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China and the Victorian Imagination - Empires Entwined


Author(s):
Ross G. FORMAN
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Publication:
8/2013
Languages:
English
Binding:
Hardcover
ISBN/SKU:
9781107013155
Pages:
315
Sizes:
235 x 157mm
Weight:
0.5800
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What happens to our understanding of 'orientalism' and imperialism when we consider British-Chinese relations during the nineteenth century, rather than focusing on India, Africa or the Caribbean? This book explores China's centrality to British imperial aspirations and literary production, underscoring the heterogeneous, interconnected nature of Britain's formal and informal empire. To British eyes, China promised unlimited economic possibilities, but also posed an ominous threat to global hegemony. Surveying anglophone literary production about China across high and low cultures, as well as across time, space and genres, this book demonstrates how important location was to the production, circulation and reception of received ideas about China and the Chinese. In this account, treaty ports matter more than opium. Ross Forman challenges our preconceptions about British imperialism, reconceptualizes anglophone literary production in the global and local contexts, and excavates the little-known Victorian history so germane to contemporary debates about China's 'rise'.

-Reassesses Victorian imperialism in Asia by exploring the importance of China rather than India
-Interdisciplinary focus that encompasses an array of literary and cultural materials
-Explores the role of the periodical press in fostering a literary culture in imperial and proto-imperial settings