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. Xiaomei Chen offers an insightful account of the unremittingly favorable depiction of Western culture and its negative characterization of Chinese culture in post-Mao China since 1978. She examines the cultural and political interrelationship between the East and West from a vantage point more complex than that accommodated by most current theories of Western imperialism and colonialism. Going beyond Edward Said's construction in Orientalism of cross-cultural appropriations as a defining facet of Western imperialism, Chen 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. She maintains that simplistic allegations of Orientalism frequently found in current critical discourses seriously underestimate the complexities of intercultural and multicultural relationships. Using China as the focus of her analysis, Chen examines a variety of cultural media, from Shakespearean drama, to modernist poetry, to contemporary Chinese television and popular fiction. She thus places sinology in the general context of Western theoretical discourses, such as Eurocentrism, postcolonialism, nationalism, modernism, feminism, and literary hermeneutics, showing that it has a vital role to play in the study of Orient and Occident and their now unavoidable symbiotic relationship. Occidentalism presents a new model of comparative literary and cultural studies that reenvisions cross-cultural appropriation. It will be indispensable to future discussions of Orientalism, Occidentalism, and postcolonialism, as well as subaltern studies, Asian studies, comparative literature, cultural studies, and non-Western drama.
Industry Reviews
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 *
