Hybrid Identities<xref xml

This paper analyzes the permanent exhibition on the life of Qian Xuesen on the campus of Jiao Tong University in Shanghai. It highlights the emphasis placed in the exhibition on the transnational movement of Qian Xuesen, who spent about fifteen years in the United States, first as a student, then as a brilliant scientist and engineer. The exhibit also presents Qian Xuesen as a national hero, as a man for whom the sojourn abroad was merely a detour in a long journey of a devoted and patriotic Chinese citizen who loved his country, and who was inspired by Marxism-Leninism and by the Party. This national emphasis is only to be expected in an exhibit that is directed to the general public. But it excludes aspects of Qian Xuesen that do not fit into a purely nationalist narrative (e.g. his application for American citizenship, the technical help he got from the Soviet Union in the late 1950s). The paper stresses that Qian Xuesen had a hybrid identity that enabled him to draw on resources from different countries, including his own. It argues that such hybridity contributed to his brilliant career, and is a quality to be valued for the role it played in "bringing newness into the world."

Ampere · Physics · Thermodynamics · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Chemistry · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Diverse Musicological Studies