Travel Writings on Asia: Curiosity, Identities, and Knowledge Across the East, C. 1200 to the Present

ISBN-13: 9789811901232 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022

Mueller, Christian

Opis

This open access book provides an analysis of human actors and their capacity to explore and conceptualise their own agency by being curious, gathering knowledge, and shaping identities in their travel reflections on Asia. Thus, the actors open windows across time to present a profound overview of diverse descriptions and constructions of Asia. It is demonstrated that international and transnational history contributes to and benefits from analyses of national and local contexts that in turn enrich our understanding of transcultural encounters and experiences across time.
The book proposes an actor-centred contextual approach to travel writing to recount meaningful constructions of Asia’s physical, political and spiritual landscapes. It offers comparative reflections on the patterns of encounter across Eurasia, where from the late medieval period an idea of civilisation was transculturally shared yet also constantly questioned and reframed. Tailored for academic and public discussions alike, this volume will be invaluable for both scholars of Global History and interested audiences to stimulate further discussions on the nature of global encounters in Asia.

Spis treści

Introduction.- Section 1: Re-forging Frontiers in Asia – Local and Transcontinental Mobilities in the Global Middle Ages.- Travel, Order and Knowledge: Local officials in the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279) and Functions of Travelling in China.- Transcultural Perceptions of the ‘East’ in the 13th and 14th century – towards a study of curiosity in the Global Middle Ages.- Massacres and Mobilities: Human Movement in the Mongol World Empire.- Section 2: Mapping ‘New’ Frontiers – Curiosity and Knowledge.- Antonio Pigafetta’s Asia.- Bowing to a new king – The Ming-Qing transition in European sources.- The Silk Road as a Spiritual Landscape: The Otani Expeditions and Tibet.- Section 3: The Imperial ‘Gaze’ – Hegemonic Perceptions of Knowledge and Power.- Britain’s Brave Boys and the Haunted House of China. British ‘Adventurers’ and the Empire’s ‘Special Mission’ in the Asia Pacific during the 1840s.- German Dreams of an Empire in the East. The German Expeditions to East Asia and Ferdinand von Richthofen’s encounters with China, 1850 – 1880.- At the Edge of Empire: The Japanese Army in Rehe (Jehol) in the early 1930s.- Section 4: Transnational Perspectives in a Digital Age – Reflections on Global Mobilities in Asia.- A Very, Not So Modern Journey: Representing Europe – Asia encounters through a contemporary Chinese lens.- Mobility and Identity: Northern Drifters and Digital Nomads.

O autorze

Christian Mueller is Associate Professor in European and International History, University of Nottingham Ningbo China.

Matteo Salonia is Assistant Professor in European and International History, University of Nottingham Ningbo China.

Blurb

The open access book provides an analysis of human actors and their capacity to explore and conceptualise their own agency by being curious, gathering knowledge, and shaping identities in their travel reflections on Asia. Thus, the actors open windows across time to present a profound overview of diverse descriptions and constructions of Asia. The authors demonstrate that international and transnational history contributes to and benefits from analyses of national and local contexts that in turn enrich our understanding of transcultural encounters and experiences across time.

The book proposes an actor-centred contextual approach to travel writing to recount meaningful constructions of Asia’s physical, political and spiritual landscapes. It offers comparative reflections on the patterns of encounter across Eurasia, where from the late medieval period an idea of civilisation was transculturally shared yet also constantly questioned and reframed. Tailored for academic and public discussions alike, this volume will be invaluable for both scholars of Global History and interested audiences to stimulate further discussions on the nature of global encounters in Asia.

Christian Mueller is Associate Professor in European and International History, University of Nottingham Ningbo China.

Matteo Salonia is Assistant Professor in European and International History, University of Nottingham Ningbo China.