Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978) has generally been recognized as
an influential study of western literary perceptions of the East, but
numerous critics have also challenged his geographical parameters as too
narrow and his conceptual framework as insufficiently complex. This
thesis further expands the study of Orientalism (1) by focussing on a
colonized area generally overlooked in this context, namely Southeast Asia;
(2) by including a writer of German background, a nationality frequently
omitted in the discussion of colonial history in general and of Orientalism
in particular; and (3) perhaps most importantly, by juxtaposing the views
of a Chinese author with those of western writers.
This thesis is the critical study of three authors about their travels in
Southeast Asia: Isabella Bird (1831-1904), Max Dauthendey (1867-1918)
and Ai Wu (1904-1992). Since postcolonial criticism does not generally
concern itself with the cultural habits which are formed in a traveller’s
native society prior to his or her departure, this approach alone does not
provide the tools for the differentiated kind of investigation I wish to
conduct. I therefore draw on the cultural criticism of Pierre Bourdieu
(1972, 1979, 1993), Johannes Fabian (1983, 1991), and Walter Benjamin
(1969, 1974, 1985), to focus on a decisive moment in each traveller’s
background, which may be said to have shaped his or her perception of
other cultures. In Bird’s case, this event was the 1851 Exhibition which
encapsulated the Victorian ideals of industrial progress, imperial
expansion, and Christian philanthropy. By contrast, Dauthendey’s
responses were shaped by the Art Nouveau sensibilities he bad acquired in
the German, French, and Scandinavian bohème. Finally, Al Wu derived his
outlook from the May Fourth Movement, a brief period when western
ideas were welcomed into Chinese social and literary history.
Said’s Orietalism posits the homogeneous cultural entity of an
imperial West in contradistinction to a victimized East. This thesis does not
reverse these categories, but it does provide the space for an equal
discussion of Chinese and western writings within a differentiated
historical context.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/7522 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Ng, Maria Noelle |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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