Visualizing orientalness : Chinese immigration and race in U.S. motion pictures, 1910s-1930s /

In the early twentieth century Hollywood was fascinated by the Far East. Chinese immigrants, however, were excluded since 1882 and racism pervaded U.S. society. When motion pictures became the most popular form of entertainment, immigration and race were heavily debated topics. 'Visualizing Ori...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Schmidt, Björn A. (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Köln : Böhlau Verlag, 2017.
Series:Kölner historische Abhandlungen ; Bd. 53.
Subjects:
Description
Summary:In the early twentieth century Hollywood was fascinated by the Far East. Chinese immigrants, however, were excluded since 1882 and racism pervaded U.S. society. When motion pictures became the most popular form of entertainment, immigration and race were heavily debated topics. 'Visualizing Orientalness' is the first book that analyses the significance of motion pictures within these discourses. Taking up approaches from the fields of visual culture studies and visual history, Björn A. Schmidt undertakes a visual discourse analysis of films from the 1910s to 1930s. The author shows how the visuality of films and the historical discourses and practices that surrounded them portrayed Chinese immigration and contributed to notions of Chinese Americans as a foreign and other race.
Item Description:Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universität zu Köln, 2015.
Physical Description:399 pages : illustrations, facsimiles, portraits ; 24 cm.
Bibliography:Includes filmography, bibliographical references (page 353-386) and indexes.
ISBN:9783412505325
3412505323