Authors: Patricia Palma and María Montt Strabucchi (2025)
Abstract: This article analyzes the coverage of the Chinese Revolution in Chile and Peru through various newspapers and magazines published both in the capitals of both countries (Lima and Santiago) and in cities where important Chinese communities resided, such as Arequipa, Tacna, Arica, and Iquique. This revolution, which took place between October 1911 and February 1912 and ended the Qing dynasty, giving rise to the Republic, aroused great interest from Chilean and Peruvian print media. The circulation of news and images about China that arrived from abroad and were reproduced in local media allowed readers to learn about and, as will be analyzed, complexify the image that local readers had regarding this nation and its inhabitants. We argue for the existence of contradictory discourses regarding China and the Chinese residents in local spaces, as while the analyzed media praised China's modernity, the fierceness of its leaders and subjects, these same outlets were spokespersons for a strongly racialized discourse against Chinese immigration and their presence in the Americas.