Qu Guiping

　　School of History and Culture, South China Normal University　　

　　Abstract

　　International migrants confront many new challenges from the impact of global populism and geopolitics, but we also see the growth of a new identity culture. The Chinese community in Canada constructs its identity through the collective memory of the image of Chinese railway workers, and realizes the cross-cultural communication of a new identity culture in the course of the interaction of symbolic cultural practices. Since the 1980s, the image of Chinese railway workers has changed from “the indispensable evil” to “pioneers in nation-building” and “a tragic group subjected to injustice.” This is a product of the collective memory of the Chinese ethnic group’s pursuit of identity in Canada’s multicultural reconstruction. The Chinese ethnic group has reshaped an image of Chinese railway workers that has been widely disseminated through cross-cultural means. They have aimed at gaining social acceptance and fundamental recognition of a Chinese-Canadian identity with the help of their “native cultural heritage and historical resources” in Canada. The construction of this identity culture through collective memory has consolidated the foundations of multiculturalism.

　　Keywords: Chinese railway workers, collective memory, identity, multiculturalism