Expanding or Accepting: Nation-Work of International Chinese Teachers in a Confucius Institute in Thailand

Abstract

© 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. The Confucius Institute (CI), one vehicle for promoting a new narrative of Chinese national identity, has been controversial since its establishment. In contrast with political scientists who discuss the CI from a macro-perspective and argue that it is a state apparatus, this article focuses on micro- A nd meso-aspects of CI teachers' everyday lives and social engagement in their locality, Thailand. When Chinese nationness meets Thainess, CI teachers made their own calculations as to how much Chineseness and Thainess they should dip in and out of to accomplish their nation-work. Nation-work is a synthesised concept that includes the way CI teachers are "saying," "doing," and "otherising" the nations. By employing "Chinese and Thais are like one family," CI teachers reproduced the Sino-Thai "brotherhood." For staying in Thailand "peacefully," they invented their own "tradition." Cultural activities become a nuanced way to "overcommunicate" Chineseness on the stage, with uneven quality.