The Chinese Diaspora in France 1980s

Presenter: Nayeli Herrera

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 20-21

Semester: Fall

Faculty Mentor: Michaela Grobbel

Department: Modern Languages & Literatures

Funding Source/Sponsor: SYRCE Symposium

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1K5BdCyK-NyreYvIYb_gMqd_BmHwuM__Q

Abstract:
At the beginning of the 1980s a new wave of Chinese immigration was taking place in France. Many Chinese people were arriving from Indochina countries from where France had established colonies between 1885-1893. This included countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Chinese were living in former French colonies because they had left China beforehand in the 19th century which now included mixed cultural backgrounds such as Chinese-Vietnamese. This new wave of Chinese migration had a great impact for France as a national community and it’s population than the wave before in the 1960s . Whereas there has been quite a bit of talk about immigration from Algeria, many people know little about the Chinese immigration that occurred in France during the 1980s. This project investigates the impact of the Chinese diaspora on France in the 1980s. Scientific literature, an interview conducted with a former Chinese immigrant who became a French citizen, and other background sources provide a pertinent information about the Chinese Diaspora in France, which brought some positive change for the Chinese and for France in general. The Chinese newcomers, however, remained underrepresented in their communities because they have no political opinion due to no one representing their district . The fact that they tended to be more quiet than members of other communities contributed to their marginalized situation.This project argues that there needs to be more discussion about the Franco-Chinese and their history so that they will be better understood and finally accepted in French society.