The China mystique : Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong, Mayling Soong, and the transformation of American Orientalism / Karen J. Leong.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Leong, Karen J., 1968-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buck, Pearl S. (Pearl Sydenstricker), 1892-1973.

Buck, Pearl S.

Wong, Anna May, 1905-1961.

Wong, Anna May.

Chiang, May-ling Soong, 1897-2003.

Chiang, May-ling Soong.

International relations.

United States--Relations--China.

United States.

China--Relations--United States.

China.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (263 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong, Mayling Soong, and the transformation of American Orientalism

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, 2005.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

Throughout the history of the United States, images of China have populated the American imagination. Always in flux, these images shift rapidly, as they did during the early decades of the twentieth century. In this erudite and original study, Karen J. Leong explores the gendering of American orientalism during the 1930's and 1940's. Focusing on three women who were popularly and publicly associated with China-Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong, and Mayling Soong-Leong shows how each negotiated what it meant to be American, Chinese American, and Chinese against the backdrop of changes in the United States as a national community and as an international power. The China Mystique illustrates how each of these women encountered the possibilities as well as the limitations of transnational status in attempting to shape her own opportunities. During these two decades, each woman enjoyed expanding visibility due to an increasingly global mass culture, rising nationalism in Asia, the emergence of the United States from the shadows of imperialism to world power, and the more assertive participation of women in civic and consumer culture.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

1. Gendering American Orientalism

2. Pearl Sydenstricker Buck

3. Anna May Wong

4. Mayling Soong

5. Transforming American National Identity- The China Mystique

Notes

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9780520938632

0520938631

9781598755442

1598755447

OCLC:

475938395