Hypothetical Mandarin

"This is one of the best books on Chinese-Western comparative studies of the past decade. Eric Hayot has provided a provocative and compelling inquiry into the multiple conditions of 'China' as conceived by the West in modern times. His engagement with political, moral, economic, and aesthetic theories and cases has set a new standard for any study on the representation of China."-David Der-wei Wang, Harvard University "Drawing on an impressively broad range of materials, Eric Hayot examines 'Chinese pain' as a recurring Western symptom whose manifestations are traceable to the moral philosophy, historiography, economics, and literature of the past few centuries. As a type of imaginary contact zone, 'Chinese pain' has much to tell us about how certain cultural boundaries may be stretched and pushed, only then to be safely reestablished. This is a learned, visionary book with far-reaching political and ethical ramifications."-Rey Chow, Brown University "Provocative. Recommended."--Choice "A provocative, successful experiment in making the core philosophical inquiry of what we know as comparative literature...His major contribution lies precisely in experimenting with a new way of reading that forsakes conventional notions of textual coherence and historical or cultural totality..Has much to offer to any serious scholar of Chinese and comparative literary, visual, and intellectual culture."--Modern Chinese Literature and Culture "Brilliant...[An] extremely rich, interdisciplinary book...Builds new Chinese-Western intellectual connections while challenging us to rethink the history of how Chinese suffering has been used as a tool for elucidating Euro-American compassion and modernity." --Journal of Asian Studies "Erudite and well-written...adds an important dimension to the discourse on orientalism...The Hypothetical Mandarin shows the path for future cross-cultural studies." --Comparative Literature Studies "Displays a profound sensitivity to and respect for the work of language...Hayot makes a powerful case that we cannot hope to negotiate cultural difference until we commit to understanding what cultural difference really is." --Clio "Hayot's wide-ranging footnotes testify to an admirable pursuit of ideas across disaplines. The result is a powerful, uniquely suggestive interdisciplinary framework for using sympathy and pain to connect disparate material and intellectual approached. The Hypothetical Mandarin deftly calls attention to the anecdotal nerves that animate 'the West' and 'China' as bodies of knowledge." --MLQ