Dados Bibliográficos

AUTOR(ES) M. Yuan
AFILIAÇÃO(ÕES) Institute for Near Eastern and East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
ANO 2025
TIPO Artigo
PERIÓDICO Africa Spectrum
ISSN 0002-0397
E-ISSN 1868-6869
EDITORA Publisher 41
DOI 10.1177/00020397251321863
CITAÇÕES 1
ADICIONADO EM 2025-08-18

Resumo

With an increase in interactions between Kenya and China at all levels, transnational encounters in everyday life add shades and nuances to the understanding of these recent Africa–Asian encounters beyond the grand narrative. This article focuses on the life writing Feipiao (Drifting in Africa) by a Chinese businessman, Deng Changwu, in Kenya. Deng uses the book as a stage to perform his social identities and offer business and psychological advice and popularises the term as an identity marker of Chinese drifters in Africa. The article emphasises how literary narrative as a tool for knowledge production reiterates and challenges prevailing discourses related to Kenya–China relations. Through the concept of dwelling in drifting, this article maps out individual efforts and translocal, transethnic, and transnational networks, revealing new dynamics and modes of relationship building. This perspective transcends the traditional China–Africa–European triangulation, highlighting the hybrid and multi-dimensional nature of knowledge sharing and production in everyday life.

Ferramentas