Film and Debate Series: "Chinese Immigration and Cultural Identities"
This cycle invites audiences to reflect on the migratory experience of different age groups among the Chinese population in Spain, focusing on their personal quests, continuing practice of cultural traditions associated with their origins, relationships with family and friends, sense of community, and the role of language as an element of cohesion.
The revitalisation of Chinese migration to Spain began in the mid-1980s, coinciding with the introduction of policies of reform and openness in the People's Republic of China and with a process of economic development in Spain that created opportunities for foreign immigration, resulting today in a population of 215,000 people. With a vast majority from the Qingtian and Wenzhou districts in Zhejiang province, these Chinese families mainly earn their living from small urban businesses in the catering, textile production and import/export sectors.
Identified in social research, media discourse and policy uses as 1.5, 2nd or 3rd generation, based on successive generations with a biological link that essentialises the migratory process passed from parents to children, the descendants of these families have very different lived experiences depending on the contexts in which have grown up and socialised. The trajectories of these immigrants and their descendants comprise multiple destinations, while multiple agents from different spaces contribute to the production and reproduction of these transnational families.
The primary aim of the cycle is to highlight the experiences of these young descendants and the way in which they construct their sense of belonging and identity.
The screenings will be followed by a discussion.
Coordinated by: Confucius Institute in Madrid.
