Landscape, home, & nation: Chinatown identities in urban Southeast Asia

Existing research on Chinatowns have focused largely on the development of the ethnic community, and racial and ethnic discourses in the context of urban spatialities in the form of enclaves, as well as economic networks. Migration and issues related to transnationalism and the Chinese diaspora are accompanying themes. More significantly, the majority of studies on Chinatowns have been situated in the 'Western Hemisphere', notably in North America and Europe. The purpose of this dissertation is to stimulate conversation on Chinatowns in Southeast Asia. It also proposes to explore the idea of Chinatown vis-a-vis concepts of heritage landscapes, diaspora and home, and national identities. Focusing on the cities of Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Rangoon, and Singapore, this dissertation draws on theories of place to consider three themes and objectives.

First, the research explores the processes that shape the urban and imaginative landscapes of Chinatown and the functions that Chinatown plays in the city. This theme examines the idea of Chinatown and its sources, investigating images drawn from concepts of heritage to produce a recognisable space. Second, in conjunction with the concept of diaspora, it explores the potential inherent in the idea of Chinatown as home to the Chinese population and a place of the Chinese diaspora. It also considers the multiple homes that diasporic and migrant communities tend to sustain. The third objective of the study examines the role and place of Chinatown in the context of the nation, and how particularly ethnic and multicultural identities are negotiated in this space. At the same time, this theme explores the complex globalities that Chinatowns involve with the nation and the city. Using a postcolonial framework to address these themes, the research analyses the negotiation of place and identity in its interaction with concepts of orientalism.

This research shows that Chinatown identities are produced in and through their landscapes which are shaped by imaginations of diasporic Chinese heritage. It also reveals that these diasporic identities help produce global impacts on their national contexts. It is at the intersection of these themes that Chinatown identities are realised as complex and plural, not arising simply from connections between China and present places of settlement, but also from the networks comprising other Chinatowns.