Abstract
In this chapter, Diana Yeh discusses the institutionalization of the ‘British Chinese’ category in the 1990s. In doing so, she interrogates the discourse of the cultural invisibility of the ‘British Chinese’ as a literal absence and one that can be explained in ethnic terms. Instead, she argues that it is connected to a specific form of racialization as a ‘model minority’ experienced by those perceived to fall into the racialized category ‘Chinese’, which includes East and Southeast Asians more widely, and which works in conjunction with the racialization of other groups. Yeh highlights the legacies of empire in the precarious positioning of ‘Chinese’ and ‘British Chinese’ within the categories ‘British’, ‘Black’, and ‘Asian’ in British discourse. She further argues that the uses of ‘Chinese’ and ‘British Chinese’, especially in the context of the commodification of difference and the rise of China, have further contributed to this invisibility. Finally, she posits that despite marginalization, ‘Chinese’ and ‘British Chinese’ cultural practices have become hegemonic over others, leading to alternative mobilizations around British East Asian identities. The chapter argues that acknowledging the specific positioning of ‘Chinese’, ‘British Chinese’, ‘East Asian’, and ‘Southeast Asian’—and the myriad of differences within them—in relation to ‘British’, ‘Black’, and ‘Asian’ provides an opportunity to reflect on how far cultural institutions must go to reflect the ordinary multiculture of postcolonial Britain.
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Notes
- 1.
On emerging visual artists of Chinese descent in Britain (1998–1999); on “Re-imagining British Chineseness” through theatre, literature, and art (2004–2007), funded by the University of East London and the Great Britain China Cultural Centre; on the British East Asian night-time economy (2010–2012); and on British East Asians on Screen and Television (2016–ongoing) funded by City, University of London.
- 2.
Fu Manchu in London: Lao She, Limehouse and Yellow Peril in the Heart of Empire, conference, University of Westminster, London 2013.
- 3.
Writers such as Kevin Wong, Peter Ho Davies, and Timothy Mo were joined by others such as Jung Chang (1978) and Hong Ying (1991) from the People’s Republic of China. Visual artists such as Qu Lei Lei, member of the Stars group, who arrived in 1985, were also joined by younger generations of mainland artists, such as Cai Yuan and Jian Jun Xi. In the visual arts, a host of practitioners graduated from British art schools, including Erika Tan, Anthony Key, susan pui san lok, Mayling To, Dinu Li, Gordon Cheung, Kwong Lee, and Yuen Fong Ling to name but a few. Some also acted as curators alongside Sally Lai, Deborah Chan, and Wing Fai Leung. Pui Fan Lee performed her one-woman play, Short, Fat, Ugly and Chinese, on Radio 5 in 1992, and the writer, comedian, and performer Anna Chen took her show Suzy Wrong—Human Cannon to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1994. In music, Simon Fung collaborated with Errol Reid to form reggae pop duo China Black, the name referencing their respective Chinese and Jamaican heritages, and in 1995 they produced a track that became the official England’s World Cup rugby team song. In the late 1990s, Liz and Sarah Liew formed Chi2, a band blending Chinese instruments such as the erhu, the jinghu, and the liuqin with electric violins and beats. In dance, Malaysian-born Pit Fong Loh and Ming Low co-founded Bima Dance in 1991 while Taiwanese-born Jih-Wen Yeh set up Step Out Dance in 1995. In theatre, several companies emerged, including the British Chinese Theatre Company, Mu-Lan, Yellow Earth, and Tripitaka. In film, Rosa Fong, Lab Ky Mo, Raymond Yeung, and Hong Khao and others had their work broadcast on “In Focus: A Celebration of British Chinese Film and Video” on Chinese News and Entertainment Satellite in 1999. In terms of actors, the longtime veterans Jacqueline Chan, Sarah Lam, David Yip, Pik Sen Lim, and Burt Kwouk were joined by Lucy Sheen, Daniel York, Paul Courtenay Hyu, Pui Fan Lee, and Hi Ching. Po Chih-Leong’s film Ping Pong (1986) was followed by writer Kevin Wong’s Peggy Su in 1998 and Jane Wong’s Dimsum in 2002.
- 4.
Other venues included Gallery One and the New Vision Centre.
- 5.
See Rogers (2015) for further information on the motivations of relocations of Goei and Heng.
- 6.
Chambers included Lesley Sanderson in Black Art: Plotting the Course (1988), as well as curating Sanderson’s solo show These Colours Run (1994), (Vong) Phaophanit and (Keith) Piper (1995), Some Kind of Black (2000), which included Phaophanit and the solo show Walcot Chapel (2002) by the South African-born artist of Chinese descent Anthony Key.
- 7.
By focusing on resonances between practices, Medalla’s and Li’s works were discussed alongside those of Araeen himself and Syed Jawaed Iqbal Geoffrey, as sharing interest in the connection of art with life. Meanwhile Shimizu’s work was discussed somewhat more incongruously alongside a range of artists under the theme of “cultural metaphors.” For further discussion of the limitations of a postcolonial framework in relation to the work of Li Yuan-chia, see Yeh (2014c).
- 8.
Medalla himself worked mainly with artists from Latin America as well as with Li Yuan-chia.
- 9.
Tang Lin, a member of the Manchester-based Black Arts Alliance, participated in anthologies such as Kiss: Asian, African Caribbean and Chinese Love Poems (Crocus, 1994) and Healing Strategies for Women at War: Seven Black Women Poets (Crocus, 1999) and exhibitions such as Once Upon a Time: An Exhibition of Pictures and Words by Black Women Artists (Rochdale Art Gallery, 1989), and alongside Trinidadian-born John Lyons in Vibrant Energies (Chinese Arts Centre, 1994). Meiling Jin published in Watchers and Seekers: Creative Writing by Black Women in Britain (Women’s Press, 1987) and Hurricane Hits England: An Anthology of Writing about Black Britain (Bloomsbury, 2000).
- 10.
Trinidad-born Jacqueline Chan played Alexis in “Black-led touring theatre company” Talawa’s Antony and Cleopatra (1991). David Tse played the male lead in Tara Arts’s production of Heer and Romeo (1992). The writer Zindika’s play Leonora’s Dance, which included a key Chinese character Melissa Chung, was produced by the Black Theatre Collective in 1993, with Chung played by Japan-born Toshie Ogura. In 2003, Raymond Chai became Chief Ballet Master of Ballet Black. Tara Arts worked with Simon Wu and Rosaline Ting in 2008 as part of the China Now Festival; and Tamasha currently works with Amy Ng, Tuyen Do, and Rosaline Ting.
- 11.
Initially run as an artists’ network facilitating support and dialogue among practitioners via meetings and a newsletter, the BCAA’s identity shifted over the years. While running workshops, community projects, exhibitions, and seminars, BCAA also functioned as an information provider, holding an artists’ database and liasing with “mainstream” organizations. Subject to the divisive effects of limited funding and mismanagement, BCAA disappeared after its Arts Council funding ended, though its “Artists’ Corner” meetings were revived under ACE’s East Scheme.
- 12.
Lim co-organized drama workshops, which led to the publication Exploring Our Chinese Identity (1992), and coedited the bilingual anthology of stories and poems, Another Province: New Chinese Writing from London (1994) with the poet Li Yan. She organized the Chinese strand of the Swansea UK Year of Literature in 1994 and collaborated on several projects, including the exhibitions Journeys West: Contemporary Paintings, Sculpture and Installation (1995) at the Chinese Arts Centre, Firstsite at the Minories Art Gallery, Colchester, and the University of Essex Gallery; Half the Sky: Chinese Women in London (1997) at the Museum of London and the New Moves conference in 1999, with Grace Lau in partnership with the V&A and the Chinese Arts Centre.
- 13.
The conferences include, for example, the London Chinese Arts Forum (1993), Borderlines (1998), and the New Vocabulary for Chinese Arts (1998).
- 14.
These include, for example, the exhibitions Beyond the Takeaway (1992), Bima dance company’s Chinese Takeaway (1997), Yellow Earth’s installation Behind the Chinese Takeaway (1997), Mu-Lan’s Theatre’s Take Away (1998), the anthology Dimsum (1997), and the website Dimsum established in 2000.
- 15.
The exhibition was curated by Gao Minglu and held at the Asia Society Gallery (New York) and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
- 16.
These included, for example, the Artist’s Links (2002–2006) joint project developing exchanges between “Chinese” artists in England—including Anthony Lam, Erika Tan, Eric Fong, and Suki Chan—and China.
- 17.
This was a collaboration between the Studio Theatre, The Bull, and Watermans Arts Centre, London.
- 18.
Many thanks to Lesley Sanderson for bringing this to my attention.
- 19.
Mu-Lan Theatre was set up by Meeling Ng and Shu-Fern Sinclair to give the Chinese a voice and was run by Singapore-born Glen Goei and later Paul Courtenay Hyu of mixed English and Guyanese Chinese background. Mu-Lan worked with many Singapore-born writers, such as Henry Ong and Chay Yew, and actors with links to Asia and also produced Japan-related plays, such as The Magic Fandoshi (1993) and Three Japanese Women (1995). Meanwhile, Yellow Earth Theatre was founded in 1993 by Kwong Loke, Kumiko Mendl, Veronica Needa, David K.S. Tse, and Tom Wu, variously from Hong Kong, Japan, and Malaysia. It has worked with Vietnamese and Filipino actors and defines East Asia as “the area east of Pakistan and west of the Americas” (Tse 2001).
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Yeh, D. (2018). The Cultural Politics of In/Visibility: Contesting ‘British Chineseness’ in the Arts. In: Thorpe, A., Yeh, D. (eds) Contesting British Chinese Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71159-1_2
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