Affective Geographies and Narratives of Chinese Diaspora ed. by Melody Yunzi Li and Robert T. Tally Jr.

Abstract

Reviewed by: Affective Geographies and Narratives of Chinese Diaspora ed. by Melody Yunzi Li and Robert T. Tally Jr. Tingting Hu Melody Yunzi Li and Robert T. Tally Jr., editors. Affective Geographies and Narratives of Chinese Diaspora. Palgrave Macmillan, 2022. 171 p. Affective Geographies and Narratives of Chinese Diaspora examines the Chinese diaspora, one of the world's largest migration phenomena. Bringing in the perspective of affect to probe the problem, it offers diverse ways of interpreting or complicating "Chineseness" as mainly entangled with "homeness" and illuminates "the affective geographies implicit in diasporic identity and community" and aims to "explore the intricate ways in which diaspora interacts with space, place, and emotional attachment in various cultural forms" (2). Its examination of literature, film, and visual culture texts that "seek to connect and reconnect with their 'homelands,'" strikes a needed discussion about the contemporary tide of precarious migration (2). Affective Geographies understands "diaspora" as a displaced experience of being "far away from 'home'" while at the same time being "homed" in another place (1). Geographically, it covers movements from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong, Taiwan, France, the UK, the US, and more. It expands the notion of diaspora, commonly understood as a geographically "transnational" movement of people, and demonstrates the specificity of the Chinese diaspora. The idea of diaspora reveals not only a geographically transnational movement but also a dialogue between the affective, imaginary, and disputed realm. For instance, Kenny K.K. Ng's chapter "Borderscape, Exile, Trafficking: The Geopolitics of Ying Liang's A Family Tour and Bai Xue's The Crossing" discusses the cinematic expression of "intranational migration" that is "occurring within the borders of one country" (5). Huanyu Yue's "Displaced Nostalgia and Literary Déjà vu: On the Quasi-Archaic Style of Li Yongping's Retribution: The Jiling Chronicles" observes the relationship between a Malaysian writer's lived experience as "an overseas wanderer" and his literary construct of a "fantasized motherland of China" (71). Both cases envision "diaspora" as more porous than has been commonly perceived. Underlying the idea of diaspora to understand the flow of people from mainland China to other places including Hong Kong [End Page 336] and Taiwan can be indicative of political controversy due to the "transnational" implication of a "diaspora." Though this problem remains intractable, this book expands the scope of "diaspora" and renders it more flexible in the case of the Chinese diaspora, claiming that it happens "both in and out, both of and off, China" (7). Sheng-mei Ma's "The Holy Hole in Chinese Patriarchal Culture: Going Pop and South" reminds us that rather than be limited to the realm of "China studies" "Sinophone studies" or "diaspora studies," academic research can benefit more from emphasizing a diasporic perspective that looks at the intersection of the homeland with other spatial cultures. In this sense, the keyword "remapping the homeland" highlighted in the introduction serves as an accurate supporting pillar to the study of "Chinese diaspora." The phrase "remapping the homeland" also helps complicate the idea of "homeland" as not purely a space or a place, but a concept immersed in affect. Relying on "China" as the origin of "homeness," it also tries to critique the China-centered perspective, referencing "contact zone" theories and analyzing how "homelands" are reimagined and recreated in diasporic spaces. Chapters include various diasporic experiences, especially those that remain marginalized or understudied. Elizabeth Ho's "'The Geography Helps': Affective Geographies and Maps in Xiaolu Guo's A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers" investigates the linguistic dilemma of immigrants from developing countries. Dorothee Xiaolong Hou's "From Rust Belt to Belleville: Two Recent Films on Chinese Migrant Sex workers in Paris" exposes the hyper-exploitation of women sex workers in the global chain of consumption. Ping Qiu's "Literary Exile in the Third Space: Ha Jin's Critique of Nation-States in A Free Life" and Melody Yunzi Li's "Remapping New York's Chinatowns in the Works of Eric Liu and Ha Jin," both rely on texts by the Chinese immigrant writer Ha Jin. The first examines the relationship between the writer's transnational movement and his literary creation to...