Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies

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"Reconsidering Race": How Far has Barry McGowan's "Refreshing Sea Breeze" Blown?
(Centre for the Study of the Chinese Southern Diaspora, The Australian National University, 2019) Couchman, Sophie; Bagnall, Kate; Couchman, Sophie
In considering my contribution for this special issue, I kept returning to an article Barry McGowan published in 2004 in Australian Historical Studies, ©Reconsidering Race: The Chinese Experience on the Goldfields of Southern New South Wales©. This article is arguably even more relevant today than when he wrote it. Barry was an archaeologist and professional historian with a valuable insight into the intersection of academic and public history. In ©Reconsidering Race©, Barry identified a gap between popular impressions of Chinese-Australian goldfields history and those newly emerging within the academy, and argued that the Lambing Flat riots in colonial New South Wales are often elevated to an archetype of Chinese-Australian race relations despite evidence of very different experiences on other significant goldfields such as Braidwood and Kiandra. This research note reflects on Barry©s article through a discussion of four examples of how Chinese-Australian history has been interpreted for the public. In it I argue that we need find ways to communicate succinctly the complexity of Chinese goldrush race relations and history for the general public and, in particular, to be cautious when discussing anti-Chinese violence on the goldfields. Finally, I reiterate the need to challenge and breakdown clich©d historical narratives that circulate in popular impressions of Chinese-Australian goldfields history

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Browsing Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies by Subject "Australian archaeology"