Rethinking Chineseness: Translational Sinophone Identities in th ...

of a positive conception of the ethnicity of the margins, of the periphery.

— Stuart Hall, “New Ethnicities”²¹

The theory of the diaspora was first defined in the context of the Jewish community, which has focused mainly on the notion of returning to the original homeland.²² The great forces of modernization and globalization have not only facilitated human communication but have also created a flexible flow of human movement across the globe. The multiple implications of Chineseness for Sinophone writers provide them with different ways to write and challenge the common notion of diasporic identity as defined by geographical affinity. The problem with discussions about the plurality of Chineseness is that they take one back to the very centrism that one tries to avoid. Instead of obsessing with the plurality of Chineseness, one should first acknowledge Chineseness as an identity category that is always under construction. Subjectivity, identity, and sense of belonging are built upon the coming and going between points of identification (“here,” “now,” and “there”) and the continuous process of becoming.²³

For more than two decades, the focus on diaspora studies has illuminated numerous issues crucial to understanding globalization and transnationalism. In a collective sense, the field of diaspora studies appears to be an attempt to delineate a common experience of lack, loss, and displacement among global diaspora communities. Though such an approach supports the ideals of globalization, it can also lead to the lack of consciousness of difference, be it racial, cultural, or political. If human movement is a common trait that connects global diasporic communities, it is necessary to take a step back in order to historicize the movement of people across geographical and national boundaries according to their ethnic and cultural backgrounds. An alternative framework is thus necessary for addressing issues related to a study that focuses on the specific experience of the Chinese diasporic communities in order to understand the transforming notion of Chineseness. The purpose of