This project provides a coalitional reading of Chinese Canadian literature, film, and history based on an allegorical framework of Asian-Indigenous relationalities. It tracks how Chinese labour stories set during the period of Chinese exclusion can not only leverage national belonging for Chinese settlers but also be reread for a different sense of belonging that remains attentive to other exclusions made natural by settler colonial discourses and institutional structures, that is, the disavowal of Indigenous presence and claims to sovereignty and autochthony. It contributes to important discussions about the experiences of racism and oppression that typically privilege the relations and tensions of diasporic and Indigenous communities but hardly with each other. What is more, this study aligns with a recent surge of interest in investigating Asian-Indigenous relations in Asian Canadian, Asian American, and Asian diaspora studies. The political investments driving this project show a deep commitment to anti-racist and decolonial advocacy. By examining how Chinese cultural workers in Canada have tried to do justice to the Head Tax generation’s experiences of racial exclusion and intersectional oppressions in fiction, non-fiction, graphic non-fiction, and documentaries, it asks whether there are ways to ethically assert an excluded and marginalized Chinese presence in the context of the settler colonial state. By doing justice to the exclusion of Chinese settlers in the national imaginary, do Chinese cultural workers as a result perform an injustice to the originary presence of Indigenous peoples? This thesis re-examines the anti-racist imperative that frames Chinese labour stories set during the period of Chinese exclusion in Canada: by exploring whether social justice projects by racially marginalized communities can simultaneously re-assert an excluded racialized presence and honour their treaty rights and responsibilities, it works to apprehend the colonial positionality of the Chinese diaspora within the Canadian settler state. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This project examines representations of Chinese labour and Asian-Indigenous relations in Chinese Canadian literature and film. By focusing on how Chinese Canadian writers and artists honour and remember the nation-building contributions and sacrifices of Chinese labourers in stories set in Canada during the period of anti-Chinese legislation policies such as the Chinese Head Tax and the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act, this thesis provides a critical look at the values and ideologies that these narratives may draw upon. It asks whether it is possible for writers and artists to commemorate Chinese labour stories without also extending the colonization of Indigenous peoples, forgetting the history of Asian-Indigenous relationships, or promoting work ethic values that may hinder community building with Indigenous peoples and respecting Indigenous ways of living and working off the land. This study explores questions of history, memory, national belonging, social justice, decolonization, and relationship building.

As the Second World War in Europe came to an end the Russians advanced from the east towards Berlin. German occupation of Poland and Czechoslovakia had been particularly brutal. Both of these countries, products of German defeat at the end of World War I contained millions of ethnic Germans, who had previously co-existed with their Slav neighbours, often for many centuries, but were now perceived by these neighbours as having encouraged and collaborated with Nazi Germany. Russians, Poles and Czechs now sought revenge triggering the largest forced expulsion in recorded history. Somewhere between 8 and 16.5 million ethnic Germans fled to the west, and between 2 and 3 million perished during flight. Expellee property was subsequently seized by the Poles and Czechs. In broad terms, until the 1990s these events were seen within Germany as part of a submerged collective memory, suppressed in part by their having lost the war. In the last 20 years with an increasingly powerful expellee organisation (the Bund der Vertriebenen, Federation of Expellees) influencing mainstream German politics, academia, and the German media, an attempt has been made to change historical memory, or rewrite what has been referred to as an 'unacceptable past'. This, in recent years has led to claims by former expellees against the Czech Republic, and Poland for restitution. This in itself has led to bitter accusations by these countries that the expellees have rewritten German history portraying themselves as victims of the Second World War. This thesis explores the methods employed by the expellee groups and their supporters in the restructuring of their historical memory by examining literature dating from the 1950s until the present day from primarily German and American sources, as well as German television documentaries from 2000. These sources are considered in relation to how collective and historical memory have evolved into a position that has allowed the expellees to create an 'acceptable past'.

[ES] Esta investigación aborda las repercusiones del COVID-19 en la comunidad inmigrante china en España, en un contexto de creciente globalización y desafíos socioeconómicos. Se propone la creación de una pieza audiovisual, en formato de ensayo documental integrado en una videoinstalación, como parte integral de este estudio. A medida que el proceso de globalización continúa profundizándose, el número y la movilidad de inmigrantes también ha aumentado y el avance del virus ha provocado una pandemia que ha resultado difícil de controlar, propagándose por todo el mundo, sin haber podido predecir con exactitud su duración, ni su evolución, afectando a diversas áreas de la población, incluidos los migrantes, de formas diversas y complejas. Esta propuesta de investigación plantea la realización de una creación audiovisual que se ha nutrido de la información y los estudios recopilados, incluyendo una serie de entrevistas sobre la inmigración china. / [CA] Aquesta investigació aborda les repercussions de la COVID-19 en la comunitat im migrant xinesa a Espanya, en un context de creixent globalització i reptes socioeco nòmics. Es proposa la creació d'una peça audiovisual, en format d'assaig documental integrat en una videoinstal·lació, com a part integral d'aquest estudi. A mesura que el procés de globalització continua aprofundint-se, el nombre i la mobilitat d'immigrants també han augmentat i l'avanç del virus ha provocat una pandèmia que ha resultat difícil de controlar, propagant-se per tot el món, sense haver pogut predir amb exactitud la seva durada, ni la seva evolució, afectant a diverses àrees de la població, inclosos els immigrants, de formes diverses i complexes. Aquesta proposta de recerca planteja la realització d'una creació audiovisual que s'ha nodrit de la informació i els estudis recopilats, incloent una sèrie d'entrevistes sobre la immigració xinesa. / [EN] This research addresses the repercussions of COVID-19 on the Chinese immigrant community in Spain, in a context of increasing globalization and socioeconomic challenges. The creation of an audiovisual piece, in the format of a documentary essay integrated into a video installation, is proposed as an integral part of this study. As the process of globalization continues to deepen, the number and mobility of immigrants have also increased and the advance of the virus has caused a pandemic that has proved difficult to control, spreading around the world, without being able to accurately predict its duration, nor its evolution, affecting various areas of the population, including migrants, in diverse and complex ways. This research proposal proposes the realization of an audiovisual creation that has been nourished by the information and studies collected, including a series of interviews on Chinese immigration. / Song, Y. (2024). Soy Chin@, no soy un virus: creación audiovisual de carácter documental sobre el impacto del COVID-19 en la inmigración China en España [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/206037