East by South: China in the Australasian Imagination

2005

At a time when China is being seen as the next superpower, both sweatshop and powerhouse for the global economy, political courtship on the part of interested governments is accompanied by grassroots hostility. Such ambivalence is not new.

In the era of nineteenth-century globalisation, desire for exotic goods from the ‘East’ was contradicted by a fear of the ‘Yellow Peril’ breaching the borders of vulnerable colonies. This was unusually marked in the small settler communities of Australia and New Zealand, where distance from the imperial centre led to a uniquely potent campaign of state-sanctioned repression of Chinese immigrants.

The essays in East by South ­ which range across such media as literature, music, film and fashion ­ do more than simply examine contemporary and historic Australasian perceptions of China and the Chinese. They also discuss ways in which people of Chinese descent have made significant contributions to the history of both countries. This is the first book to compare both Australian and New Zealand orientalism and its various alternatives.

Contributors: Charles Ferrall, Mark Williams, Paul Jones, Noel Rowe, Tony Ballantyne, Timothy Kendall, David Walker, Paul Millar, Duncan Campbell, Jane Stafford, Henry Johnson, Ouyang Yu, Dugal McKinnon, Keren smith, Kylie Message, Phil Mann, Adam Lam, Peta Stephenson, Brian Moloughney, Wenche Ommundsen

Contents

Preface
Charles Ferrall, Paul Millar and Keren Smith

An Introduction to Australasian Orientalism
Charles Ferrall

PART A: Australasian Sinophobia and Sinophilia
Section 1: Socio-Political Perspectives

1 Sentimental Racism Mark Williams

2 The View from the Edge: Chinese Australians and China, 1890 to 1949 Paul Jones

3 The Misty Ways of Asia Noel Rowe

4 Writing out Asia: Race, Colonialism and Chinese Migration in New Zealand History Tony Ballantyne

5 Using the Past to Serve the Present: Renewing Australia’s Invasion Anxiety Timothy Kendall

6 Godless Heathen: China in the American Bestseller David Walker

Section 2: Aesthetic Perspectives

7 ‘Canton Bromides’: The Chinese Presence in Twentieth-century New Zealand Fiction Paul Millar

8 ‘What lies beneath those strange rich surfaces?’ Chinoiserie in Thorndon Duncan Campbell

9 Robin Hyde'’s Dragon Rampant and 1930s Travel Writing Jane Stafford

10 Performing Identity, Past and Present: Chinese Cultural Performance, New Year Celebrations, and the Heritage Industry Henry Johnson

11 How Post Are They Colonial: An Enquiry into Christopher Koch, Blanche d’Alpuget and Bruce Grant’'s Representation of Chinese in Recent ‘Asian Writing’ Ouyang Yu

12 Other Notes: Jack Body’s Alley Dugal McKinnon

13 The Compass of Fashion Keren Smith

PART B: Alternatives to Australasian Orientalism

14 Clara Law’s Floating Life (Interview) Kylie Message

15 Inter Aliens: The Impact of China on the Creation of the Science Fiction Novel "The Eye of the Queen" Phil Mann

16 Cyber Space Freedom vs. Homeland Confinement: Virtual Chinese Communities and Diasporas Adam Lam

17 Beyond Colonial Casualties: Chinese Agency in the Australian Post/Colonial Endeavour Peta Stephenson

18 Translating Culture: Rethinking New Zealand’'s Chineseness Brian Moloughney

19 Behind the Mirror: Searching for the Chinese––Australian Self Wenche Ommundsen