The presentation of the Chinese immigrant in Dutch media The first Chinese immigrant communities of the Netherlands (1911-1939)

Abstract

This thesis researches the presentation of the Chinese immigrant, mostly located in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in Dutch media. The first Chinese immigrants that came to settle in the Netherlands arrived in 1911 to work as sailors, and the focus in this research is on the community that lived here between 1911 and 1940. Previous research has shown the worries of the Dutch government concerning the financial and social problems the Chinese supposedly posed and consequently they were systematically excluded from Dutch society. In Dutch media, specifically newspaper articles, the Chinese immigrant was both positively as negatively presented. Despite some negative accounts, the overall attitude in the newspaper articles was definitely not as negative as the attitude of the Dutch government was. The issues the Dutch authorities had concerning the Chinese immigrants were therefore not always shared by the Dutch public.