Techno-Orientalism: Imagining Asia in Speculative Fiction, History, and Media - Asian American Studies Today

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Review Quotes: "'Techno-orientalism' is everywhere. This volume demonstrates for the first time that it is an indispensable critical category for contemporary thought. Any attempt to think globalization, neo-liberalism, and the human is incomplete without it."--Mark C. Jerng"University of California, Davis" (12/05/2014) Biographical Note: DAVID S. ROH is an assistant professor of American literature and digital humanities at Old Dominion University. He is the author of "Illegal Literature: Toward a Disruptive Creativity." BETSY HUANG is an associate professor of English and chief officer of Diversity and Inclusion at Clark University. She is the author of "Contesting Genres in Contemporary Asian American Fiction." GRETA A. NIU earned her Ph. D. in English from Duke University and has taught at SUNY Brockport, University of Rochester, and St. John Fisher College. Review Quotes: "Situating itself at the nexus of Asian and Asian American Studies, "Techno-Orientalism" covers an exciting range of topics and draws productive connections between literature, popular culture, technology, and the emergent geopolitics of what has been called the Pacific Century. This collection is a vital contribution to global media and cultural studies."--Peter Paik "author of From Utopia to Apocalypse: Science Fiction and the Politics of Catastr "Publisher Marketing: What will the future look like? To judge from many speculative fiction films and books, from "Blade Runner" to "Cloud Atlas," the future will be full of cities that resemble Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, and it will be populated mainly by cold, unfeeling citizens who act like robots. "Techno-Orientalism "investigates the phenomenon of imagining Asia and Asians in hypo- or hyper-technological terms in literary, cinematic, and new media representations, while critically examining the stereotype of Asians as both technologically advanced and intellectually primitive, in dire need of Western consciousness-raising. The collection's fourteen original essays trace the discourse of techno-orientalism across a wide array of media, from radio serials to cyberpunk novels, from Sax Rohmer's Dr. Fu Manchu to "Firefly." Applying a variety of theoretical, historical, and interpretive approaches, the contributors consider techno-orientalism a truly global phenomenon. In part, they tackle the key question of how these stereotypes serve to both express and assuage Western anxieties about Asia's growing cultural influence and economic dominance. Yet the book also examines artists who have appropriated techno-orientalist tropes in order to critique racist and imperialist attitudes. "Techno-Orientalism" is the first collection to define and critically analyze a phenomenon that pervades both science fiction and real-world news coverage of Asia. With essays on subjects ranging from wartime rhetoric of race and technology to science fiction by contemporary Asian American writers to the cultural implications of Korean gamers, this volume offers innovative perspectives and broadens conventional discussions in Asian American Cultural studies.

Contributor Bio:  Crum, Jason Author Jason Crum has done about the same things as his character the magic handyman Magic Jeff- including live in his van. Jason grew up on a goat farm, made a lot of independent films and had two kids. He is currently a leather worker and a dancer. Contributor Bio:  Chu, Seo-Young Seo-Young Chu is Assistant Professor of English at Queens College, City University of New York.