Becoming a bona fide cosmopolitan: unpacking the narratives of Western-situated degree-seeking transnational students in China

This qualitative study offers an exploration of the ways in which transnational, degree-seeking, undergraduate students from Anglophone and European countries make sense of their experiences of studying in China. Through an analysis of participants' verbal, visual, and textual narratives recoun...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social & cultural geography 2022-07, Vol.23 (6), p.873-891
Main Author: Lee, Kris Hyesoo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Alteridad
altérité
Anglophones
Bourdieu
China
Chine
College students
Cosmopolitanism
cosmopolitanismo
cosmopolitisme
Foreign students
International student mobility
Mobility
mobilité estudiantine internationale
movilidad de estudiantes internacionales
Narratives
otherness
Qualitative research
Social media
Transnationalism
Undergraduate students
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Summary:This qualitative study offers an exploration of the ways in which transnational, degree-seeking, undergraduate students from Anglophone and European countries make sense of their experiences of studying in China. Through an analysis of participants' verbal, visual, and textual narratives recounted in interviews and participants' social media postings, the paper examines how Western-situated transnational students attempt to differentiate themselves from various 'Others' - other types of international students, as well as immobile Others in both home and host countries. Findings point out that there is a dominant image of the bona fide cosmopolitan, which study participants aspired to be, and hence tried continuously to (re)produce through mobility. In critically reflecting on the transnational students' performance of bona fide cosmopolitanism, this paper addresses issues related to how Western-situated international students create various Others and simultaneously consume difference.
ISSN:1464-9365
1470-1197
DOI:10.1080/14649365.2020.1821393