Beneath the white gaze: Strategic self-Orientalism among Chinese Australians

Liu, H

Beneath the white gaze: Strategic self-Orientalism among Chinese Australians

Liu, H

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Human Relations, 2017, 70 (7), pp. 781 - 804
Issue Date:: 2017-07-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Liu, H https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4211-0932	en_US
dc.date.issued	2017-07-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Human Relations, 2017, 70 (7), pp. 781 - 804	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0018-7267	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/62164
dc.description.abstract	© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. This article analyses the ethno-cultural identities of Chinese Australian professionals through a postcolonial lens. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 participants, it explores how they engaged in self-Orientalism; casting themselves as exotic commodities for the benefit of white people and institutions. In particular, they enacted Chinese stereotypes through ‘mythtapping’ and ‘mythkeeping’ in order to secure recognition under the white gaze. As mythtappers, professionals presented themselves as custodians of an ancient and mysterious culture that offered organizational wisdoms for ‘the West.’ As mythkeepers, the professionals allayed white anxieties by surrendering themselves to white Australians as pathways into their communities. However, the professionals’ Orientalized identities are not passively determined, but are in some cases tactically and strategically resisted through ‘mythbusting.’ The article contributes to postcolonial theorizing by demonstrating how imperialist ideologies constrain the lives of people beyond the colonizer/colonized dichotomy and by illuminating the potential for their resistance against Orientalization.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Human Relations	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/0018726716676323	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Business & Management	en_US
dc.title	Beneath the white gaze: Strategic self-Orientalism among Chinese Australians	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	7	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	70	en_US
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management	en_US
utslib.for	1701 Psychology	en_US
utslib.for	1608 Sociology	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	7	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	70	en_US

Abstract:

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. This article analyses the ethno-cultural identities of Chinese Australian professionals through a postcolonial lens. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 participants, it explores how they engaged in self-Orientalism; casting themselves as exotic commodities for the benefit of white people and institutions. In particular, they enacted Chinese stereotypes through ‘mythtapping’ and ‘mythkeeping’ in order to secure recognition under the white gaze. As mythtappers, professionals presented themselves as custodians of an ancient and mysterious culture that offered organizational wisdoms for ‘the West.’ As mythkeepers, the professionals allayed white anxieties by surrendering themselves to white Australians as pathways into their communities. However, the professionals’ Orientalized identities are not passively determined, but are in some cases tactically and strategically resisted through ‘mythbusting.’ The article contributes to postcolonial theorizing by demonstrating how imperialist ideologies constrain the lives of people beyond the colonizer/colonized dichotomy and by illuminating the potential for their resistance against Orientalization.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/62164