A Q, an overseas chinese in Spain. Disorder and social criticism in a chinese community

Abstract

The arrival of new migrants into the Chinese community in Spain had its peak in the mid-1990s. At the same time, some criminal acts – extortions, murders – emerged inside the community. Mass media connected such events with the Chinese mafias.

Within this context, the sectors of the Chinese associative movement, worried about the internal disorder and the damaged image of their community.

By then, a Chinese member from the associative movement, was writing regularly in a local monthly newspaper a fictitious story based on the character from Lu Xun, A Q, transformed into a Spanish-Chinese migrant.

In this paper, we analyze this story that shows ironically the failures of Chinese migrants in Spain, making specific analogies with the true story of Lu Xun. The story entails a moralizing, exemplary character, so as to curb the internal violence occurring in the Chinese community. In the last instance, we describe the story as part of the efforts done from the associative movement in order to establish a stabler social order that could improve interactions with local institutions from the host society.