The External and Internal Sides of Chinese-ness: Colonial Historiography and the "Overseas Chinese" in Burma

Charney, Michael W.

Abstract

The Chinese of Burma and the Straits have been portrayed in two different ways in colonial historiography and the prevailing literature. On the one hand, Teo-chiu, Guangdong, Hokkien, Hakka, and "Baba" identifiers are often viewed in the historical literature as an important part of the Chinese heritage in the Straits of Melaka. On the other hand, the Chinese of Burma, at least for historiography of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, are often portrayed as a single community comprising both themselves and the Yunnanese. The Chinese of Burma, however, see themselves today and historically as little different from their Straits counterparts, sharing the same diversity of dialects and affiliations, and, among the Chinese population of Yangon, with little connection to the Chinese of Yunnan. This seminar addresses this dramatic contrast in the prevailing literature between the Overseas Chinese of Burma and of the Straits, and the incompatibility between the external and internal views of the Overseas Chinese of Burma. To do so, this seminar explains how colonial expectations of economic activity for the Overseas Chinese left its imprint on colonial historiography on the Overseas Chinese in two different contexts, in British Burma and the Straits Settlements.

Citation

Charney, M. W. (2000, September). The External and Internal Sides of Chinese-ness: Colonial Historiography and the "Overseas Chinese" in Burma. Presented at East Asian Institute and Centre for Advanced Studies Joint Seminar, Singapore: East Asia Institute/National University of Singapore

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: East Asian Institute and Centre for Advanced Studies Joint Seminar
• Start Date: Sep 29, 2000
• End Date: Sep 29, 2000
• Deposit Date: Jan 22, 2009
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Additional Information: Event Type : Other