‘Analyse racialization and resistance in relation to Tuyen’s lubiao.’

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Toronto is often recognised as a metropolis characterized by its ethnic diversity – As the largest city in Canada, one of the only countries in the world that identifies as a multicultural state in its constitution. Yet, although Canada exists with this as the basis of its formal and constitutional framework – it is without a strong sense of internal cohesion, authenticity or agency. The novel ‘What We All Long For’ by Dionne Brand addresses the more unexplored aspects of Urban life of first generation immigrant communities in the City of Toronto. She follows the life of Tuyen, a rebellious spirit in her twenties who has come to be disconcerted with the concept of longing in the city of Toronto. Tuyen expresses through the eyes of an artist – through her expression of an ancient Chinese symbol, the lubiao. In this essay I will analyse the concept of racialization and resistance in relation to Tuyen’s lubiao. Then I will set the historical background of the city of Toronto.
Observing this, I will look at how race is socially produced and the persistence of colonial oppression throughout history. Then, I will look at this resonates with the concept of racialization and belonging. Finally, I will analyse Tuyen’s lubaio as a space where the city of Toronto becomes witness to a site of resistance. In conclusion, I suggest that Tuyen’s lubaio does in fact represent racialization and resistance, yet whether or not I could be effectively interpreted in its intended way through the colonial gaze is ultimately questionable.

Toronto is a city that is simultaneously rich in its ethnic diversity, yet paradoxically finds itself constrained by its colonial heritage. This is important, as colonial representations of race pervade history across...

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...lves the confirmation of the boundaries of the social world through the sorting of things into good and bad categories. They enter the unconscious through the process of socialisation.’ Then, “the articulation of space and its conception is a reminder that time boundaries are inextricably connected to exclusionary practises which are defined in refusing to adhere to the separation of black experience.”

In this essay I have illustrated how Tuyen’s lubaio can be effectively understood as something that invokes race and representation in the city of Toronto. As it presents these concepts to everyone in the city can see in accessible ways – allowing one to acknowledge the vast diversity within the cityscape. Everyone has different perspectives and different longings. By using the lubaio as a site of resistance everyone becomes witness to the cities desires and wants.

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