The East Asian Community as Outsiders within New Zealand Literature: Foreignness and Isolation

When discussing the idea of the East Asian community as outsiders, an immediate place to begin is looking at the way in which foreignness, and the isolation which comes with that, is represented within The Luminaries and Chappy. Both Catton and Grace present their East Asian characters as facing this isolation and discrimination, with multiple examples of these characters being on the fringes of society and being othered simply for being East Asian.

Immediately, the historical backdrops against which The Luminaries and Chappy are set are foundational for the way in which these characters are presented to us. Because the “Chinese had a greater struggle to enter the country and were discriminated against by the inequity of the poll tax”^[1], there was a systemic barrier for Chinese migrants to enter New Zealand in the 1860s, and this bred an automatic level of racism against the diaspora by New Zealanders. Indeed, in the recent television adaptation of The Luminaries, very early on in the first episode we are introduced to the character of Sook Yongsheng queuing up at customs, and he is met with a shout of “Hey Chinaman, you’re in the wrong queue! Are you stupid? Get to the back!”^[2]. This was an addition made by Television New Zealand, but one which perfectly frames the systemic oppression Chinese migrants faced, particularly as it is followed with “Welcome to the New World”^[3], implying that this racial disparity is the norm. Our first introduction to characters of Chinese ethnicity within The Luminaries is through the eyes of Walter Moody, whom Catton describes as “surprised, now, to observe a well-dressed gentleman passing his lucifers to a Chinaman, and then leaning across him to retrieve his glass.”^[4] Such casualness intimacy between white settlers and Chinese migrants would not have been a normal act to witness, thus Moody is surprised to see it. Within Chappy, alongside this systemic racism which has long since prevailed within New Zealand, we are also presented with the way in which war, and the shifting of alliances brought about by war, affects the way in which the East Asian diaspora is viewed and portrayed within the novel.

Finally, when considering the way in which “boundaries of identity and place have been obfuscated”^[5], the differences between East Asian diasporas became profoundly blurred within New Zealand society; so, whilst the character of Chappy Star in Grace’s Chappy does not technically face anti-Chinese racism as he himself is Japanese, the racism against the East Asian diaspora does affect him significantly, as he is the target of “thrown stones”^[6] from children. As Ip and Leckie write, “the assumption of a common Asian ‘race’ can be traced to the late nineteenth century when [they] were discursively lumped together as undesirable aliens or Asiatics”^[7]; this is the precise time period The Luminaries is set within, and sets the scene for the way in which East Asian racism took hold within New Zealand (and thus also gives us understanding of certain struggles Chappy Star faces within Chappy). This homogenisation of differing East Asian communities is important to point out, as it is a practice which underpins comparisons between The Luminaries and Chappy, and ultimately is key to the way in which foreignness and isolation is represented within these novels.

‘Yellow Peril’ and the perceived immorality of ‘Chinamen’

The term ‘Yellow peril’ is an extremely racist definition which has historically been used to describe those of East Asian descent, and the existential threat which they pose to the Western world. It is specifically a term rooted in racial identity, not national identity, as the blurring between East Asian nations is very much present in the way in which this term has been used historically. Ip and Leckie write how, within New Zealand, “The Chinese were the embodiment of the ‘Yellow Peril’ […] they were considered immoral, unclean and prone to infectious diseases”^[8]. This is immediately a mentality which is presented to us by Catton in her introductory presentations of the East Asian characters within The Luminaries.

A recurring theme in The Luminaries is the use of opium, and that use is primarily centred around the Chinatown in Kaniere. I will discuss the presence of Chinatown in The Luminaries in more depth within Chapter Three of this dissertation; however, the presence of opium is important to touch upon, as it ties into motivations of the character Sook Yongsheng, and the way in which the East Asian diaspora were historically viewed within New Zealand. Indeed, “Western disapproval of China’s opium habit joined with other, older prejudices to create the Yellow Peril. The non-Christian Chinese love of opium, the logic went, destroyed any possibility of normal human response in them”^[9]. Prejudices which already existed were exacerbated by the way in which the Chinese community seemed addicted to the drug which “makes us euphoric”^[10]; it was an addiction that made the Chinese diaspora be viewed in a highly negative, animalistic way, and thus anybody who associated with them, and their opium dens would be viewed in a similar light. Given the way in which opium “induces a craving for the whole thing to begin again”^[11], it should not come as a huge surprise that in the Chinese “township Canton [in Southland, 1860s New Zealand] […] two out of three of the houses were for gambling and smoking opium”^[12]. This use of opium within The Luminaries is rooted within historic basis and is what links together the characters of Sook Yongsheng and Quee Long with the character Anna Wetherell; indeed, Anna is described as “[living] by the will of the dragon […] a drug that played steward to an imbecile king, and she would guard that throne with jealous eyes forever”^[13]. She is effectively a slave to the “dragon”^[14], implied here to be that of opium, and will never be free of it, emphasising to us the extent of opium addiction present.

The character of Anna Wetherell is described as being “known colloquially as Chinaman’s Ann – a designation that harmed her popularity in some circles”^[15]. We are also told, in this early introduction to her character, that “the whore [Anna] was a particular favourite of Ah Sook’s, and that her near-death […] had driven the man almost to hysteria”^[16]. This first quotation is a strong indicator from Catton of the extent to which the Chinese community was ostracised by New Zealand society; it is not being a “whore”^[17] that specifically has put Anna on the fringes of society (although the way in which she continues to be referred to as “the whore”^[18] throughout the novel shows the growing lack of control and identity she has over herself). What truly marks Anna out and pushes her to the fringes is her continued association with those in Chinatown – and, as was explained above, her reputation marred further by the negative way in which the Chinese and their use of opium was viewed.  In the television adaptation, her boss goes as far as to shout at her “Men do not want a girl who associates with Chinamen!”^[19], heavily implying to us that Anna’s decision to spend time with the Chinese migrants is losing his money as the prostitute owner. Clearly, Anna is important to Sook, due to her being described as “a particular favourite”^[20], and due to the fact that when she begins to overcome her addiction to opium, Catton writes how “The hatter missed the whore’s visits very much”^[21] after growing used to being “her old companion”^[22] whom Anna would share a pipe of opium with.

Firstly, this in itself shows the extent to which Sook, as a Chinese man, has very few companions in New Zealand, and thus is presented as deeply isolated within this society. Secondly, these quotations showing the friendship between Sook and Anna can be linked back to how Anna’s association “harmed her popularity in some circles”^[23]; indeed, “even before their arrival, there were protests about potential Chinese immigration to New Zealand”^[24]. That already existing prejudice paired with how the “Anti-Chinese agitation grew virtually in proportion to their increasing presence on the goldfields”^[25] explains why Catton makes a point of clarifying to the reader how this association with the Chinese characters in the novel is further dirtying her reputation in Hokitika. Interestingly, within the television adaptation of the novel, Anna and Sook’s bond is further emphasised, with Anna being the one to find him injured and telling him “I’m not going to hurt you”^[26] before finding him medicine; in the novel, Sook is aided by a “buck-toothed woman”^[27] who is kind to him but largely irrelevant to the overarching plot. Arguably, by changing this association to be with Anna, thus showing a dependency between the two characters from early on, within the television adaptation we are able to see the way in which the Chinese diaspora were so ostracised that even those who associated with them would be marred by association.

Such is this ostracisation within the novel that even when Sook or Quee are described as doing something the pākeha characters cannot help but find slightly admirable, they then quickly slip back into reasserting their prejudices, almost as though to erase any doubt of their continued mistrust and dislike. When Mannering is telling Frost of the way in which he attempted to double cross Quee in the goldfields, he begins by saying “Due credit to the Chinaman, of course; this happened maybe four or five times”^[28] before finishing his story with “No man makes a fool of Dick Mannering more than once, and the way I see it, this johnny chink has had a jolly good try”^[29]. The language becomes much more violent and racist very quickly, going from Quee being called a “Chinaman”^[30] – which of course is still a problematic association, as it is labelling Quee simply by his nationality and is said in a deliberately snide context – to finally becoming overtly racist with the use of the word “chink”^[31]. Despite the fact that it is Mannering who is trying to cheat Quee in this situation, Mannering manages to frame the situation as Quee being the one who is immoral, and thus Catton is presenting to us a clear example of the way in which the Chinese diaspora were perceived as being figures of immorality.

Manying Ip writes how “Even those who had close contact with the Chinese considered them a second-class race full of vice”^[32] and this is certainly reflected in Catton’s presentation of these Pākehā characters who come into interactions with Quee and Sook, well-illustrated in the section discussed above with Mannering and Frost. Due to Catton writing The Luminaries after the formal apology for the poll tax, the novel is certainly within the revisionist mode of attempting to reconsider and present these complex relationships between the white European settlers and the Chinese migrants, and conversations in the novel such as the one above are good examples of this. Catton does not hugely interrogate these scenes which she presents us with, but they are still evidently representing an era of New Zealand history where the Chinese diaspora were made extremely unwelcome.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Catton, Eleanor, The Luminaries (London: Granta Books, 2013)

Eldred-Grigg, Stevan, with Zeng Dazheng, White Ghosts, Yellow Peril: China and New Zealand 1790-1950 (Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2014)

Grace, Patricia, Chappy (London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2015)

Ip, Manying, ‘Still Floating: No Longer Sojourners, But Transnationals’. China and New Zealand: A Thriving Relationship Thirty Years On ed. by James Kember and Paul Clark (Auckland: New Zealand Asia Institute, 2003)

Ip, Manying and Jacqueline Leckie, ‘Chinamen and Hindoos: Beyond Stereotypes to Kiwi Asians’. Localizing Asia in Aotearoa, ed. by Paola Voci and Jacqueline Leckie (Wellington: Dunmore Publishing Ltd, 2011)

Johnson, Henry, ‘Drumming up Japan: Localizing taiko in New Zealand’. Localizing Asia in Aotearoa ed. by Paola Voci and Jacqueline Leckie (Wellington: Dunmore Publishing Ltd, 2011)

Lovell, Julia, The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China (London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 2011)

Ng, James, ‘The Sojourner Experience: The Cantonese Goldseekers in New Zealand, 1865-1901’. Unfolding History, Evolving Identity: The Chinese in New Zealand ed. by Manying Ip (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2003)

Ritchie, Neville A., ‘Traces of the Past: Archaelogical Insights into the New Zealand Chinese Experience in Southern New Zealand’. Unfolding History, Evolving Identity: The Chinese in New Zealand ed. by Manying Ip (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2003)

Voci, Paola and Jacqueline Leckie, ‘Beyond Nations and Ethnicities: Localizing Asia in New Zealand’. Localizing Asia in Aotearoa ed. by Paola Voci and Jacqueline Leckie (Wellington:  Dunmore Publishing Ltd, 2011

TELEOGRAPHY

‘Episode 1: Fingerprint’, The Luminaries, Television New Zealand, May 2020

‘Episode 2: The Place You Return’, The Luminaries, Television New Zealand, May 2020

‘Episode 3: Leverage’, The Luminaries, Television New Zealand, May 2020

^[1] Voci, Paola and Jacqueline Leckie, ‘Beyond Nations and Ethnicities: Localizing Asia in New Zealand’. Localizing Asia in Aotearoa ed. by Paola Voci and Jacqueline Leckie (Wellington:  Dunmore Publishing Ltd, 2011) p.17

^[2] ‘Episode 1: Fingerprint’, The Luminaries, Television New Zealand, May 2020

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Catton, Eleanor, The Luminaries (London: Granta Books, 2013) p.11

^[5] Johnson, Henry, ‘Drumming up Japan: Localizing taiko in New Zealand’. Localizing Asia in Aotearoa ed. by Paola Voci and Jacqueline Leckie (Wellington: Dunmore Publishing Ltd, 2011) p.139

^[6] Grace, Patricia, Chappy (London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2015) p.123

^[7] Ip, Manying and Jacqueling Leckie, ‘Chinamen and Hindoos: Beyond Stereotypes to Kiwi Asians’. Localizing Asia in Aotearoa, ed. by Paola Voci and Jacqueline Leckie (Wellington: Dunmore Publishing Ltd, 2011) p.160

^[8] Ibid.

^[9] Lovell, Julia, The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China (London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 2011) p.21

^[10] Ibid. p.19

^[11] Ibid. p.20

^[12] Eldred-Grigg, Stevan, with Zeng Dazheng, White Ghosts, Yellow Peril: China and New Zealand 1790-1950 (Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2014) p.50

^[13] Catton, Eleanor, The Luminaries (London: Granta Books, 2013) p.135

^[14] Ibid.

^[15] Ibid. p.148

^[16] Ibid.

^[17] Ibid.

^[18] Ibid. p.407

^[19] ‘Episode 3: Leverage’, The Luminaries, Television New Zealand, May 2020

^[20] Catton, Eleanor, The Luminaries (London: Granta Books, 2013) p.148

^[21] Ibid. p.407

^[22] Ibid.

^[23] Ibid. p.148

^[24] Ng, James, ‘The Sojourner Experience: The Cantonese Goldseekers in New Zealand, 1865-1901’. Unfolding History, Evolving Identity: The Chinese in New Zealand ed. by Manying Ip (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2003) p.20

^[25] Ritchie, Neville A., ‘Traces of the Past: Archaelogical Insights into the New Zealand Chinese Experience in Southern New Zealand’. Unfolding History, Evolving Identity: The Chinese in New Zealand ed. by Manying Ip (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2003) p.32

^[26] ‘Episode 2: The Place You Return’, The Luminaries, Television New Zealand, May 2020

^[27] Catton, Eleanor, The Luminaries (London: Granta Books, 2013) p.453

^[28] Catton, Eleanor, The Luminaries (London: Granta Books, 2013) p.191

^[29] Ibid. p.193

^[30] Ibid. p.191

^[31] Ibid. p.193

^[32] Ip, Manying, ‘Still Floating: No Longer Sojourners, But Transnationals’. China and New Zealand: A Thriving Relationship Thirty Years On ed. by James Kember and Paul Clark (Auckland: New Zealand Asia Institute, 2003) p.40