The Chinese Diaspora:
A Global-Historical Perspective
[IDH 3931]
Spring, 2007
Instructor: Edward W. Tennant |
Email: etennant@ufl.edu |
Classroom: Hume 118 |
Class time: MWF Period 4 |
Office: TUR B332 |
Office Hours: Wednesday 2pm-4pm |
Course Description:
The Chinese Diaspora (also referred to as the Overseas Chinese or the Chinese Overseas) represents one of the largest group of migrants in the world with 15 million members. How can research into such a large group be organized? After all, the emigrant areas of South China, situated mainly in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, include three distinct language families and numerous ethnic minority groups. Also, the Chinese who undertook migration had various reasons for doing so. This course is designed to introduce students to the emigrant communities in China, the various overseas populations around the world, and why thinking of the Chinese as one cultural group is erroneous. The student will develop critical thinking skills in regards to ethnic identity from both an outsider (etic) and insider (emic) point of view. In addition, general knowledge of the Chinese worldwide will be gained through weekly readings that focus on either general topics or specific regions of the globe. Grading for this course is based on weekly written responses, class participation, a mid-term exam, and a final semester paper. The final paper can focus on any topic (economic, social, ethnic, gender, historical review of a region, etc.) with approval from the instructor. This course is designed to intersect with general courses on the modern history of China, migration studies, and ethnicity.
Required Texts:
Lee, Robert G.
1999 Orientals: Asian Americans in popular culture, Asian American history and culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Wang, L. Liang-chi, and Gungwu Wang, eds.
1998 The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays. 2 vols. Singapore: Times Academic Press. (each volume is approximately $30 new)
Wegars, Priscella
1993 Hidden Heritage: Historical Archaeology of the Overseas Chinese. Amityville, New York: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc.
Additional articles and book chapters will be assigned by instructor throughout the semester. All secondary materials will be downloadable from either JSTOR or the course’s library reserve page, unless specifically noted below.
Recommended Text:
Pan, Lynn, ed.
1999 The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
This large volume is an excellent resource for students interested in researching the Chinese Diaspora as part of a graduate program. The sections and fairly extensive bibliography provides resources for further study or the term paper. This book will be on reserve in the library.
Terms
Class participation is a must and students missing large amounts of class without an appropriate excuse (doctors appointment, family activity such as marriages or funerals, participation in other sanctioned school activity, etc.) will endanger their semester grade. Each class will be split between lectures by the instructor and class discussion of the readings. The grading procedure is as follows:
Disability Accommodations:
Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation.
Course Schedule:
Week 01 – General Introduction to the Chinese Overseas
Monday (January 8th)
Introduction, distribute and review syllabus, distribute and review assignment sheet, and student introductions. No readings.
Wednesday (January 10th)
No Class – Instructor presenting at Society for Historical Archaeology meetings. (read for Wednesday 17th)
Friday (January 12th)
No Class – Instructor presenting at Society for Historical Archaeology meetings. (read for Wednesday 17th)
Week 02 – Defining Diaspora and the Chinese Diaspora Specifically
Monday (January 15th)
No Class – Martin Luther King Holiday
Wednesday (January 17th)
Defining Diasporas (lots of reading, but you get a week to do them!)
Read:
Heilbron, J.L.
1998 In Diaspora. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Mackie, Jamie
2003 Thinking About the Chinese Overseas. American Asian Review 21 (4):1-44.
McKeown, Adam
1999 Conceptualizing Chinese Diasporas, 1842 to 1949. Journal of Asian Studies 58 (2):306-337.
Wang, Ling-chi
1998 On Luodi-shenggen. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I. edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Wang, Gungwu
1998 The Status of Overseas Chinese Studies. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Friday (January 19th)
Defining Diasporas, con’t
Week 03 – Historical and Modern distribution of the Chinese and dispelling common myths
Monday (January 22nd)
China has had three political systems in the past two centuries; imperial, democratic, and communist (social-democratic). Today we talk about the changing views of late Imperial China and the People’s Republic of China towards its citizens abroad. Also, we look at the way in which changing policies have affected the areas of emigration during a 100 year period. This article highlights the practical side to the changing views of migrated Chinese had on their home counties and families.
Read:
Zhuang, Guotu.
1998 The Policies of the Chinese Government towards Overseas Chinese (1949-1966). In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Recommended:
Ching-Hwang, Yen
1981 Ch'ing Changing Images of the Overseas Chinese (1644-1912). Modern Asian Studies 15 (2):261-285.
Hsu, Madeline Y.
2000 Migration and Native Place: Qiaokan and the Imagined Community of Taishan County, Guangdong, 1893-1993. Journal of Asian Studies 59 (2):307-331.
Wednesday (January 24th)
This week begins a general historical and geographical review of the Chinese Overseas. This review will prepare students for the rest of the semester as we focus on specific topics and regions of the world. Today’s articles are very much a product of their time. These are informative not only in regards to the Chinese, but also for understanding how popular views of the Chinese and Communist China colored academic discourse during the mid-twentieth century.
Read:
Willmott, William E
1969 The Overseas Chinese Today and Tomorrow. Pacific Affairs 42 (2):206-214.
Chang, Sen-Dou
1968 The Distribution and Occupations of Overseas Chinese. Geographical Review 58 (1):89-107.
Recommended:
Lee, Rose Hum
1956 The Chinese Abroad. Phylon (1940) 17 (3):257-270.
Friday (January 26th)
Today we look at the distribution of the Chinese more recently. The past two decades have resulted in a wave of what many researchers call “new migrants”. These migrants came mostly from Hong Kong and China. Also, the most common pattern of Chinese migration, that of sojourning, is scrutinized by Woon’s article.
Read:
Woon, Yuen-fong
1983 The Voluntary Sojourner among the Overseas Chinese: Myth or Reality? Pacific Affairs 56 (4):673-690.
Recommended
Poston, Dudley L., Jr., and Mei-YuYu
1990 The Distribution of the Overseas Chinese in the Contemporary World. International Migration Review 24 (3):480-508.
Week 04 - The Chinese in India and Southeast Asia
Monday (January 29th)
Read:
Tan, Chee Beng
1998 People of Chinese Descent: Langauge, Nationality and Identity. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Wednesday (January 31st)
Read:
Oxfeld, Ellen
1998 Still "Guest People": The Reproduction of Hakka Identity in Calcutta, India. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Rodrigo, Milan L.
1998 Chinese in Sri Lanka: A Forgotten Minority. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Friday (February 2nd)
Today we look at the experience of the Chinese in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Read:
Kwee, John B.
1998 The Many Implications of Name Change for Indonesian-born Chinese. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Lee, Kam Hing
1998 The Political Position of the Chinese in Post-Independence Malaysia. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Chan, Kwok Bun, and Chee Kiong Tong
1998 Rethinking Assimilation and Ethnicity: The Chinese in Thailand. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Week 05 – Southeast Asia Continued
Monday (February 5th)
The Philippines
Read:
Ang-See, Teresita
1998 On Kidnapping, Elections and the Political Position of the Chinese in the Philippines. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Wickberg, Edgar
1998 Chinese Organization in Philippine Cities since the Second World War: The Case of Manila. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Wednesday (February 7th)
Chinese businesses in SE Asia.
Read:
Suryadinata, Leo
1998 Patterns of Chinese Political Participation in Four ASEAN States: A Comparative Study. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Chou, Yu-min
1998 The Role of Overseas Chinese Capital in the Economic Integration of East Asia. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Yen, Ching-hwang.
1998 Modern Overseas Chinese Business Enterprise: A Preliminary Study. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Friday (February 9th)
Hong Kong.
Read:
Sinn, Elizabeth
1998 A Study of Regional Associations as a Bonding Mechanism in the Chinese Diaspora: The Hong Kong Experience. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Week 06 - The Pacific
Monday (February 12th)
Read:
Ip, Manying
1998 The Legal and Political Status of Chinese New Zealanders: Implications of the Treaty of Waitangi. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Recommended:
Tennant, Edward W.
2006 オタゴ に 置ける 中国人 の歴史 (Otago ni okeru chuugokujin no rekishi – Becoming Kiwi Chinese). In Comparative Research on Otago and Tsugaru: History, Literature and Music (In Japanese), edited by Dr. Nanyan Guo. Japan, Hirosaki University Press. [English version provided for students]
Wednesday (February 14th)
Read:
Tung, Yuan-chao
1998 The Political Participation of the Chinese in French Polynesia. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Wu, David Yen-ho
1998 The Chinese in Papua New Guinea: Diaspora Culture of the Late 20th Century. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Friday (February 16th)
Read:
No Readings - catch up day..
Week 07 – North America
Monday (February 19th)
Read:
Lee, A. Robert
1998 Imagined Cities of China: Timothy Mo's London, Sky Lee's Vancouver, Fae Myenne Ng's San Francisco adn Gish Jen's New York. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Wong, Sua-link Cynthia
1998 "Astronaut Wives" and "Little Dragons": Identity Negotiations by Diasporic Chinese Women in Two Popular Novels of the 1980s. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Wednesday (February 21st)
How have Chinese-Americans organized themselves after settling in America? Have certain groups sought political representation? The two following chapters address these question.
Read:
Lai, Him Mark
1998 Organizations among Chinese in America since the Second World War. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Fong, Timothy P.
1998 Monterey Park and Emerging Race Relations in California. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Friday (February 23rd)
First Exam
Week 08 – North America con’t
Monday (February 26th)
In some ways this is the most contentious article we will read this semester. It focuses on the interethnic (mainly African-American and Asian-American) dynamics of a housing project near San Francisco’s Chinatown. It is supplemented with an article about the first major contribution to Asian Critical Race Theory.
Read:
Guthrie, Patricia, and Janis Hutchinson
1995 The Impact of Perceptions on Interpersonal Interactions in an African American/Asian American Housing Project. Journal of Black Studies 25 (3):377-395.
Wednesday (February 28th) - Lecture PowerPoint
Today we begin looking at the experiences of the Chinese in Canada and Mexico.
Read:
Dennis, Philip A.
1979 The Anti-Chinese Campaigns in Sonora, Mexico. Ethnohistory 26 (1):65-80.
Dubs, Homer H., and Robert S. Smith
Ng, Wing Chung
1998 Collective Ritual and the Resilience of Traditional Organizations: A Case Study of Vancouver since the Second World War. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Recommended:
Curtis, James R.
1995 Mexicali's Chinatown. Geographical Review 85 (3):335-348.
Lam, Lawrence
1998 Migration and Settlement: Hong Kong Chinese Immigrants in Toronto, Canada. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Friday (March 2nd)
The economic role of the Chinese in North America is explored in more depth today.
Read:
Hirschman, Charles, and Morrison G. Wong
1984 Socioeconomic Gains of Asian Americans, Blacks, and Hispanics: 1960-1976. American Journal of Sociology 90 (3):584-607.
Recommended:
Boswell, Terry E.
1986 A Split Labor Market Analysis of Discrimination Against Chinese Immigrants, 1850-1882. American Sociological Review 51 (3):352-371.
Li, Peter S.
1993 Chinese Investment and Business in Canada: Ethnic Entrepreneurship Reconsidered. Pacific Affairs 66 (2):219-243.
Week 09 - Latin America and the Caribbean
Monday (March 5th) - Elements of Style
Cuba & Guiana
Read:
Corbitt, Duvon C.
1944 Chinese Immigrants in Cuba. Far Eastern Survey 13 (14):130-132.
Hu-DeHart, Evelyn
1998 Race Construction and Race Relations: Chinese and Blacks in 19th Century Cuba. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Hall, Laura
1998 The Arrival and Settlement of the Chinese in 19th Century British Guiana. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Wednesday (March 7th)
Jamaica, Panama, and Guatemala
Read:
Lee, Russell
1998 The Chinese Retail Grocery Trade in Jamaica. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Mack, Lucrecia Hernandez
1998 The Participation of the Mack family in Guatemala's Social and Political Arena. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume I, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
P., Ramon Arturo Mon
1998 The Latest Wave of Chinese Immigration to Panama (1985): Legal Entry and Adaptation Problems. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Friday (March 9th)
NO CLASS, enjoy your spring break, I’m not going to be the only reason you can’t leave early.
Spring Break – March 10th - 18th
----No Class---
Week 10 – Latin America con’t and Africa
Monday (March 19th)
No readings (and perhaps no class) – I won’t make you read over spring break
Wednesday (March 21st)
Peru
Read:
Gonzales, Michael J.
1989 Chinese Plantation Workers and Social Conflict in Peru in the Late Nineteenth Century. Journal of Latin American Studies 21 (3):385-424.
Recommended:
Thompson, Stephen I.
1979 Assimilation and Nonassimilation of Asian-Americans and Asian Peruvians. Comparative Studies in Society and History 21 (4):572-588.
Wong, Bernard
1978 A Comparative Study of the Assimilation of the Chinese in New York City and Lima, Peru. Comparative Studies in Society and History 20 (3):335-358.
Friday (March 23rd)
Few think of the Chinese as an ethnic component in Africa, these chapters demonstrate otherwise.
Read:
Harris, Karen L.
1998 The Chinese "South Africans": An Interstitial Community. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Pineo, Huguette Ly Tio Fane
1998 The Legal, Political and Economic Status of the Chinese in Mauritius. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Week 11 – Europe con’t
Monday (March 26th)
Italy and Paris
Read:
Bruni, Michelle, and Fu Xin
1998 Chinese Migration to Italy. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Mung, Emmanuel Ma
1998 Economic Arrangement and Spatial Resources: Elements of a Diaspora Economy. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Wednesday (March 28th)
The Netherlands and Germany
Read:
Blusse, Leonard
1998 The Ethnic Chinese Communities in the Netherlands. In The Chinese Diaspora: Selected Essays Volume II, edited by L.-c. Wang and G. Wang. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Leung, Maggi W. H.
2003 Notions of Home among Diaspora Chinese in Germany. In The Chinese Diaspora: Space, Place, Mobility, and Identity, edited by L. J. C. Ma and C. Cartier. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Friday (March 30th)
Britain
Read:
Benton, Gregor
2003 Chinese Transnationalism in Britain: A Longer History. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 10: 347–375.
Week 12 – Historical Archaeology con’t and the Chinese in Popular Culture
Monday (April 2nd)
How can researchers interested in the early experience of Chinese migrants understand their day-to-day life? This question is especially difficult since few historical documents relate the Chinese experience in personal detail. This week we will briefly explore and critique recent investigations by historical archaeologists.
Read:
Wegars, Priscella
1993 Hidden Heritage: Historical Archaeology of the Overseas Chinese. Amityville, New York: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. [Chapters 3, 4, & 9]
Wednesday (April 4th)
Wegars, Priscella
1993 Hidden Heritage: Historical Archaeology of the Overseas Chinese. Amityville, New York: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. [Chapters 10, 13, & 14]
Friday (April 6th)
Praetzellis, Adrian, and Mary Praetzellis
1998 A Connecticut Merchant in Chinadom: A Play in One Act. Historical Archaeology 32 (1):86-93.
Week 13 – Chinese in Popular Culture
We will be looking at how the roles of Chinese Americans have been portrayed in popular media have changed during the past 150 years.
Monday (April 9th) - Chinese in Popular Culture
Read:
Lee, Robert G.
1999 Orientals: Asian Americans in popular culture, Asian American history and culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. [Chapters 1 & 2]
Wednesday (April 11th) - Chinese in Popular Culture
Read:
Lee, Robert G.
1999 Orientals: Asian Americans in popular culture, Asian American history and culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. [Chapter 3 & 5]
Friday (April 13th) - No Class - Instructor taking Qualifying Exams
Week 14 – Chinese in Popular Culture & Student Presentations
Monday (April 16th) - Chinese in Popular Culture
Read:
Lee, Robert G.
1999 Orientals: Asian Americans in popular culture, Asian American history and culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. [Chapters 7 & 8]
Wednesday (April 18th) - Student Presentations
Friday (April 20th) - Student Presentations
Week 15 – Second Exam
Monday (April 23rd) - Second Exam