Author ｜
Mei-fen Kuo
Abstract ｜
Given the history of the Chinese Australians under the Chinese Exclusion Movement as an example, this paper examines the patterns of national suffering memory in modern Chinese nationalism and proposes to reconceptualize the historical experiences and identity transformation of Chinese overseas nationalism through the perspective of “affective practices.” The Chinese in Australia initially adopted the ‘‘victimization’’ narrative to build their sense of community. This paper indicates that Chinese Australians had creatively constructed their imaginations of being Chinese overseas beyond “victimization” by compiling national memories of sufering, and by promoting new cultural life that included reading newspapers and periodicals, recreational excursions, and new styles of political meetings. Their dynamic process demonstrates that what they wanted to pursue was not just the question of “who am I” but the imagination of “what are we going to become.” The transformation of narratives from national suffering to personal happiness and belongings shows that the nationhood imagination of Chinese Australians is not a set of concepts constructed by blood and nationality laws, but a historical process of afective practices in which Chinese Australians fostered new political momentum to fght for their rights of equality and freedom.
keywords ｜
historical memory, Chinese overseas nationalism, nationhood imagination, afective practices, identity