Chinese International Students’ Everyday National Belonging during the COVID-19 pandemic in France
(2024) SIMZ11 20231Graduate School
- Abstract
- This thesis explored how French and Chinese national discourses impacted the sense of security of Chinese international students during the COVID-19 pandemic in France. On the one hand, it focused on how the everyday performance and construction of national belonging can offer ontological security to Chinese international students, by providing simple answers to one’s sense of place and self. On the other hand, it looked at how national exclusion through Othering can trigger insecurity. Fifteen semi-structured interviews of Chinese international students and a digital ethnography on French national discourses regarding the Chinese on the platform X were conducted. This thesis found out that in the early pandemic, Chinese students supported... (More)
- This thesis explored how French and Chinese national discourses impacted the sense of security of Chinese international students during the COVID-19 pandemic in France. On the one hand, it focused on how the everyday performance and construction of national belonging can offer ontological security to Chinese international students, by providing simple answers to one’s sense of place and self. On the other hand, it looked at how national exclusion through Othering can trigger insecurity. Fifteen semi-structured interviews of Chinese international students and a digital ethnography on French national discourses regarding the Chinese on the platform X were conducted. This thesis found out that in the early pandemic, Chinese students supported and justified the Chinese Zero-COVID policy, in order to promote a positive image of their country in France. Later on, they supported the French COVID-19 management, revealing the influence of national institutions like the media, on their safety perceptions. On X, French national discourses depicted Chinese as barbaric and virus-carriers, thus drawing on preexisting racist narratives. However, most interviewees did not perceive these discourses as racist but rather as discriminatory based on their nationality. Some Chinese students denied the existence of anti-Chinese discrimination which was influenced by an idealized idea of ‘Frenchness’ and their successful integration in French society. Additionally, the data showed that the French and Chinese perceived mask-wearing in France as a performance of Chinese belonging. Thus, some interviewees did not wear masks at the early stage of the pandemic for avoiding potential discrimination. Moreover, the closure of the Chinese borders unsettled the interviewees, highlighting how their presence in France was conditioned by the possibility of returning home. Ultimately, this thesis provided new insights on the importance of nationhood for transnational migrants, illustrating the tendency of individuals to seek security from global crises on the national level. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9146386
- author
- Nguyen-Tymoczko, Daphné LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- A Qualitative Study of the Impact of French and Chinese National Discourses on Chinese’s Ontological Security
- course
- SIMZ11 20231
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- National belonging, Ontological security, Everyday nationhood, Chinese international students, COVID-19
- language
- English
- id
- 9146386
- date added to LUP
- 2024-02-01 10:02:34
- date last changed
- 2024-02-01 10:02:34
@misc{9146386,
abstract = {{This thesis explored how French and Chinese national discourses impacted the sense of security of Chinese international students during the COVID-19 pandemic in France. On the one hand, it focused on how the everyday performance and construction of national belonging can offer ontological security to Chinese international students, by providing simple answers to one’s sense of place and self. On the other hand, it looked at how national exclusion through Othering can trigger insecurity. Fifteen semi-structured interviews of Chinese international students and a digital ethnography on French national discourses regarding the Chinese on the platform X were conducted. This thesis found out that in the early pandemic, Chinese students supported and justified the Chinese Zero-COVID policy, in order to promote a positive image of their country in France. Later on, they supported the French COVID-19 management, revealing the influence of national institutions like the media, on their safety perceptions. On X, French national discourses depicted Chinese as barbaric and virus-carriers, thus drawing on preexisting racist narratives. However, most interviewees did not perceive these discourses as racist but rather as discriminatory based on their nationality. Some Chinese students denied the existence of anti-Chinese discrimination which was influenced by an idealized idea of ‘Frenchness’ and their successful integration in French society. Additionally, the data showed that the French and Chinese perceived mask-wearing in France as a performance of Chinese belonging. Thus, some interviewees did not wear masks at the early stage of the pandemic for avoiding potential discrimination. Moreover, the closure of the Chinese borders unsettled the interviewees, highlighting how their presence in France was conditioned by the possibility of returning home. Ultimately, this thesis provided new insights on the importance of nationhood for transnational migrants, illustrating the tendency of individuals to seek security from global crises on the national level.}},
author = {{Nguyen-Tymoczko, Daphné}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Chinese International Students’ Everyday National Belonging during the COVID-19 pandemic in France}},
year = {{2024}},
}