Title: Transpacific Community: America, China, and the Rise and Fall of a Cultural Network
Abstract: Richard Jean So argues against a binary paradigm in scholarship pertaining to U.S.-Chinese relations between the 1920s and the 1950s, positing instead that a more vibrant exchange existed. He explores a dynamic cultural interchange that involved creative collaborations among Americans and Chinese who influenced public attitudes on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. A transcultural, transpacific intellectual community reflected a richer transfer of ideas and influence than has been recognized. These creatives employed literature, arts, and emerging communications technologies to “forge communicative and imaginative opportunities” that united publics in common causes (p. xxvii). These communities advanced liberalism and democratic principles, even though those concepts carried different meanings for those who employed them. Setting these collaborative partnerships in historical context, So examines literary and artistic decisions that reflected cross-cultural influences and the needs of transpacific publics. In his exploration of the challenges, successes, and occasional failures of these partnerships, So brings new light to our understanding of important actors and works. Agnes Smedley and Ding Ling used female protagonists to evoke sympathies for Chinese on the left. Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (1931) and her 1933 translation of Shuihu Zhuan (All men are brothers) positioned the common man as central to democracy. Paul Robeson and Liu Liangmo collaborated in creating folk music that bridged cultural difference. Lin Yutang and the publisher Richard Walsh envisioned Chinese masses as “naturally democratic” but struggled with that ideal as postwar public sympathies shifted (pp. 144–45). Lao She and Ida Pruitt's collaborative process gave voice to the two creators of the novel The Yellow Storm (1951) but damaged their relationship.
Publication Year: 2017
Publication Date: 2017-06-30
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 17
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