ASIA 290 – Travel and Travel Writing in Asia, c1500-present

An increasingly popular genrenbsp;- addressing issues of empire, colonialism, post-colonialism, globalization, gender and politicsnbsp;- travel writing offers the reader a movement between the familiar and the unknown. In this volume, Carl Thompson: introduces the genre, outlining competing definitions and key debates nbsp;provides a broad historical survey from the medieval period to the present day explores the autobiographical dimensions of the form looks at both men and women's travel writing, surveying a range of canonical and more marginal works, drawn from both the colonial and postcolonial era utilises both British and American travelogues to consider the genre's role in shaping the history of both nations. Concise and practical, Travel Writing is the ideal introduction for those new to the subject, as well as a crucial overview of current debates in the field.

This book examine various topics and contexts of travel writings on China, Japan and Southeast Asia. From the first Colombian on a trade mission to China, to French women travellers in Asia, and the opening of Japan Fairs in the US during the latter half of the nineteenth century, this book offers a kaleidoscopic glimpse of the various cultures in the eyes of their beholders coupled with insightful understanding of the various politics and relationships that are involved.

Re-Orienting China challenges the notion of the travel writer as imperialistic, while exploring the binary opposition of self/other. Featuring analyses of rarely studied writers on post-1949 China, including Jan Wong, Jock T. Wilson, Peter Hessler, Leslie T. Chang, Hill Gates, and Yi-Fu Tuan, Re-Orienting China demonstrates the transformative power of travel, as it changes our preconceived notions of home and abroad. Drawing on her own experience as a Chinese expat living in Canada, Leilei Chen embraces the possibility of productive cross-border relationships that are critical in today's globalized world. "An intriguing contribution to research. Postcolonial studies is in the process of exploring ways to get past the binary opposition of self/other, and books like Re-Orienting China are an important part of this project." Pamela McCallum, Cultural Memories and Imagined Futures "Chen brings an intimate awareness of the internal diversity within China which is too often downplayed or ignored by foreign observers." Stephen Clark, Asian Crossings: Travel Writing on China, Japan and Southeast Asia

For centuries, travelers have made Central Asia known to the wider world through their writings. In this volume, scholars employ these little-known texts in a wide range of Asian and European languages to trace how Central Asia was gradually absorbed into global affairs. The representations of the region brought home to China and Japan, India and Persia, Russia and Great Britain, provide valuable evidence that helps map earlier periods of globalization and cultural interaction.

This book represents the work of expert scholars, it is also accessible to non-specialists with an interest in travel writing and China, and care has been taken to explain the critical terms and ideas deployed in the essays from recent scholarship of the travel genre.