Occidentalism: A Theory of Counter-Discourse in Post-Mao China by Xiaomei Chen (

Description: Occidentalism by Xiaomei Chen The author argues that the appropriation of Western discourse - what she calls "Occidentalism" - can have a socially liberating effect in contemporary non-Western culture. Using China as a focus for analysis, she examines the cultural and political relations between East and West. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description 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 from 1978-1988. Chen examines the cultural and political interrelations 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 Saids construction in Orientalism ofcross-cultural appropriations as a defining facet of Western imperialism, Chen argues that the appropriation of Western discourse--what she calls "Occidentalism"--can have a politically and ideologically liberatingeffect on contemporary non-Western culture. Using China as a focus of her analysis, Chen examines a variety of cultural media, from Shakesperian drama, to Western modernist poetry, to contemporary Chinese television. 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 nowunavoidable symbiotic relationship. Occidentalism presents a new model of comparative literary and cultural studies that reenvisions cross-cultural appropriation. Author Biography Chen is Associate Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literatures at Ohio State University. Review "An ambitious, revisionist challenge to Edward Saids concept of Orientalism....Chens thesis is fundamentally sound, supportable, and intellectually challenging."--Kirkus Reviews"This is a very thought-provoking work. Chen draws upon a wide range of interesting Chinese material in a way that few non-Chinese scholars could hope to match, and provides interesting readings of this material with the commitment and sensibilities of the insider."--Arif Dirlik, University of Victoria"Occidentalism is a stunning and innovative book that will have a profound impact on the fields of Chinese studies and modern Chinese literature and society. Not only is it well researched, well written, and lively, it is bold, even daring, in its analytic thrust. Professor Chen has made a most welcome contribution to our understanding of contemporary Chinese culture, but more importantly, she has made a valuable contribution to the theoreticalliterature on cultural studies. Her critique of Edward Said is devastating and right on target."--Paul Pickowicz, University of California, San Diego"Occidentalism is a much needed book that speaks for and as a non-Western Other, and will help us deal with the complexity of cross-cultural understanding in a way more challenging and less simplified than the discourse of Orientalism has made possible."--Zhang Longxi, University of California, Riverside"Chen offers a new theoretical framework on cultural studies. Extensive notations and a Chinese glossary enhance the books usefulness for all levels."--Choice"An ambitious, revisionist challenge to Edward Saids concept of Orientalism....Chens thesis is fundamentally sound, supportable, and intellectually challenging."--Kirkus Reviews"This is a very thought-provoking work. Chen draws upon a wide range of interesting Chinese material in a way that few non-Chinese scholars could hope to match, and provides interesting readings of this material with the commitment and sensibilities of the insider."--Arif Dirlik, University of Victoria"Occidentalism is a stunning and innovative book that will have a profound impact on the fields of Chinese studies and modern Chinese literature and society. Not only is it well researched, well written, and lively, it is bold, even daring, in its analytic thrust. Professor Chen has made a most welcome contribution to our understanding of contemporary Chinese culture, but more importantly, she has made a valuable contribution to the theoreticalliterature on cultural studies. Her critique of Edward Said is devastating and right on target."--Paul Pickowicz, University of California, San Diego"Occidentalism is a much needed book that speaks for and as a non-Western Other, and will help us deal with the complexity of cross-cultural understanding in a way more challenging and less simplified than the discourse of Orientalism has made possible."--Zhang Longxi, University of California, Riverside"Chen offers a new theoretical framework on cultural studies. Extensive notations and a Chinese glossary enhance the books usefulness for all levels."--Choice"Lucidly argued, convincing, and elegantly written, Chens study is a major contribution to East-West studies, comparative literature, and cultural hermeneutics."--The Comparatist"... Chens analysis of the way in which Occidentalism is constructed and the roles it plays within the Chinese political arena brings out the highly complex nature of cultural relations."--Research in Africal Literatures"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 Kirkus US Review An ambitious revisionist challenge to Edward Saids concept of Orientalism. Chert (East Asian Language and Literature/Ohio State Univ.) advances the notion that the influence and presence of Western culture and ideas in China cant be dismissed simply as yet another instance of Western hegemony and cultural imperialism. To make her case, she meticulously scrutinizes several cross-cultural intersections in contemporary China. One chapter is devoted to the 1988 Chinese TV series He Shang, which the author writes was "widely noted..for its positive image of a scientific and modern West." However, she notes that it would be a mistake to see this as an instance of Western cultural imperialism, that the shows writers reinvented for their own purposes Western ideological constructs in the service of an essentially Chinese political debate and that, in the end, the effect of the show was profoundly liberating. In "The Occidental Theater," she explores how Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Brecht have been performed and received by audiences in China, making the point that, translated into Chinese and performed in 20th-century China, they become new plays, appropriated by Chinese culture as much as they are imposed upon China by an allegedly alien Western culture. Whether discussing theater or the relationship between menglong poetry in post-Mao China and European modernism, Chen argues for a more fluid understanding of how Eastern and Western cultures cross-pollinate, making the point that it is often difficult to predict which influences will be politically oppressive and which liberating. There are, however, some lapses in consistency. In the final chapter, she paints the West as a superimposing, patriarchal "surrogate" father who stands guardedly behind the "domestic father" of China against any possibility of gender liberation of their Chinese daughters. This is an arguable point, but its surely inconsistent with the central thesis of the book and leads one to wonder if Chert isnt engaging in a bit of Occidentalism herself. Minor problems, and a thick theoretical vocabulary aside, Chens thesis is fundamentally sound, supportable, and intellectually challenging. (Kirkus Reviews) Long Description 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 from 1978-1988. Chen examines the cultural and political interrelations 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 Saids construction in Orientalism ofcross-cultural appropriations as a defining facet of Western imperialism, Chen argues that the appropriation of Western discourse--what she calls "Occidentalism"--can have a politically and ideologically liberating effect on contemporary non-Western culture. Using China as a focus of her analysis, Chen examines avariety of cultural media, from Shakesperian drama, to Western modernist poetry, to contemporary Chinese television. 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 andcultural studies that reenvisions cross-cultural appropriation. Review Text "An ambitious, revisionist challenge to Edward Saids concept of Orientalism....Chens thesis is fundamentally sound, supportable, and intellectually challenging."--Kirkus Reviews"This is a very thought-provoking work. Chen draws upon a wide range of interesting Chinese material in a way that few non-Chinese scholars could hope to match, and provides interesting readings of this material with the commitment and sensibilities of the insider."--Arif Dirlik, University of Victoria"Occidentalism is a stunning and innovative book that will have a profound impact on the fields of Chinese studies and modern Chinese literature and society. Not only is it well researched, well written, and lively, it is bold, even daring, in its analytic thrust. Professor Chen has made a most welcome contribution to our understanding of contemporary Chinese culture, but more importantly, she has made a valuable contribution to the theoreticalliterature on cultural studies. Her critique of Edward Said is devastating and right on target."--Paul Pickowicz, University of California, San Diego"Occidentalism is a much needed book that speaks for and as a non-Western Other, and will help us deal with the complexity of cross-cultural understanding in a way more challenging and less simplified than the discourse of Orientalism has made possible."--Zhang Longxi, University of California, Riverside"Chen offers a new theoretical framework on cultural studies. Extensive notations and a Chinese glossary enhance the books usefulness for all levels."--Choice"An ambitious, revisionist challenge to Edward Saids concept of Orientalism....Chens thesis is fundamentally sound, supportable, and intellectually challenging."--Kirkus Reviews"This is a very thought-provoking work. Chen draws upon a wide range of interesting Chinese material in a way that few non-Chinese scholars could hope to match, and provides interesting readings of this material with the commitment and sensibilities of the insider."--Arif Dirlik, University of Victoria"Occidentalism is a stunning and innovative book that will have a profound impact on the fields of Chinese studies and modern Chinese literature and society. Not only is it well researched, well written, and lively, it is bold, even daring, in its analytic thrust. Professor Chen has made a most welcome contribution to our understanding of contemporary Chinese culture, but more importantly, she has made a valuable contribution to the theoreticalliterature on cultural studies. Her critique of Edward Said is devastating and right on target."--Paul Pickowicz, University of California, San Diego"Occidentalism is a much needed book that speaks for and as a non-Western Other, and will help us deal with the complexity of cross-cultural understanding in a way more challenging and less simplified than the discourse of Orientalism has made possible."--Zhang Longxi, University of California, Riverside"Chen offers a new theoretical framework on cultural studies. Extensive notations and a Chinese glossary enhance the books usefulness for all levels."--Choice"Lucidly argued, convincing, and elegantly written, Chens study is a major contribution to East-West studies, comparative literature, and cultural hermeneutics."--The Comparatist"... Chens analysis of the way in which Occidentalism is constructed and the roles it plays within the Chinese political arena brings out the highly complex nature of cultural relations."--Research in Africal Literatures"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 Review Quote "This is a very thought-provoking work. Chen draws upon a wide range ofinteresting Chinese material in a way that few non-Chinese scholars could hopeto match, and provides interesting readings of this material with the commitmentand sensibilities of the insider."--Arif Dirlik, University of Victoria Details ISBN0195085795 Author Xiaomei Chen Short Title OCCIDENTALISM Language English ISBN-10 0195085795 ISBN-13 9780195085792 Media Book Format Hardcover Year 1995 Illustrations bibliography Residence OH, US Birth 1954 Position Professor of Economics, Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Director, National Institute of Economic Research, Subtitle A Theory of Counter-Discourse in Post-Mao China Imprint Oxford University Press Inc Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Affiliation Professor of Buddhism and Tibetan Studies, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Michigan Replaced by 9780847698752 DOI 10.1604/9780195085792 UK Release Date 1995-12-14 AU Release Date 1995-12-14 NZ Release Date 1995-12-14 US Release Date 1995-12-14 Edited by Richard Jones Qualifications Jr Publisher Oxford University Press Inc Publication Date 1995-12-14 DEWEY 306.0951 Audience Professional & Vocational Pages 256 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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