Occidentalism
Subtitle: a theory of counter-discourse in post-Mao China
By: Xiaomei Chen.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 239
Subjects: East and West.; Chinese literature -- 20th century -- Western influences.; China -- Intellectual life -- 1976-; China -- Politics and government -- 1976-2002.
Description: In the first comprehensive study of Occidentalism in post-Mao China, 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. She 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 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.

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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-232) and index.