Chineseness in Chile: Shifting Representations During the Twenty-First Century (Studies of the Americas)

This book explores the role of Chineseness or lo chino in the production of Chilean national identity. It does so by discussing the many voices, images, and intentions of diverse actors who contribute to stereotyping or problematizing Chineseness in Chile. The authors argue that in general, representing and perceiving China or Chineseness as the Other is part of a broader cultural and political strategy for various stakeholders to articulate Chile as either a Western country or one that is becoming-Western. The authors trace the evolution of the symbolic role that China and Chineseness play in defining racial, gendered, and class aspects of Chilean national social imaginary. In doing so, they challenge a common idea that Chineseness is a stable signifier and the simplistic perception of the ethnic Chinese as the unassimilable foreigner within the nation. In response, the authors call for a postmigrant approach to understanding identities and Chilean society beyond stubborn Orient-Occident and us-them dichotomies.

Maria Montt Strabucchi is Assistant Professor in the Institute of History and Member of the Center for Asian Studies at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Carol Chan is Associate Professor of Sociology at Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, Chile.

María Elvira Ríos is a researcher in the Institute of Aesthetics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.