Positive and Negative Orientalism: âChina as a Careerâ

Chi Sum Garfield Lau

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Chapter 6 Positive and Negative Orientalism: âChina as a Careerâ

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Chi Sum Garfield Lau

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Art:: Kapitel

Seiten:: 157â178

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004728608_008

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Edward Said begins Orientalism (1978) with two epigraphs, one from Karl Marx and the other from the former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. Though the referent is missing in the first statement from Marx, reading the quote from Marx next to the quote from Disraeli makes it clear that the East is more than a presumed referent. While the East is passively labeled as unable of defining itself without the Western world, portraying the East has long been a promising âcareerâ to people from the West.

Inspired by Saidâs epigraphs, this chapter explores how the portrayal of China was a career in the past and is so at present. Owing to Saidâs special attention to travel writings, two iconic travel narratives produced when China was perceived dissimilarly by the West are used to evaluate the changing perceptions of China and its people. The chapter begins with an analysis over the legendary and controversial portrayal of China in The Travels of Marco Polo (1300). The discussion serves to affirm how the East is both a career and an object of Western fantasies. The focus lies on Marco Poloâs positive portrayal of China under Kublai Khan and his understanding towards the differentiation between the nomadic Mongols from the majority of the population as Han Chinese. Then, to proceed with the disentangling of Chinese communitiesâ features through the eyes of foreign sojourners, the discussion turns to Martha Gellhornâ travelogue Travels with Myself and Another: A Memoir (1978). Different from Marco Poloâs positive affirmation of China as a glamorous land of tremendous wealth, Gellhornâs observation is characterized by the sense of toxic negativity. Her travelogue captures various realistic issues in Hong Kong that are related to poverty and social stratification during British colonial governance. This chapter presents two types of orientalist perspectives while favoring a nuanced picture of the differentiations between male/female and etic/emic perspectives.

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Hong Kong Studies

The Culture and Politics of Realignment

Reihe:Â Hong Kong Culture and Literature, Band: 1

ISBN:: 9789004728608

Verleger:: Brill

Print-Publikationsdatum:: 06 Oct 2025

Fachgebiete
- Asien-Studien
  - Ostasien
  - Literatur & Kultur
- Sozialwissenschaften
  - Asien-Studien

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Chapter 6 Positive and Negative Orientalism: âChina as a Careerâ

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Hong Kong Studies

The Culture and Politics of Realignment

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Chapter 6 Positive and Negative Orientalism: âChina as a Careerâ