"Africa is an artificial entity," notes Ruth Mayer, "invented and conceived by colonialism." In this wide-ranging study, Mayer explores the ways in which Western, and especially American, popular culture has manufactured and deployed various images of "Africa," and how those changing constructions have reflected Western social and political concerns from the era of colonialism to the age of globalization.

Mayer mines an enormous array of sources to expose the diverse images and narrative strategies that have been prominent in Western representations of Africa. She ranges authoritatively...

This book explores particular facets of the history and representation of the Pacific Rim region, focusing on the interactions between the United States and China at the beginning of the twentieth century. It critically examines contemporary discourses on such seemingly recent concepts as transnationalism and cultural citizenship, showing that they can actually be traced much further back, and that they are closely tied to the debates around nationalism, global capitalism, and religion of the time. This series of reflections on political exchanges and conflicts offers a special focus on the...

Interrelating different locations and time frames, this volume discloses both the numerous analogies and fascinating differences which characterise the myths and realities of Chinatowns in Europe and the United States.

The evil mastermind and master of disguise Fu Manchu has long threatened to take over the world. In the past century, his dastardly plans have driven serialized novels, comic books, films, and TV. Yet this sinister Oriental character represents more than an invincible criminal in pop culture; Fu Manchu became the embodiment of the Yellow Peril."Serial Fu Manchu" provides a savvy cultural, historical, and media-based analysis that shows how Fu Manchu s irrepressibility gives shape to and reinforces the persistent Yellow Peril myth. Ruth Mayer argues that seriality is not merely a commercial...

The evil mastermind and master of disguise Fu Manchu has long threatened to take over the world. In the past century, his dastardly plans have driven serialized novels, comic books, films, and TV. Yet this sinister Oriental character represents more than an invincible criminal in pop culture; Fu Manchu became the embodiment of the Yellow Peril.Serial Fu Manchu provides a savvy cultural, historical, and media-based analysis that shows how Fu Manchu s irrepressibility gives shape to and reinforces the persistent Yellow Peril myth. Ruth Mayer argues that seriality is not merely a...