Title Embracing the East : white women and American orientalism / Mari Yoshihara

Published Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2003

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Description 1 online resource (x, 242 pages) : illustrations Contents Materializing Asia -- Performing Asia -- Authorizing Asia Summary As exemplified by Madame Butterfly, East-West relations have often been expressed as the relations between the masculine, dominant West and the feminine, submissive East. Yet, this binary model does not account for the important role of white women in the construction of Orientalism. Mari Yoshihara's study examines a wide range of white women who were attracted to Japan and China in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and shows how, through their engagement with Asia, these women found new forms of expression, power, and freedom that were often denied to them in other realms of their lives in America. She demonstrates how white women's attraction to Asia shaped and was shaped by a complex mix of exoticism for the foreign, admiration for the refined, desire for power and control, and love and compassion for the people of Asia. Through concrete historical narratives and careful textual analysis, she examines the ideological context for America's changing discourse about Asia and interrogates the power and appeal--as well as the problems and limitations--of American Orientalism for white women's explorations of their identities.; Combining the analysis of race and gender in the United States and the study of U.S.-Asian relations, Yoshihara's work represents the transnational direction of scholarship in American Studies and U.S. history. In addition, this interdisciplinary work brings together diverse materials and approaches, including cultural history, material culture, visual arts, performance studies, and literary analysis Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-235) and index Notes English Print version record Subject Women, White -- Race identity -- United States Women, White -- United States -- Ethnic identity Orientalism -- Social aspects -- United States Public opinion -- United States East and West -- History SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Women's Studies. East and West Ethnic relations Literature Orientalism -- Social aspects Public opinion Public opinion, American Race relations SUBJECT Asia -- Foreign public opinion, American Asia -- In literature United States -- Race relations. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140494 United States -- Ethnic relations. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140043 Subject Asia United States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780198033233 0198033230 0195185102 9780195185102 019514533X 9780195145335 0195145348 9780195145342 128053530X 9781280535307 1282367374 9781282367371 9786612367373 6612367377 9786610535309 6610535302 1602564590 9781602564596 0190287004 9780190287009

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