Diasporic Chineseness after the Rise of China

As China rose to its position of global superpower, Chinese groups in the West watched with anticipation and trepidation. For members of China’s diasporic community, the rise of China created ripples of change, influencing communities, culture, and communication, and even challenging the very concept of diaspora. Diasporic Chineseness after the Rise of China examines how artists, writers, filmmakers, and intellectuals from the Chinese diaspora responded to China’s ascendancy, presenting China to global audiences with a new-found vitality and self-assurance. The chapters, often personal in nature, focus on cultural struggles, experiences, and representations in locations as varied as Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, North America, and Tibet. They also consider the changing concepts of nation, identity, and diaspora in an era when deeply ingrained assumptions about moving to the West – and inevitably returning to China – began to change. A thoughtful examination of the nexus between the political and economic rise of China and the cultural products this period produced, this volume charts the profound changes in this nation’s global community. This book will interest scholars and students in the growing area of diaspora and transnational studies, as well as those interested in contemporary Chinese art and culture.