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Description for Occidentalism
Paperback. An account of the favourable depiction of Western culture and its negative characterization of Chinese culture in post-Mao China since 1978. This revised and expanded edition of Occidentalism in post-Mao China includes a new preface, foreword, and chapter on Chinese diaspora writings. Num Pages: 304 pages, bibliography, index. BIC Classification: 1FPC; 3JJPN; 3JJPR; HBJF; HBLW3; JFC. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 229 x 151 x 18. Weight in Grams: 382.
This revised and expanded edition of the first comprehensive study of Occidentalism in post-Mao China includes a new preface, foreword, and chapter on Chinese diaspora writings in the Chinese language. Presenting an original model of comparative literary and cultural studies, Xiaomei Chen goes beyond Edward Said's construction in Orientalism of crosscultural appropriations as a defining facet of Western imperialism. Instead, she argues that the appropriation of Western discourse-what she calls 'Occidentalism'-can actually have a politically and ideologically liberating effect on contemporary non-Western culture.
This revised and expanded edition of the first comprehensive study of Occidentalism in post-Mao China includes a new preface, foreword, and chapter on Chinese diaspora writings in the Chinese language. Presenting an original model of comparative literary and cultural studies, Xiaomei Chen goes beyond Edward Said's construction in Orientalism of crosscultural appropriations as a defining facet of Western imperialism. Instead, she argues that the appropriation of Western discourse-what she calls 'Occidentalism'-can actually have a politically and ideologically liberating effect on contemporary non-Western culture.
Product Details
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield United States
Number of pages
304
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2003
Condition
New
Weight
381g
Number of Pages
304
Place of Publication
Lanham, MD, United States
ISBN
9780847698752
SKU
V9780847698752
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-15
About Xiaomei Chen
Xiaomei Chen is associate professor of Chinese and comparative literature at The Ohio State University. She is the author of Acting the Right Part: Political Theater and Popular Drama in Contemporary China (2002) and editor of Reading the Right Texts: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Drama with a Critical Introduction (2003).
Reviews for Occidentalism
Excellent. . . . An innovative 'deconstruction' or reversal of Said's view of Orientalism as the hegemonic construction of a silenced Other, Chen's study shows that Chinese Occidentalism is a pluralistic reading of the West. . . . Chen's examples are compelling and wide-ranging. . . . Lucidly argued, convincing, and elegantly written, Chen's study is a major contribution to East-West studies, comparative literature, and cultural hermeneutics.
The Comparatist
Chen's sagacious analysis of the deliberate and productive misreading of Western cultural texts by the Chinese public shows how the Western Other also engages in the invention of the West for internal political purposes. . . . Occidentalism has the virtue of providing a more polyphonic history of cultural relations as its author weaves into her study voices representing different social, political and gender groups.
Research in African Literatures
Praise for the first edition: Occidentalism is required reading for anyone who likes talking about literature as a phenomenon that exists and can be recognized in many countries and cultures, that has a certain cultural value, and that can be enjoyed and discussed on a different level than politics....
China Review International
Praise for the first edition: A stimulating contribution to the debate, not only because she offers an insider's perspective, but also because she is aware of the limitations of oppositional modes of thought.....
World Literature Today
Through a superb account of select developments in post-Mao poetry and spoken drama, the book provides a model for a study of exchanges between cultures that does not rely on essential categories such as 'East' and 'West.' Chen suggests that this is an error to which even those enlightened by Said are prone as they dismantle Orientalist fantasies and lament foreign influences in China. Occidentalism makes clear the limitations of Said's book for one who works, so to speak, from the inside out.
Journal Of Modern Literature In Chinese
Praise for the first edition: Occidentalism is required reading for anyone who likes talking about literature as a phenomenon that exists and can be recognized in many countries and cultures, that has a certain cultural value, and that can be enjoyed and discussed on a different level than politics.
China Review International
Praise for the first edition: A stimulating contribution to the debate, not only because she offers an insider's perspective, but also because she is aware of the limitations of oppositional modes of thought.
World Literature Today
The Comparatist
Chen's sagacious analysis of the deliberate and productive misreading of Western cultural texts by the Chinese public shows how the Western Other also engages in the invention of the West for internal political purposes. . . . Occidentalism has the virtue of providing a more polyphonic history of cultural relations as its author weaves into her study voices representing different social, political and gender groups.
Research in African Literatures
Praise for the first edition: Occidentalism is required reading for anyone who likes talking about literature as a phenomenon that exists and can be recognized in many countries and cultures, that has a certain cultural value, and that can be enjoyed and discussed on a different level than politics....
China Review International
Praise for the first edition: A stimulating contribution to the debate, not only because she offers an insider's perspective, but also because she is aware of the limitations of oppositional modes of thought.....
World Literature Today
Through a superb account of select developments in post-Mao poetry and spoken drama, the book provides a model for a study of exchanges between cultures that does not rely on essential categories such as 'East' and 'West.' Chen suggests that this is an error to which even those enlightened by Said are prone as they dismantle Orientalist fantasies and lament foreign influences in China. Occidentalism makes clear the limitations of Said's book for one who works, so to speak, from the inside out.
Journal Of Modern Literature In Chinese
Praise for the first edition: Occidentalism is required reading for anyone who likes talking about literature as a phenomenon that exists and can be recognized in many countries and cultures, that has a certain cultural value, and that can be enjoyed and discussed on a different level than politics.
China Review International
Praise for the first edition: A stimulating contribution to the debate, not only because she offers an insider's perspective, but also because she is aware of the limitations of oppositional modes of thought.
World Literature Today