Frontiers of African Diaspora Studies
FADS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.63-77.
Print ISSN: 3107-1805; Online ISSN: 3107-1813
Journal homepage: https://www.fadsjournal.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64058/FADS.26.01.05lrcgs
王韵秋（Wang Yunqiu）
摘要：美国认同的结构性悖论不仅在于“主权国家认同”与“流散民族认同”的表层对立，更在于优势族群同样处于一种被遮蔽的流散状态——其主权身份恰恰建立在压抑自身流散性的基础之上。本文从文化政治学视角出发，梳理了这一悖论在美利坚历史中的四重谱系：建国时期，“英式流散身份”与“美式主权身份”发生错位，盎格鲁裔通过语言标准化将流散焦虑转化为对底层的规训；19世纪，在优生学与进化论的加持下，“流散种族认同”被科学优势论剥夺了主权平等权；20世纪，垄断资本主义与新自由主义将语言商品化，制造了“亚流散群体”向上流动的幻象与“主流散群体”固化等级的张力；步入21世纪，“主流散群体”因经济与文化上的“双重流散”焦虑爆发，走向极端的排他性民族主义。这一谱系表明，语言、种族与资本主义的合谋不仅制造了不平等的社会结构，还揭示了边缘族裔的“生存焦虑”与主流群体的“防御性焦虑”在人类心理结构上的深刻同构。流散因此不再专属被压迫者，而是缠绕着压迫者的隐蔽权力机制。
关键词：流散民族认同；主权国家认同；语言；种族资本主义；亚流散群体；防御性焦虑
作者简介：王韵秋（通讯作者），女，江苏太仓人，博士，杭州电子科技大学外国语学院副教授，主要研究领域：外国文学与跨学科，电子邮箱：yunqiuwang1983@163.com。
Title: Language, Race, and Capitalism: A Genealogical Study of the Paradox of ‘Diasporic Ethno-Identity’ and ‘Sovereign State-Identity’ in the U.S.
Abstract: The structural paradox of American identity lies not merely in the superficial opposition between “sovereign state-identity” and “diasporic ethno-identity,” but fundamentally in the fact that the dominant ethnic group itself inhabits a concealed state of diaspora—its sovereign identity is predicated precisely on the repression of its own diasporic nature. From the perspective of cultural politics, this article traces a fourfold genealogy of this paradox in American history: first, in the founding era, the dislocation between “English diasporic identity” and “American sovereign identity,” where Anglo-Saxons transformed their diasporic anxiety into the disciplining of subalterns through language standardization; second, in the 19th century, under the aegis of eugenics and evolutionary theory, “diasporic ethno-identity” was stripped of sovereign equality by a discourse of scientific superiority; third, in the 20th century, monopoly capitalism and neoliberalism commodified language, creating a tension between the illusion of upward mobility for “subordinate diasporic groups” and the hierarchical consolidation by “superordinate diasporic groups”; and fourth, in the 21st century, the “double diaspora” anxiety (economic and cultural) of the superordinate group triggered an explosive, exclusionary nationalism. This genealogy demonstrates that the collusion of language, race, and capitalism not only manufactures unequal social structures but also reveals a profound structural isomorphism in human psychology between the “existential anxiety” of marginalized ethnicities and the “defensive anxiety” of dominant groups. Consequently, diaspora is no longer the exclusive property of the oppressed; it is a latent mechanism of power that entangles the oppressors themselves.
Keywords: Diasporic ethno-identity; Sovereign State-Identity; language; racial capitalism; subordinate diasporic groups; defensive anxiety
Author Biography: Wang Yunqiu（corresponding author）, Associate Professor, School of Foreign Languages, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. E-mail: yunqiuwang1983@163.com.
