In Search of the Swedish Asians: Representations of Asians and Experiences of Being Asian in Contemporary Sweden as Reflected in the Non-White Swedish Literature

Abstract

Asians in Sweden make up over 200,000 inhabitants. However, compared to the Afro-Swedes, the Latin Americans or the minority inhabitants who have a background in the Middle East, the Swedish Asians are largely absent from the political, cultural and academic spheres in contemporary Sweden. This absence applies in both minority and migrant contexts as well as in connection with migration and integration issues. This article consists of a study of literary texts written by minority authors who themselves are not Asians and in whose works Asians appear as characters as well as an analysis of texts written by Swedish Asians who write about how both majority Swedes and minority residents view them. The purpose is to try to understand this relative absence of Asians within both minority Sweden and majority Sweden and why they are so absent in relation to contemporary Swedish race relations.