Chinese Migrants and the 'Inundation' Metaphor

Abstract

This paper revisits work originally undertaken in 1992-1994 (and published in Troubadours, Trumpeters, Troubled Makers (Duke UP, 1996)) on the metaphors used to disparage and ultimately have excluded Chinese immigrants from the USA. The conclusion attempts to bring up to date the history and theorization of this phenomenon and to illustrate its contemporary global spread. It was presented at an EastAsiaNet research workshop at the University of Lund, Sweden, 2 June 2007 under the title "Risk, Representation, Repression: Constructing and Manipulating Fear of the Chinese Other".