Questioning the Conditional Visibility of the Chinese

Abstract

Despite a long history of Chinese presence in Chile and the Americas, the Chinese tend to remain in a state of conditional visibility. Questioning the paradoxical ubiquity and invisibility of expressions of Chineseness in the physical and cultural landscape of Santiago, we examine cultural and discursive processes of (re)production that contribute to this scenario. Informed by understandings of identity and contextualized by the history of the Chinese presence in Chile, we consider the diverse ways in which Chinese people and Chineseness are portrayed on Chilean television and in films and theatre plays. We examine how these representations enable forms of subordination and silencing, and/or highlight the agency of Chinese persons. We show that while Chineseness and Chinese people are typically depicted as one-dimensional and incomprehensible, some productions visibilize and problematize such empty stereotypes. Finally, we demonstrate how these representations resignify Chineseness in a broader Latin American and global context.

Small course interventions focused on whole-person development increase aspects of student affect for women, Asian and first-generation students

“…As such, this finding may, at first glance, seem surprising, however, the anti-Asian sentiment observed during the pandemic likely played a role. At the start of the pandemic, rises in racism against Asians were seen globally (Gover et al, 2020;Strabucchi and Chan, 2020). Increased racist acts against Asians likely negatively impacted general life satisfaction for these students in addition to increased ostracization leading to a lower sense of belonging.…”

El imaginario de lo chino en las revistas magazinescas chilenas de principios del siglo XX

“…En ese ir y venir el ser asiático no entraba en la discusión y si lo hacía no era en términos positivos, como podemos observar en el siguiente ejemplo: "...con negros, mulatos, y mercaderes chinos no se forma una gran nacionalidad" (de Valdivia 1929, p.68). A pesar de la demanda de la mano de obra china barata que se produce entre mediados y fines del siglo XIX, la presencia china en los países latinoamericanos se consideraba indeseable (Hu-Dehart, 1994;López, 2016;Palma y Ragas, 2018;Chan y Montt Strabucchi, 2020a), algo que también se evidencia en la Ley de Colonización de 1845 y la exclusión de países árabes y asiáticos (Cano y Soffia, 2009, p.48).…”

“…Durante la pandemia de COVID-19, lo que ocurrió en Chile fue similar a lo que sucedió con las minorías asiáticas (en muchas ocasiones referidas como "orientales") en otros lugares, donde la sociedad volvió a caer en sus peores patrones de prejuicio (Wang, Chen, Li, Luu, Yan y Madrisotti, 2020). A pesar de que es posible encontrar esfuerzos de cineastas, escritores, artistas y músicos chilenos que desafían las dicotomías, problematizando la identidad nacional o "étnica" chilena (ver Chan y Montt Strabucchi, 2020a), la pandemia de COVID-19 fortaleció las ideas sobre las personas chinas y lo chino en general como algo externo a Chile, revelando la naturaleza frágil y superficial de los recientes intentos sancionados por el gobierno de articular a Chile como una nación global, multicultural y diversa (Chan y Montt Strabucchi, 2020b, p.15). La pandemia global de COVID-19 ha provocado el resurgimiento de viejos discursos racistas e ideas que ubican a los chinos o asiáticos de manera similar al pasado, asociadas con la suciedad y amenazando la democracia y la libertad "occidental" de Chile.…”

Many-faced orientalism: racism and xenophobia in a time of the novel coronavirus in Chile

“…Departing from previously homogenous national identity narratives, the video expressed a national identity based on diversity. As has been analyzed in more detail elsewhere, 20 an ethnic Chinese woman was included in a scene as an essentially 'Chilean' person, who converses with a stereotypically Chinese person. This inclusion of a 'Chinese face' in a production about Chilean identity is unprecedented.…”

“…The efficacy of the advertisement and the popularity of the product relies on pre-existing ideas about Chinese mysticism. 30 The comic strip 'Chu Man Fú,' which circulated in Chile, illuminates how the notion of a Chinese threat was sometimes linked to incomprehensibility, mysticism, or specific stereotypes about the 'Chinese diet' (i.e. that they eat rats).…”