跨域视角下的美国铁路华工研究述评

Review of Research on Chinese Railway Workers in the United States:A Perspective of Regional Crossing

论文分别梳理了美国和中国关于铁路华工研究的学术史,并进行了比较与思考。认为美国横贯大陆铁路的通车,保障美国实现了真正的国家统一,开拓了美国的太平洋贸易时代。华工是铁路西段的建设主力,铸造了历史的丰碑。目前,对铁路华工的研究成果主要是"美国视角"下的学术实践:美国学界的研究起步早;研究资料主要来自美国;学术话题主要是美国学界在引领;中国的铁路华工研究仍处于边缘地位。这种状况既具有时代特点,也具有学术的时代局限。需要从地理和学术两个层面去突破"美国视角",深化铁路华工研究。

This paper reviews the Research of Chinese railway workers in the United States and presents a comparative study between Chinese and American researchers’works.The completed transcontinental railway ensured that the United States became a real national unity and spurred the country to enter the era of Pacific trade.Chinese laborers were a major workforce contributing to the construction of the western section of the transcontinental railway.American scholars started to study Chinese railway workers as early as the 1860 s.To date,research on them has primarily been conducted from an American perspective and based on American material,which has led this field.Although various aspects of the topic have been addressed over the years,others are lacking,since Chinese scholars’work is still marginalized.Breaking such an American paradigm and deepening our understanding of Chinese railway workers requires a new global perspective,which examines both the United States and"Qiaoxiang"through multidisciplinary approaches.