Shu-mei Shih’s chapter “Globalization and Minoritization” highlights the problems with using the concepts of flow/fluidity as a form of resistance within a theoretical discussion haunted by the specter of postcolonial nationalisms. She describes recent trends in scholarship that have reversed interpretations of power in colonial legacies. Frederick Buell and Anthony King, for example, have theorized […]
Why, yes they do
Daniel Linger’s thought provoking question in Searching for Home Abroad, “do Japanese Brazilians exist?”, is also a provocative one. His implied response, which I assume to be “no,” is informed by a number of factors. First, Linger recognizes that “ethnicities, races, and nations are conjured up through symbols and stories that enmesh people in webs of relatedness” (209). […]
Texts speak?
Lisa Yun’s chapter “An Afro-Chinese Author” is just as much about acts of writing and narration as it is about the interlinked social histories of Chinese coolies and African slaves. Through the act of inscribing the coolie experience Chuffat creates a mode of speaking for peoples often excluded from official narratives. From the beginning of her […]
Representations
The personal problem I had when reading “The Queen of the Chinese Colony”—that as a self-identified member of the Chinese diaspora, I did not feel like either Miss Honduras or Miss Costa Rica could represent me—however trivial or idiosyncratic, is indicative of a larger dilemma in studies of diaspora: the inadequacy of representation. As Lok Siu explains, […]
The “Orient” in the “New World” – Presentation Handout
Presentation: Jorge Lúzio – the Orient in the New World Fan Fan Our men exchanged some varvels and other small things of little value which they had brought with them for some very large and beautiful red parrots and two small green ones, some caps of green feathers, and a cloth of many colours, also […]
Material Objects Speak
Jorge Lúzio’s article on the Orient in the New World draws together two spheres of the European imaginary through an analysis of the dissemination of religious figurines made in Goa to Brazil via the Carreira da India and the diverse economic and cultural interactions facilitated by this same route. I’m interested in bringing Lúzio’s piece […]
The Consciousness Manifesto
In “Trials and Tribulations of National Consciousness,” Frantz Fanon delivers a scathing indictment of the national bourgeoisie. Rather than take up its true “heroic and positive” mission of utilizing its skills and privilege to serve the people, it panders to the former colonial elite (99). According to Fanon, the national bourgeoisie of “underdeveloped” nations—the native […]
Windows of the World, Shenzhen
Link to zoom-in to map: https://youimg1.c-ctrip.com/target/tg/222/367/489/2430554cec634878b359a5ea0bda3853.jpg
The Necessity of Categories
I’m interested in exploring two important points that Lewis and Wigen make that I feel are a bit overshadowed by their otherwise enlightening undoing of the logic of the geographical divisions we often take for granted today. The first is that “the main problem with abandoning a set structure of nonproblematic geographical entities, in exchange for an […]
NYC Digital Humanities Week
Hi everyone, NYC Digital Humanities week is Feb. 6-10. There are a ton of free workshops — including some on mapping! Thought you might be interested in checking it out. NYCDH Week By the way, is there a way we can add a new category (like “events” or “resources” or “interesting links”) for things we […]