东方主义阴影笼罩下的《喜福会》

在《喜福会》中,华裔作家谭恩美从母女关系的角度阐述中美两种文化的差异、冲突及融合。在作者笔下,中国呈现了神秘莫测、阴森恐怖的景象,而美国则是自由平等、富足幸福的社会,这正是东方主义中阐述的东方是低劣的而西方是优越的理念。     

‘“La Choy Chinese Food Swings American?:”’ Korean Immigrant Entrepreneurship and American Orientalism Before World War II

This article traces the early years of La Choy Food Products, a company that pioneered the mass production of Chinese food for home consumption in the early part of the twentieth century in the USA. In particular, this article focuses on how Ilhan New, a Korean immigrant entrepreneur negotiated American Orientalism to carve out an economic niche in the American ethnic food market. Importantly, the story of Ilhan New and the rise of La Choy and its role in assimilating Chinese food for American consumers, demonstrates how Asian immigrants understood and utilized Orientalist discourse to negotiate a "space" that benefited their material experiences. It also reveals how racial understandings structured the economic opportunities of Asian immigrants in the USA before World War II.     

Lost in TransNation: Tokyo and the urban imaginary in the era of globalization

Abstract

The 2003 film Lost in Translation has attracted both acclaim and critique concerning its representation of the urban imaginary of Tokyo. Examining both the film representation and the critical responses to the imaginary, this paper discusses how they illuminate some of the emerging issues that Tokyo and Japan face in the era of globalization, such as the loss of the idiosyncratic status of non‐Western modernity that Japan has long enjoyed; post‐(self)Orientalist cultural othering; and the transnational alliance of media and cultural industries in a global cultural economy of branding the nation through media and consumer cultures, all at the expense of the issue of intensifying migration and multicultural situations in the urban space. It will be suggested that both the film and Japanese critiques of the film are lost in the actuality of Tokyo (indeed, of Japan) and its populace, which is being radically transformed by intensifying transnational flows of people, capital, and media imagery.     

Associative identity politics: unmasking the multi‐layered formation of queer male selves in 1990s Japan

Abstract

This paper discusses one way to articulate queer male identity politics in 1990s Japan through Fran Martin’s conceptualization of the ‘mask’ (Martin 2003 Martin, Fran. 2003. Situating sexualities: queer presentation in Taiwanese fiction, film and public culture, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.  [Google Scholar]). By comparatively examining two key Japanese ‘gay’ coming‐out narratives, the paper shows how a reading of queer subject formation in the decade through a metaphor of ‘masking’ can shed light on the complex scenarios functioning beneath the surface of identity politics. I argue that the notion of ‘masking’ is useful in reading the multiple axes incorporated into queer identity formation in Japan in the context of globalization. The paper further refutes any reductive claim that queer identity in Japan can be understood in terms of essentialist epistemological binaries, such as global/local, West/non‐West, and Japan/abroad.     

“格格不入”的审视者和批判者——萨义德与当代文化研究

萨义德在20世纪文化研究史上,有着举足轻重的地位。其学术思想中生长着一种具有强大批判性乃至颠覆性的力量。在当下的后现代语境中,萨义德以独到的眼光,审视东西文化交往的过去,为文学和文化研究提供了独特的洞见和启示。     

英国电影中的华人身份

早期英国电影中的华人题材主要由白人制造,他们把华人身份塑造为东方"他者",主要包括四种类型:1."黄祸";2.舞女;3.和尚;4.功夫子弟。这些形象既迎合了英国人的自我优越感,又支撑了英帝国的文化霸权。后期华人题材主要由华裔制造,他们塑造的华人形象主要有两类:"不能说话的"流散群体和挣扎身份的混杂体,其影片首度关注英国真实的华人流散生活以及他们在中英文化接触区挣扎身份的困境,这在一定程度上矫正了银幕上的民族形象,但是华人身份的本质改变依旧任重而道远。     

从东方主义视角解读《葡萄园》中的日本形象

托马斯·品钦是当代最杰出的美国小说家之一。虽然是身处20世纪的后现代主义作家,品钦仍然无法摆脱东方主义的影响。在他的《葡萄园》一书中,日本是一个经常出现的形象。在文章中,笔者介绍了《葡萄园》中东方主义语境下的忍者和忍术、主人公武志及其和丹瑞尔·露易丝的关系以及既宁静又混乱的日本。同时,笔者还指出这种矛盾的日本形象是美国人渴望宁静生活和惧怕强大日本共同作用的结果。最后,笔者指出作品中的东方是作为一个西方人的托马斯·品钦在东方主义的影响下创造和虚构出来的,是为西方人服务的。     

再看赛义德的《东方学》

爱德华.W.赛义德通过《东方学》一书详细介绍了东方学的内涵和实质,尖锐地指出东方学即是西方操纵控制东方的一门霸权主义学问。这一深刻而大胆的洞见揭开了后殖民文化的真正面目。同时,赛义德对东方学提出的某些观点也具有偏颇之处,他以不全面的文化观来看待西方文化,抹杀了西方进步作家的功绩,混淆了文化和政治的界限。这些问题无论是研究西方文化还是东方文化,都需要思考。     

浅议《Pocahontas》中的东方主义元素

本文以赛义德的东方主义理论为基础,初步探讨《Pocahontas》中的东方主义元素。这部影片改编自真实历史,但迪斯尼站在西方的立场上,用东方主义的偏见来看待这段历史以及故事中双方代表的印第安文化和白人文化。     

布勒特·哈特的华人叙事

布勒特.哈特的作品再现了十九世纪美国西部地区的风土人情,使他成了“地方色彩”(Local Color)文学的代表人物。哈特的两篇作品《异教徒中国佬》和《异教徒李顽》都以中国移民为主人公,但在对待华人的态度上,哈特是自相矛盾的:他一方面谴责针对华人的暴行,同情华人受到的不公正待遇,另一方面,他所塑造的华人形象是歪曲、片面的“刻板印象”(stereotype),反映了作者和美国大众的东方主义思想。