics andcommodities I used to have in Taiwan, because I insist on using certain items bought fromTaiwan. You know, the quality of commodities here is not guaranteed and I don‘t haveconfidence in them. With such stuff, at least, I feel that my lifestyle and living habits aremaintained which I think is important for me not to feel homesick.(Karen, a single production management supervisor living in Shanghai for one year, inher 30s)As the extract shows, the objects Taiwanese expatriates deploy and use at home aremundane commodities for everyday use so that their importance lies not in their valueas a ‗synecdoche for lost or unreachable homes‘ (Duncan and Lambert 2004: 388), but123