“Asian”.
I think this quote answers better than my words:
The history of mankind from now on may have to relyon the inner
understanding of Asian historical experience, andrely on "Asian" but
not "Asian-people’s” thinking to create a new situation.I said that
"Asian" thinking is not equivalent to Asian-people’sthinking, is to
distinguish from the substantive way of thinking;in other words,
Europeans, Africans, and Americans can also use Asianthinking. But at
the same time I want to emphasise that "Asian thinking"is based on
Asian history. It is not a logical inference thattranscends time and
space. It is a product of terroir. Just as Westerncentralism is not
necessarily a prerogative of Westerners, but it isindeed a product of
the modern history of the West, "Asian thinking” hasthe characteristics
of being both non-substantial and endemic. In my opinion,only this
kind of Asian thinking can truly and effectively resistWestern
centralism.
from Ge Sun, To Create A New Universality
(translated by me from Chinese).
Ethnicity|part1.
Asian, confused.
Ethnicity|part2.
I think I am influenced by my surroundings, and thefact that I moved
from one culture where I was one of the majority toanother culture
where I am one of the minority (ethnically speaking)is definitely
shaking up my view on ethnicity and cultural representation.(Besides, I
know so little about race, racism, colonial historiesand postcolonial
discourses, and I need to educate myself on them tounderstand what
is my position and what I need to do.)
Differ from Asian stereotype(s).
I think I’m very new to the discourse about race aswell as “being
Asian”, so I’m not sure how much I can talk aboutit. This might seem
very random.
One thing “good” about growing up in a place wherethere is almost
zero conversation on race is that I conform more tobeing a Chinese
person than an “Asian person”, and I need to fightagainst Chinese
stereotypes. The bad side is, it seems like that inthe UK, all I need is to
look like “someone from Asia/the East” for being recognisedas an
Asian. I was automatically added to this Other comprisedof
Asian-presenting people from potentially all aroundthe world.
Sometimes I feel that I need to break out of my skinand my body to be
myself. My look, nationality | ethnicity, gender,sexual orientation and
many more... They are not up for debate, and I refuseto be defined by
them.
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