ABSTRACT
In the 1850s and 1860s, the goldfields of Victoria attracted people from around the globe, with one in four coming from China in 1856. While this would drop to one in five by 1859, this was still a high proportion and caused the British or Australian-born majority to feel threatened. Adopting Sarah Ahmed’s methodology of interrogating texts to determine their racist attributes and underlying emotion, and taking an historical approach to exploring her ideas about emotions and present-day racist practice, it is possible to demonstrate that the emotions associated with racism depend upon how, where and when racism is practised. Using Chinese Opera in the goldfields of Victoria as a case study, the emotions of racism are explored at a time when racist thought and practice was in its infancy. After sketching the backdrop of the Chinese goldfields experience in Victoria, this chapter draws upon newspaper reports and other materials relating to Chinese Opera, which was quickly established in the goldfields, to identify the practice of racism and the emotions it engendered.
