This dissertation considers how the party-state of the People’s Republic of China has been mobilizing various forms of interpellation in an attempt to sustain a continuous imagination of a particular community defined on the terms of a shared “Chinese” national identity. As well, the research considers how these forms of interpellation have been challenged by a range of complex diasporic viewer responses. Taking media productions of the Mainland China television industry as my point of reference, I have studied in detail, multiple productions of the widely popular, complex program, the Spring Festival Gala (SFG) produced by China Central Television. Though not without its contradictions, this show has employed various interpellative strategies, persistently and continuously hailing viewers into the subject position of loyal members of an enduring “Chinese Nationality.” However, interpellation is one thing, subjectification within it is another. To better grapple with the cultural citizenship of transnationalized Chinese, this dissertation also considers observations regarding the receptions of the SFG by diasporic “Chinese subjects” who now live in Canada. While their continuous imagining of the “Chinese Nationality” helps to better understand the complex mechanisms which contribute to the retaining power of interpellation, their moments of “de-imagining” also shed light on the problems and difficulties of such interpellation. These moments are considered as possible openings to the formation of fluid, multiple Chinese subjectivities that lay the groundwork for a “flexible citizenship” (Ong, 1993; 1999) for all “Chinese,” furthering the endeavor to go beyond certain nationalist and/or statist visions of identity, subjectivity, and citizenship.

This dissertation considers how the party-state of the People’s Republic of China has been mobilizing various forms of interpellation in an attempt to sustain a continuous imagination of a particular community defined on the terms of a shared “Chinese” national identity. As well, the research considers how these forms of interpellation have been challenged by a range of complex diasporic viewer responses. Taking media productions of the Mainland China television industry as my point of reference, I have studied in detail, multiple productions of the widely popular, complex program, the Spring Festival Gala (SFG) produced by China Central Television. Though not without its contradictions, this show has employed various interpellative strategies, persistently and continuously hailing viewers into the subject position of loyal members of an enduring “Chinese Nationality.” However, interpellation is one thing, subjectification within it is another. To better grapple with the cultural citizenship of transnationalized Chinese, this dissertation also considers observations regarding the receptions of the SFG by diasporic “Chinese subjects” who now live in Canada. While their continuous imagining of the “Chinese Nationality” helps to better understand the complex mechanisms which contribute to the retaining power of interpellation, their moments of “de-imagining” also shed light on the problems and difficulties of such interpellation. These moments are considered as possible openings to the formation of fluid, multiple Chinese subjectivities that lay the groundwork for a “flexible citizenship” (Ong, 1993; 1999) for all “Chinese,” furthering the endeavor to go beyond certain nationalist and/or statist visions of identity, subjectivity, and citizenship.

Nous proposons, avec cette recherche, un parcours qui se veut exhaustif de la littérature coloniale portugaise des années 1920 en rapport avec le Mozambique. Dans une première partie, nous fournissons des données contextuelles et définissons des concepts opératoires d’analyse indispensables pour procéder à l’étude des récits coloniaux et de leur temps historique. Des données biographiques sur les principaux auteurs de cette période sont présentées, ainsi que leurs œuvres. L’analyse porte ensuite sur les deux grands vecteurs, géographique et morphologique, de constitution et de division des sujets coloniaux. La perception morphologique de l’autre, sur la base d’un référentiel géographique, se trouve directement liée aux représentations de la pensée raciale portugaise développées dans une large mesure à partir de la mythologie aryenne et du darwinisme social. Les récits à l’étude montrent comment les notions de « lutte des races » et de sélection des communautés les plus aptes contribuent à l’élaboration d’une « stratégie de la cruauté » et au déclenchement de flux de mort d’une grande intensité. Le double processus de déterritorialisation des populations par les conquêtes et de leur re‑territorialisation avec la transformation sociale de l’espace par le capitalisme colonial prend place dans un contexte politique totalitaire. L’instauration de la dictature raciale et la généralisation de la terreur engendrent l’astreinte des colonisés à une condition de servitude économique et sexuelle. Le désir colonial permet aussi l’émergence de formes d’hybridité sociale ou culturelle et la mise en cause de l’autorité discursive, immédiatement contrées par le développement d’une politique de domesticité coloniale. / This research proposes a very thorough examination of Portuguese colonial literature related to Mozambique in the 1920s. In the first part, contextual data is made available and concepts essential for carrying out the study of colonial texts in their historical time are defined. Biographical data about colonial authors and data about their works is presented. The analysis is then centred on the main cores, geographical and morphological, of the constitution and the division of the colonial subjects. The morphological perception of the other, based on a geographical reference, is directly related to the representations of Portuguese race‑thinking, developed to a large extent through Aryan Mythology and Social Darwinism. The texts studied show how the notions of the “struggle of the races” and of survival of the fittest among human communities contributed towards the elaboration of a “strategy of cruelty” and the unleashing of death flows of great intensity. The double process of deterritorialisation of populations through conquest and their reterritorialisation through the social transformation of space by colonial capitalism took place in a political context of totalitarianism. The installation of a racial dictatorship and the generalisation of terror forced the colonised into a position of economic and sexual servitude. The colonial desire also allowed the emergence of hybrid social or cultural forms and a questioning of discursive authority; those found an immediate opposition in the development of a politics of colonial domesticity.

This thesis examines the legal case of Inouye Kanao, a second-generation Japanese Canadian who was executed for high treason in August 1947 in Hong Kong. In this thesis, I trace not only Inouye's legal case, but also his early life, the broader political context, diplomatic correspondence, and other war crimes cases. By employing race-thinking and Critical Race Theory as theoretical frameworks, I consider the role of race and racism and aim to better understand its influence on Inouye's legal case. In doing so, this thesis challenges previous narratives and misinformation about Inouye. I conclude that racism was a significant factor that affected all aspects of Inouye's case, resulting in an unjust execution that did not reflect the crimes. Ultimately, Inouye was executed not because of his actions but because he was racialized as a treacherous and cruel Japanese Canadian. / Graduate