The Macaense. Identity, Culture and Daily Life

In Macau – 澳門 (aomen) – People's Republic of China, the crossroads of peoples and cultures has created a veritable melting pot over five centuries of globalisation, resulting in a kaleidoscope of religions, ethnicities, languages and social groups, highlighting unique attributes of tertium genus such as: patuá, cuisine, art and music, religion and festivities.

These fruits of encounter and the mixing of specific modes of expression and communication thus build a new space, a new reference, an identity that at first glance appears syncretic but ultimately asserts itself – and is understood – as striking and original: a miscegenation that is highly improbable from the point of view of the probabilities of cultural hybridisation.
In a world of constant and rapid change, identity, culture and values are very important references in people's daily lives. Similarly, diversity (i.e., identity) is an asset in an increasingly globalised, “connected” and uncertain world. The Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) has enormous potential to assert its customary status as a melting pot, refined and consolidated over centuries, and a great opportunity to serve as a bridge, with obvious added value, between peoples, cultures and markets that have ignored each other over the years.
Does Macanese culture incorporate particular forms of hybridisation and adaptability/flexibility that make it especially resilient to the erosion of time and history? And, on a more general level, what will be the place of mixed culture in the face of the various processes of globalisation that are suddenly being engineered and constantly reinforced on a planetary scale, where everything is intended to be reduced to a single, primary and dominant culture, that of Homo Coca-Colensis?

The aim of ‘O Macaense’ was to bring to the academic world a set of questions relating to a qualified reflection on the past, present and future. This work, which features contributions from 23 authors, is the result of a partnership between the Study Center on Peoples and Cultures (CEPCEP) at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, the University of Saint Joseph in Macau and the International Institute of Macau.

The work was published in the collection «Estudos e Documentos» and edited by CEPCEP.