西方媒體再現的中國：文化的誤解

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(1)The Representation of China Through Western Media: Misconstruction of Culture 西方媒體再現的中國：文化的誤解. A Thesis Presented to The Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation National Taiwan Normal University. In Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. Advisee: 廬斌 Vadim Rubin Advisor: 李根芳 Ken-fang Lee September 2020 Taipei, Taiwan.

(2) 1. Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 2 摘要 ........................................................................................................................................................ 3 Chapter One: Introduction....................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter Two: Theory, Literature Review, and Purpose .......................................................................... 12 Theories ............................................................................................................................................ 12 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 19 Purpose and Importance ................................................................................................................... 25 Research Methods ............................................................................................................................. 30 Chapter Three: China’s History and Western Media Perspectives .......................................................... 34 Chapter Four: Manipulated in Translation ............................................................................................. 51 Pre- and Early 2018 Media Depictions................................................................................................ 53 Late-2018 to Mid-2020 Media Depictions .......................................................................................... 65 Chapter Five: Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 82 Works Cited........................................................................................................................................... 88.

(3) 2. Abstract This research examines the impact translation plays within Western news media sources in the formation of perspective, specifically the perception of China and Chinese culture. For the past century, as the English language has become the dominant form of global communication, as American culture – since the end of World War I – continues to tactfully weave its way through the fabric of global cultures, we are now seeing a resurgence of what Edward Said famously coined in his 1978 publication as ‘Orientalism’: the habitual condescending attitude of Western countries toward Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African societies and cultures. The United States and United Kingdom created a historic precedent during the late 19th century and early 20th century of forcing China into a periphery position – into the subject of ‘Other’ for the purpose of exploitation. Jumping forward to present day in which China has become one of the largest economies in the world, we see difficulty in Western countries to cope with a once second world nation rising to power. The use of media during these times aids in the creation of a China which solely serves the interests of Western countries. The former part of this thesis will provide the reader with the historical precedent in which Western countries have demonized China. The latter portion of the essay will examine English and Chinese information circulated amongst the variety of 21st century media sources concerning events that have transpired from late 2018 to present day, including: US-China Trade War, Hong Kong extradition bill, and the voracious COVID – 19 pandemic.. Keywords: cultural representation, cultural turn, cultural translation, translation, news translation, China US relations, US China trade war.

(4) 3. 摘要本研究試圖檢視西方新聞媒體的報導影響了西方社會對中華文化的印象及想法，從. 而間接造成西方社會對華人文化的誤解。從十九世紀以來，英語逐漸的變成了世界的主流語言。一次世界大戰后，美國主流文化漸漸地開始入侵蔓延至全球文化的各個角落。透過愛德華·薩伊德於 1978 年出版的⟨⟨東方主義⟩⟩，我們可以看到在十九世紀至二十世紀之間，英美兩國開了先例，為了剝削中國，基於政治及利益上的考量，透過打壓、邊緣化，在翻譯與再現中國的形象時，往往刻意使中國成爲西方社會眼裡的「他者」。現今，中國大陸已然變成世界最大的經濟體之一，但西方社會仍無法接受這個曾經第二世界國家的崛起，因此西方的新聞媒體會有意無意地挑選負面消息做爲新聞報導。本文一開始會以歷史角度切入，透過追溯歷史，讓讀者瞭解到西方世界對中華文化偏見的起源。此後本文會藉由 2018 年發生的中美貿易戰以及近日發生的新型冠狀病毒全球大流行來探討中英媒體資源對此的報導立場。關鍵詞：文化再現、文化轉向、文化翻譯、翻譯、新聞翻譯、中美關係、中美貿易戰.

(5) 4. Chapter One: Introduction The past three decades have seen a paradigm shift in the direction of translation studies. The largest shift most relevant to this research being the ‘the cultural turn.’ Coined in 1990 by Mary Snell-Hornby, the term then evolved within Susan Bassnett and Andre Lefevere’s collection, Translation, History and Culture. Translation in this era began to move away from strict text translation to translation in relation to culture and politics. Within this context, translation concerns itself with intended audiences and tightly binds the intended culture to the target text. Closely tied to the ‘cultural turn,’ postcolonial translation theory begins to arise. Postcolonial translation theory incorporates the tactics of dominantly Western countries as they forcefully instilled their own cultures and languages on colonized societies. While the U.K. and the U.S., among many other countries, spent innumerable amounts of energy spreading their ideology via colonial expansion throughout the globe during the 20th century, this essay will focus on the way in which Western powers have come to use translation and representation to pervert views of Eastern countries – specifically, China, and subsequently, Chinese culture. Over this century the world has undergone vast changes: whether political, technological, cultural, or ideological. America fell headfirst into a war with the middle east after 911; the first iPhone was released in 2008 (only 12 years ago!); China held its first Olympics in 2008; the UK passed a vote to leave the EU and, around the same time, Donald Trump was voted in as the president of the United States of America. While these events have changed the course of history as we know it, one of the biggest geopolitical and ideological changes in the past two decades has been the shift of power from West to East and the re-ascension of China as a major world.

(6) 5. power. I say re-ascension because, as Kishore Mahbubani describes in his TED Talk, “How the West Can Adapt to a Rising Asia,” China (and India) were the largest economies in the world between 1–1820 CE and only within the last 200 years has the West risen to prominence on the global stage.1 As such, China and India’s rise to power now should not come as a surprise to anyone who understands the histories of these two countries; however, the West, who have come into global dominance over the past two centuries continually search for avenues to assert their dominance. One such avenue materializes in the form of news media. In a continually globalizing society, the information we receive from news sources helps us shape our opinions of the world around us. The ways in which media outlets methodically choose stories influence how we view another country’s people, society, and culture. Those lacking in knowledge about other parts of the world are particularly susceptible to news about foreign countries. Without specialized interest or knowledge of certain parts of the world, most people will take what they read in the news at face value. The need for localization in news writing further exacerbates this issue since it changes the way stories are written, and therefore perceived, by the target audience. The way in which the West perceives China has evolved through the mediums of mass media and has created a negative representation for the modern Western populace. Chinese culture has been misconstrued and viewed through a lens of bias within Western media created by a deliberate agenda to place China on a level inferior to the West. If “…culture is said to embody the ‘best that has been thought and said’ in a society, …the sum of the great ideas, as. 1. Kishore Mahbubani shares his thoughts on how the United States ‘fell asleep’ at the exact time China and India began rising to power. His talk shares ideas of how America can learn to adapt to this new world order moving forward. Kishore Mahbubani. “How the West Can Adapt to a Rising Asia.” YouTube, uploaded by TED, 6 Sep. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsJWs6Z6eNs..

(7) 6. represented in the classic works of literature, painting, music, and philosophy…,”2 then Western media has chosen to omit the signifying features of Chinese culture and replace them with the elements that segregate it into the category of ‘Other’ for the West’s benefit. The information that the Western world receives about China shapes their understanding about Chinese culture, values, history, and development. Society is seeing a revitalization of decades’ old beliefs that are now revolved around China. These concepts are being covertly, and sometimes overtly, reformed to shape Western agendas that intend to place the West in a position of superiority.3 This superiority encompasses the realms of politics, culture, environmental issues, and social issues. With all this in mind it may be difficult to imagine translation’s role in the segregation of China and Chinese culture. As mentioned in the beginning of this introduction, translation has traditionally been thought of as a text to text transfer of meaning. In recent years, as the world increasingly shrinks, information rapidly finds itself circulating between different countries all around the world. With so much news, the need to sift through the staggering number of stories becomes ever more important. In addition, much of this news is reported using languages other than English, resulting in the need for translators; however, these two conditions bring with them a different set of rules to news agencies throughout the world. In their compilation of essays on translation within the realm of global news, Susan Bassnett and Esperanca Bielsa believe that in these modern times “…the very definition of. 2. Stuart Hall. “Introduction.” Representations: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. edited by Stuart Hall, Sage Publications, 1997, p. 3. 3 David Morley. “EurAm, modernity, reason and alterity: or, postmodernism, the highest stage of cultural imperialism?” Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies. Stuart Hall, edited by David Morley and Kuan-Hsing Chen, Routeledge, 1996, p. 328..

(8) 7. translation is challenged and the boundaries of what we might term translation have been recast.”4 No longer a transference from A to B, news translation must also deal with the cultural boundaries between different countries. As news passes from one place to the next it must go through a transformation that fits within the norms of the target culture. This is where localization comes into play. News needs to read naturally regardless of where it came from and since “…very different journalistic practices and rhetorical traditions…have become conventionalized in different cultures”5 each piece of news must conform to different norms in different countries. The difficulty being that no set rules or guidelines exist to keep news consistent across the world. This can lead to stories being manipulated and utilized strictly to fuel a specific agenda. Another pressure which not only translators, but all reporters face, is that of newsworthiness – which news stories get reported. More concerning is the select few CEO’s who control the means of global media. With such few people having reign over media sources, it can be reasonably inferred that these CEO’s and media executives have the final say as to what is newsworthy. Widespread use of the internet and the ubiquity of social media platforms have caused attention spans to decrease to a mere eight seconds. 6 With such hyper-shortened attention spans, news providers must find ways to attract readers to their articles. Catchy headlines and news that follows mainstream ideology will naturally garner more clicks than news which attempts to give its readers an adversarial opinion or an opinion opposite to that which they have. 4. Esperanca Bielsa and Susan Bassnett. “Introduction.” Translation in Global News. Routeledge, 2009, p. 2. Susan Bassnett. “Redefining Translation in a Global Age” Translation. Routeledge, 2014, p. 132 6 This Time article goes in depth into the way the digitized age has affected our abilities to stay focused on one task at a time. The study done by Microsoft Corp. found that the time people spent concentrating on a single task has decreased by 4 seconds between the years 2000 – 2015. Now, five years later, we can only imagine how much this has been exacerbated. Kevin McSpadden. “You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish.” Time, 14 May 2015. https://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/ 5.

(9) 8. grown accustomed to seeing. Combine this pressure with the need to translate news from other countries and we can see the formation of a biased world view via news media. The dangers of this kind of reporting bury themselves deep into the national psyche. They lead to xenophobia, racism, discrimination, and elitism. What we are seeing in now in the United States partly derives from this kind of media influence. Regarding the US-China relationship, China became US’s target during Obama’s first administration. According to the World Economic Forum “…US strategists and the Obama administration locked China in as its main rival and a thorn in its side, hence the shift of its global gravity to Asia, or precisely, to the surrounding regions of China.”7 This starting point has led to the US-China Trade War, beginning in 2018 and to the barbaric treatment of Chinese-Americans amid the COIVD – 19 crisis. The crude treatment of Chinese - Americans makes even more sense when we look at Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent. Although published in 1988, toward the end of the Cold War, much of the information within its pages ring true today – specifically, the fifth filter, “Anti-Communism as a Control Mechanism.” Western media needs a common enemy to push its agenda and bring the masses to a common understanding. An understanding which feeds into the hands of elites. A final filter is the ideology of anticommunism. Communism as the ultimate evil has always been the specter haunting property owners, as it threatens the very root of their class position and superior status. The Soviet, Chinese, and Cuban revolutions were traumas to Western elites, and the ongoing conflicts and the well-publicized abuses of. 7. Jin Canrong. “How America’s relationship with China changed under Obama.” World Economic Forum. 14 Dec. 2016. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/12/america-china-relationship/.

(10) 9. Communist states have contributed to elevating opposition to communism to a first principle of Western ideology and politics.8 Words written thirty-two years ago remain terrifyingly true today. Instead of Communist Russia, the enemy has now been replaced with Communist China and the repercussions can be seen plainly with the current United States presidential administration. While reporting and publishing news that fits national agendas may not change in the foreseeable future, what this research hopes to do is further an understanding of how the news continues to deliberately place China in a weaker position. “The US remains focused on itself and its allies, unable to treat China as an equal.”9 The world has seen this self-serving attitude before during the beginnings of the War in Afghanistan. The US jumped headfirst into a conflict with a country they viewed from an Americentric lens. Claiming democracy was a good fit for every nation, without truly understanding the culture and history of the area in which they would be in conflict with for the next few decades. Before history repeats itself, the media and subsequently the Western populace should see more than just the headline stories appropriated by a select few. The first part of this research will discuss China’s historical interaction with the West and how that interaction has shaped Western viewpoints on the country. The latter half of this thesis will take articles and front pages from the English and Chinese BBC’s webpages to demonstrate how the Western world manages and translates modern perspectives on China – along with Chinese culture – and how the selection of these articles reinforces preconceived stereotypes to. 8. Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Pantheon Books, 1988, p. 29. 9 Jin Canrong. “How America’s relationship with China changed under Obama.” World Economic Forum. 14 Dec. 2016. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/12/america-china-relationship/.

(11) 10. further agendas of subjugating China. This thesis does not argue that issues such as: human rights, pollution, and corruption do not exist in China. Like in many other countries, they do. The goal of this research is to make apparent the deliberate choices western media makes to have a, as Edward W. Said says, “…Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient.”10 To better comprehend the relationship between the current western media culture and its attitude toward China, a look at the key trends in history dealing with China and the West will provide a structural framework to better understanding contemporary media attitudes. I will take sources from a variety of western media outlets to provide evidence of the biased nature Western media has used to portray cultures it deems as ‘Other.’ This section of research will involve Western perspectives on threats to its global dominance. Research will be taken from media sources written in both Chinese, and English, during the eras mentioned above. This section rise of modern China and western responses to China’s growing economic power and will aim to divulge any cultural references to China with the purpose of uncovering the amount of Eastern culture portrayed by Western media. The second section of this research will delve into the use of language as a colonizing weapon, both in past and present. While translation, in the strictest sense of the word, takes one language and transforms it into another, translation also occurs when we input language of any kind into our own minds. Information is input into our auditory senses, travels through the many synapses of the brain, and stores itself there for further use. The users’ own background, culture, language, all play a major role in how they choose to translate this information.. 10. Edward W. Said. Orientalism. Vintage Books, 1979, p.3..

(12) 11. With the outbreak of COVID-19, simultaneously with the calamities to societies and medical institutions the world over, a crux of the problem arises from culture. People around the globe have been sneering at China for the mismanagement and opacity of the current pandemic. This has resulted in discrimination of Chinese around the globe – in particular, the United States. As the number of cases in the US has surpassed any other country, Chinese Americans are continuing to feel the glare from their peers. Xenophobic language continues to permeate not only news and social media, but the upper echelons of the American administration, as well..

(13) 12. Chapter Two: Theory, Literature Review, and Purpose This chapter will reflect the various translation and cultural theories being utilized within the discussion of how China and Chinese culture is represented via Western media. An explanation of how each theory connects to the focus of this research will bring give the reader a better perspective of the thesis. Following the theories, a literature review on some of the most relevant documents will explain the range of previous research and how this current project will fill in gaps and connect it to the corpus of existing information. After reading this chapter of the paper, the reader will have a better idea where to ground this research in terms of translation and cultural representation.. Theories When writing about a topic as multidisciplinary as news translation and cultural representation, there are various precedential theories that need to be considered. Key theorists such as Itamar Even-Zohar, Theo Hermans, Andre Lefevere, Susan Bassnett, Esperanca Bielsa, and Noam Chomsky pay vital roles in the understanding of cultural transfer in our modern age. Theories in cultural studies, such as: signifying practices and Saussure’s constructionist view on language also provide a framework for the understanding of how media warps language to create a mental landscape for readers that fits the desires of those in power. The utilization of these theories and ideas on the use of language and media as tools will give the readers a basis with which to frame much of this research. First and foremost, Itamar Even-Zohar’s ‘Polysystems Theory’ must act as a precursor for any conversation about the impact of translation on culture and national identity. Owing to.

(14) 13. the lack of academia and research on the potential impact of translation on culture and ‘national culture,’ Even-Zohar created the Polysystems Theory: …to point out that translation has played a major role in shaping literatures, despite its relegation to the periphery by most literary historians. Even-Zohar challenged the marginalization of translation and proposed that far more research was needed into how texts are selected for translation, what the impact of those translations on the receiving literature might be, whether there are patterns of greater or lesser translation activity at certain times and in certain cultures, and of so why this should be the case.11 His work, coupled with collaborator Gideon Toury, added the broader context of culture to the already established textual analysis which translation traditionally was analyzed. In this way, political and socio-economic factors also played into translation, while also adding national ideological perspectives. This work was then continued by Theo Hermans in Translation and Normativity. Written in 1998, it popularized the idea of norms, or values, within translation. Hermans brilliantly brings in the work of Thomas Merton’s ‘The Normative Structure of Science’ to depict how translation can also fall into the realm of scientific inquiry. He quotes Merton saying, “‘The norms [of science] are expressed in the form of prescriptions, proscriptions, preferences, and permissions. They are legitimized in terms of institutional values.’”12 These values support the conscious choices translators make when translating a text, or, in closer relation to this research, which articles to translate. In the essay’s introduction, Hermans states that the his “..focus will be on the translator’s choices against a background of a limited range of practically available alternatives,. 11. Susan Bassnett. “The Origins and Development of Translation Studies.” Translation. Routeledge, New York, 2014, p. 20. 12 Theo Hermans. “Translation and Normativity.” Current Issues in Language and Society, vol.5, No 1&2, 1998, p.51..

(15) 14. and on the possible reasons why a particular option was selected…” 13 While Hermans is referring to the choices a translator makes within a single translation, we can take this idea and expand it onto a larger scale – the choices translators make when choosing what to translate, particularly within the realm of news translation. Let’s quickly examine Hermans view on these choices: The privileging of selectivity has two distinct advantages. One the one hand, the choices which the translator makes simultaneously highlight the exclusions, the paths that were open but that were not chosen. On the other hand, the approach sheds light on the interplay between the translator’s responses to existing expectations, constraints and pressures, and his or her intentional goal-directed action or agency.14 Breaking down these ideas on a macro scale uncovers many of the points this research intends to reveal. First, revealing ‘paths’ not taken via choices made underscores the main point of this research. Journalists and media outlets consciously choosing to highlight the negative aspects of China and Chinese culture makes clear that which they are choosing not to report, the positive. Unfortunately, for those not conscious of translations minutiae, this distinction between words unspoken through words spoke is not always obvious. Second, ‘responses to existing expectations.’ In terms of this paper, ‘existing expectations’ can be taken to refer to the social values of a country and what they ‘expect’ to see from the news. This point in Hermans essay connects with his views on the “three normative levels.” The aforementioned point refers to the first level: the “general cultural and ideological norms which may be held to apply throughout the larger part of a community.”15 Later, this research will provide a historical background of. 13. Ibid., 52. Ibid., 52. 15 Theo Hermans. “Translation and Normativity.” Current Issues in Language and Society, vol.5, No 1&2, 1998, p.60. 14.

(16) 15. xenophobic attitudes toward China. This examination will make clear the ‘ideological and cultural norms’ America holds about China and how they have been used as a tool of suppression. Third, ‘constraints and pressures.’ This connects with Herman’s third normative level: “the textual and other appropriateness norms which prevail in the particular client system for which individual translations cater.”16 In the case of this research, the ‘client system’ and ‘constraints and pressures’ can be thought of as those with positions equating to media executives or higher. People in these positions have the authority to mandate what their employees report, subsequently affecting what information the populace absorbs. All of this then culminates into the fourth and final point: ‘intentional goal-directed action or agency,” with the keyword being intentional. Previous points have depicted what is not being translated, the environment in which a translation is taking place, and restrictions the translator may face. Here, with the background sufficiently explained, the choice is finally overseen by those in power, by those whose interests the translation serves to strengthen. By expanding on Even-Zohar and Gideon Toury’s research on the norm concept, he has provided a structure for modern practitioners and scholars of translation studies. His de-mantling of the idea of equivalence has further strengthened the theory of the ‘cultural turn.’ The norms concept aids in the understanding of why certain translation choices are made on an ideological, cultural, and social level and this research would be incomplete without it. One of the most influential quotes in Hermans’ essay on normativity leads into our next theorists ideas of postcolonial translation and power struggles in translation: “As postcolonial approaches to cultural history have shown again and again, relations between communities and cultures are never relations between equals.”17. 16 17. Ibid., 60 Theo Hermans. “Translation and Normativity.” Current Issues in Language and Society, vol.5, No 1&2, 1998, p.62..

(17) 16. Andre Lefevere in his seminal work Translation, Rewriting, and the Manipulation of Literary Fame discusses “…issues such as power, ideology, institution and manipulation”18 He believes that the people in power are the ones who control the means of ‘rewriting literature’ and thus have the ability to manipulate the thoughts of the masses. Through such control over translation it becomes easy to imagine how those in positions of authority can push their agendas forward. Lefevere’s theory is that “the literary system in which translation functions is controlled by two main factors, which are (1) professionals within the literary system, who partly determine the dominant poetics; and (2) patronage outside the literary system which partly determines the ideology.”19 When applied to this research, these two factors play a dominant role in the distribution of cultural and translated information. We can take (1) to be the journalists and translators within media organizations and (2) to represent media executives and those in positions of power controlling what stories make it to press. Journalists determine which parts of a translation will receive the most attention, focusing on portions in which (2) believes are imperative for the public. This combination leads to articles which are hand-picked based on the ideology of (2) and reshaped with the technical expertise of (1); however, it is (2) – the patronage – that plays the leading role in this dynamic. Lefevere believes that the pressures placed upon the translator are almost entirely ideological and these pressures are imposed by the patronage who dictate what the translator can or cannot translate.20 As will become clear in the following chapters, patronage will play a critical role in the manipulation of Western ideology about China and Chinese culture.. 18. Andre Lefevere. “Prewrite.” Translation, Rewriting, and the Manipulation of Literary Fame. Routeledge, New York, 1992, p. 2. 19 Jeremy Munday. “Cultural and Ideological Turns.” Introducing Translation Studies.” Routeledge, London, 2012, p. 194. 20 Ibid., p. 197..

(18) 17. The following theorist is a close companion and co-author with Lefevere. Susan Bassnett has worked with Lefevere to create numerous works that have pushed the theory of the ‘cultural turn’ in translation forward. Bassnett has contributed numerous essays on topics regarding translations role within culture, gender, news, globalization, postcolonialism, and literature. Her breadth of knowledge pertaining to translation’s effects on culture and society has given shape to many of the ideas within this research. One such theory is the effect of translation within global news. Bassnett, with the help of Esperanca Bielsa, embarked on a topic which many translation scholars have yet to pursue, news translation. More specifically, how translation within the news disembarks from traditional text-to-text translation but plays on the many facets of power and globalization. Her research into global news translation depicts further the manipulation and rewriting of literature proposed by Lefevere. The crux of this research deals with media representation of China in the West regarding cultural translation and Bassnett’s theories into the use of translation in global news segues perfectly into this thesis. Similarly, Noam Chomsky also criticizes mass media with his theory of the five filters of mass media and how these filters create a system of propaganda which allows democratic countries, such as the United States and England, to covertly control the populace and push national agendas. The five filters are: media ownership, advertising, sourcing mass media, flak and enforcers, and a common enemy.21 I will quickly review the five filters to provide a background for how these filters tie into translation, the media, and China. Filter one, media ownership. Each news organization is a large corporation and as such is concerned with making a profit. Anything that serves the interest of making that profit will be. 21. Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent. Pantheon Books, New York, p. 1-35..

(19) 18. given priority over other needs. What is more, the number of companies that control media in the West continues to shrink and consolidate, meaning that only a few executives manage all the news we read and hear. Filter two, advertising. Since news companies do not turn high profits, advertisers are left to fill the financial gaps, thus, audiences are sold to advertisers in turn for monetary gain. Filter three, sourcing mass media. “The mass media are drawn into a symbiotic relationship with powerful sources of information by economic necessity and reciprocity of interest.”22 These ‘sources of information’ include places such as the government, large conglomerates, and other journalists. These become a steady source of information for mass media and so the news continues to go back again and again. It is in both parties’ interests to continue feeding off of each other. This leads to filter four, flak and enforcers. Those people who want to go against the mainstream media and report on a story that goes against the ‘steady sources of information’ are silenced and discredited. The fifth filter, a common enemy. Over the past century, the West has had qualms with but a few issues that have dazzlingly captured the public’s attention: communism, terrorism, immigration. The media caricaturizes these issues to curb public opinion in favor with what the government desires. The most obvious is communism. The anti-communist control mechanism reaches through the system to exercise a profound influence on the mass media. In normal times as well as in periods of Red scares, issues tend to be framed in terms of a dichotomized world of Communist and antiCommunist powers, with gains and losses allocated to contesting sides, and rooting for “our side” considered an entirely legitimate news practice. 23 If this was not glaringly apparent during the Cold War than it must be obvious with America’s present conflict with China.. 22 23. Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent. Pantheon Books, New York, p. 18. Ibid., p. 30-31..

(20) 19. While this theory does not have a direct connection with translation, it is important to note how Western opinion may not be as democratic and free as one may think. The ways in which consent is manufactured correlates to Western perspectives on China. The United States populace unknowingly takes most of the information about China and Chinese culture to be true solely based off a few news reports and depictions in mass media. Utilizing the five filters, it is easy to imagine how people can be manipulated into believing what the media machine and its sources want them to believe.. Literature Review Within this compilation, review, and analysis of literature related to the conscious distortion of China and Chinese culture will be essays and research conducted on a variety of topics: representation, postcolonial translation, globalization, along with theories from translators, both living and deceased. Additionally, the understanding of views toward China must be based on the evolution of the relationship between the West (predominantly the United States) and China itself. Sources discussing past relations with China will flow into prominent authors depicting the current relationship with the “Middle Kingdom.” Prior to these historical sources, we must first understand depictions in global media. A discussion of misrepresentation of culture within global news media covers an array of academic fields. To first understand how we create meaning from the visual stimuli bombarding our retinae daily, a comprehension of cultural representations and signifying practices is needed to ground us in the basic principles of how language carries meaning. In Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices (Hall, 1997) Stuart Hall describes how language acts as a representational system, adding signs and symbols to.

(21) 20. represent more complex meanings. While this may sound simple and straightforward, Hall attaches culture to this representation, in which he describes it as the “‘giving and taking of meaning’ – between members of a society or group.”24 Within this way, the citizens of the same society create practices in which they have a shared meaning and understanding; however, what happens when two members of different ‘cultures’ encounter each other with widely skewed representational meanings? Hall gets to this point later in Chapter 1 when he discusses the constructivist theory of language in which he states that we ourselves fix meaning to objects and said meaning is “constructed by the system of representation.”25 We then eventually go on to internalize these meanings into codes i.e. language as we become part of the culture in which we are raised. These codes then create meanings and “shared conceptual maps” within cultures that we use to give meaning to the world around us. Within his discussion of representation, there is a foundation in how these representations shape cultures, and simple examples are even given to ground the theories into reality: giving the semiotic symbol for a tree as the word TREE in English and ARBRE in French. These help the reader to understand how people from a Western country are raised with a shared conceptual map for ‘China’ and the cultural representations that come along with it, but the information lacks concrete connection to how media specifically shapes representations or molds conceptual maps from different cultures, nor does Hall create a direct correlation with his representations and translation. Susan Bassnett, in her article “Redefining Translation in a Global Age” builds upon the idea that different cultures embrace varied methods of expression, however, she takes it two steps. 24. Stuart Hall. “Introduction.” Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. edited by Stuart Hall, Sage Publications, 1997, p. 2. 25 Ibid., p. 21..

(22) 21. further and grounds the topic firmly in the realm on translation within news media. She not only brings up the fact that “the comic byline or headline, much used by the British tabloid press would be unacceptable in other cultures”, solidifying the idea that news representation around the world differs depending on existing norms, but also gives an example which inspired my line of inquiry into misrepresentations of culture. She states that a U.S. newspaper created a headline using “a host of archaic, awkward phrases and structures” to depict an Al-Qaida car bomb; instead, they used the phrase cars of death.26 As she continues her essay, she sheds light on the world of news translation. News translation, she posits, has less to do with linguistic transfer, but rather another form of translation: one in which information from another language “are cherrypicked from a large amount of material that is then discarded”, making the point that active choices are made when considering what information should or should not be relayed into another language. Bassnett’s research into the world of news translation, while providing the impetus for this research, did not have direct information regarding the manipulation of languages for the benefit of another country. Examples were provided, but specific data as to why the information was manipulated were left out. Vicente Rafael, in his book Motherless Tongues, mediates this gap. Chapter 2 in his book, entitled “Wars of Translation” depict an American-colonized Philippines in which English has been invaded all parts of life: education, society, politics. He details an essay written by Renato Constantino, “The Mis-education of the Filipino,” in which he describes the loss of national identity to American occupation, largely due to the fact that “Philippine schools, he claimed,. 26. Susan Bassnett. “Redefining Translation in a Global Age.” Translation. Routeledge, New York, 2014, p. 133..

(23) 22. perpetuated the work of colonial education.”27 English, from the time of the Britain’s international conquests of the 17th century to post-WWII – when America was left a virtually unscathed superpower – has dominated the global sphere as the de facto language of choice. Slowly, translation from Tagalog into English, transformed into Filipino English. Rafael describes American teachers in the Philippines wrought with anger that, although “standard” English was being taught, Filipinos were still engaged in a form of translation. Rafael continues with his depiction of America’s aggressive spread of English as a postcolonial tool for domination in Chapter 4, “Translation, American English, and the National Insecurities of Empire.” In this chapter, Rafael “delineate[s] the historical specificity of a nationalist idea of translation in the making of an American Empire.”28 He opens with a quote from George W. Bush stating the importance of foreign languages to understand other cultures. While seemingly liberal and open-minded, the motivation for learning other languages becomes clear, it is an “’essential war fighting skill.’”29 The purpose for learning any language at all, Rafael states, is to bring other cultures into “our way of life.” Examples are given of America’s separation from Great Britain in which American English was created to reject the language and ways of the “Old World” and create a new “pure language” to “promote virtue and patriotism.” Clearly, since the foundation of the United States, there has been one ruling principle, my way or the highway. Eventually known as a melting pot, Rafael argues that this spread of demand for use of English actually “reworks differences into sameness” and “requires the ‘annihilation’ of differences.” He brings up the example of Native Americans only being redeemable in the eyes. 27. Vicente L. Rafael. Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation. Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2016, p.47. 28 Ibid., 100. 29 Ibid., 101..

(24) 23. of “real Americans” if they could communicate in English. How this then relates to translation is that most of it only flows in one direction, to English. Or, if it moves in the other direction it is for the sole purpose of eventually working it back into English. Rafael describes interpreters in the field of battle, unable to return to their homes for fear of persecution and not quite fitting into the American ranks. “Interpreters who were killed…were treated with tender regard…memorialized by U.S. solders as ‘one of us.’”30 We see in this section a need in America for an “us” and “them.” Always a boundary. This unrelenting depiction of America as a holier-than-thou nation comes on strong with the reader. While there are undeniable facts about the status of English around the world and the ambitions of America to remain a world power using postcolonial language tactics. The chapters provide amble information about America’s desire to suppress other languages and cultures to remain a dominant force on the global arena. With direct relation to how America uses power and the media to influence ideology on China, Colin Patrick Mackerras, with translations by 張勇先 and 吳迪 from Renmin University of China’s Foreign Languages Department, writes about the many stages of Western images of China in Western Images of China Since 1949: 1949 年以來中國在西方的形象. As the title suggests, the book details how Western countries have viewed China starting from 1949. The book starts with 1949 because of the Communist victory over the KMT and the establishment of what is considered modern China. It is then separated into various segments of history: 19491971, 1971-2001, and 21st century images on politics and foreign relations; 20th century and 21st. 30. Vicente L. Rafael. Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation. Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2016, p.102 – 116..

(25) 24. century images on economics and population policies, along with environmental issues; and finally, images on China’s social culture. Mackerras portrays an unstable relationship with China during the mid-20th century, especially with the Western fear of the USSR and spread of communism. Maintaining positive relations with Taiwan also remained a key factor to the US. Reactions to the Vietnam War and the fall of the Soviet Union all played key factors in the negative perception the Western world hard toward China. Although China became more involved on the global stage, such as admission into the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization, overall, Western opinion remained negative toward China. As the 21st century continues, Mackerras shows how the West, especially the United States, becomes more and more defensive of an evergrowing China. The end of his research quickly covers cultural representations of China regarding movies, the internet, religion, and social structure. Overall, the book provides significant examples of how the West views China during specific historical periods. Mackerras provides multiple references to a wide variety of official government documents, news articles, and surveys taken about China as evidence for his claims that there has been an overall negative sentiment toward China from the West. These pieces of evidence have been instrumental during the process of my own research; however, where this research differs from Mackerras is that it focuses directly on one news outlet and compares news provided in Chinese and English. Mackerras’ broad use of sources gives evidence from a wealth of platforms, but it also hinders his research by stretching it thin. My plan will be to improve upon this research further through the use of cultural translation..

(26) 25. This research plans to utilize the above literature within the implementation of how Western media misrepresents China and Chinese culture. Having a solid foundation in how meanings are formed from representations, getting a glimpse at how news translation methodically selects news from other countries to report, and understanding how English and America as a whole has come to dominate global affairs, all will further my research into how America can make an unlikely ally as opposed to a life-long enemy.. Purpose and Importance This research focuses on America’s news media response to an ever more powerful China; however, throughout this research the term ‘Western’ powers will be used frequently to describe the United Kingdom and the United States together. I use the term ‘Western’ to portray a broader distaste for China, but a majority of the research will focus on America. Prior to what will become a discussion about the importance of this research, I would like to start with a quote from Henry Kissinger’s book World Order. As a politician and diplomat with decades of experience, Kissinger imparts his views on how a rising East and already powerful West are changing a centuries-old, Western-dominated ‘World Order.’ This quote derives from his view on Western expansionism in the 1400s. At the dawn of what is now called the modern age in the fifteenth century, a confident, fractious, territorially divided West had set sail to reconnoiter the globe and to improve, exploit, and “civilize” the lands it came upon…The West expanded with the familiar hallmarks of colonialism – avariciousness, cultural chauvinism, lust for glory. But it is also true that its better elements tried to lead a kind of global tutorial in an intellectual method that encouraged skepticism and a body of political and diplomatic practices.

(27) 26. ultimately including democracy. It all be ensured that, after long periods of subjugation, the colonized peoples would eventually demand – and achieve – self-determination. Even during their most brutal depredations, the expansionist powers put forth, especially in Britain, a vision that at some point conquered peoples would begin to participate in the fruits of a common global system.31 This begins the story of the repeated subjugation of modern China by Western powers, particularly America. China has become one of the largest economies in the world and has begun spreading its influence across the globe. From global supply chains to funding governments in African countries, it seems China has already established its roots in the global economic system; however, visceral reactions to this ‘intrusion’ from Western countries remain ubiquitous. Whether it be in popular culture or literature, the West consistently labels China as ‘the Other,’ irreparably different, and therefore unacceptable, to the mainstream global powers. China represents an inverse of the democratic and capitalist ideology which Western powers have practiced since their inception. In the West, these ideals have always been heralded as the most righteous way in which to carry state and order, from the Greeks and Romans to modern America. Taking a moment to review the history of America will provide a better grasp of how this sanctimonious mindset has arisen. America has been successful, or relatively successful, at quashing all incursions to their own (1) national interests from the late 1700s – early 1900’s and (2) ‘world order’ from the mid 1900’s – present day.. 31. Henry Kissinger. World Order. Penguin Books: New York, 2014, p. 174..

(28) 27. After the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Britain began the colonization of America and by the mid-1700s the 13 British colonies were firmly established on the east coast. Unhappy with being governed by a country thousands of kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean, the newly found ‘Americas’ fought against their colonizers and gained independence in 1776. In the War of 1812, Americans supplanted their colonizers once and for all and came “…to accomplish what no other country was in a position to conceive: it became a great power and a nation of continental scope through the sheet accumulation of domestic power, with a foreign policy focused almost entirely on the negative goal of keeping foreign developments as far at bay as possible.”32 Of course, such an unprecedented revolution to control such an immense country would lead to what would become known as “manifest destiny.” A self-proclaimed belief that revolved around three main guidelines: (1) The special virtues of the American people and their institutions, (2) The mission of the United States to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America , and (3) An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty.33 When a nation begins to believe that it has a destiny to conquer an entire land and those who inhabit it, what makes it different from its colonizers? Why would the nation stop solely at the lands within its immediate vicinity? In 1912, “Woodrow Wilson turned the vision America had asserted largely for itself into an operational program applicable to the entire world.”34 As one of the only nations not suffering from a crippling economy and dilapidating infrastructure after the end of World War I, America attempted to set the terms for the League of Nations. After World War II, America, again, finds. 32. Henry Kissinger. World Order. Penguin Books: New York, 2014, p. 240. Robert Miller. Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny. Greenwood, 2006, p. 120. 34 Henry Kissinger. World Order. Penguin Books: New York, 2014, p. 256. 33.

(29) 28. itself as the country in the most advantageous position. Having successfully protected its interests in the Pacific by defeating Japan with the world’s first atomic weapon and assisting the Allies with troops in Europe, the United States itself was left unscathed. Without damage to its homeland and an economic boom due to the war, America was in a position to set the terms of peace after the war, resulting in the United Nations. The next threat came from the WWII ally, the USSR. As the only other superpower left comparable to the US, the USSR posed the largest threat, particularly because of communism. During the Cold War period the US also actively inserted itself into conflicts around the world to maintain its own world order – the Korean and Vietnam Wars most notably. These wars met with very mixed reviews and divided the country about which direction to take on the international stage; however, this would all change with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The regime’s defeat came as one of the largest victories for the United States and Western powers. It gave confirmation to the importance of Western ideology and world order. A new manifest destiny for the 20th century. With the USSR a thing of the past, the United States continued to push for its own ideals of pluralism, democracy, and transparency to countries in the Middle East, believing that these staples of American governance could be applied all over the world. The events of 9/11 added fuel to this fire and the common enemy shifted from communism to terrorism. However, with the continual rise of China during the 21st century, America has had to readjust its sight back to communism once more. The major difference being that modern-day China is many times more powerful economically, militarily, and geopolitically than its Soviet predecessor. Old Cold War tactics of slowly wearing down the enemy and developing technologically and militarily at a faster rate no longer apply..

(30) 29. The history of the United States is strife with fervent nationalism, self-righteous duty, and moral obligation to right the “wrongs” of other nations. How can America deal with the growing power of China? It only takes a quick glance at the news headlines to find out. Hate crimes against Chinese American citizens; use of the name “Chinese” virus; a finger-pointing accusatory spat between the US and China; potential to kick out Chinese international students. And these are just within the last couple weeks. Relations between America and China have never been amicable or equal, but recently, the relationship has become noxious. This research plans to take another step in the reversal of the negative Western perspective on the East. While there has been bountiful research on Western bias toward the ‘Orient’ this research will tackle it from another perspective, from the perspective of news translation. This field of translational research toward the cultural misrepresentation of China will reveal how news, that millions of people read daily, manipulate mindsets of people in Western countries. We need this kind of research now more than ever. Colonial mindsets, manifest destiny, power struggles, cultural wars of conquests: these are issues that cannot continue to exist if we genuinely want to become a global community. Countries are more interconnected than ever before. This means more cross-cultural connections which can easily lead to misunderstandings. Without the awareness of our own cultural bias and where it comes from, how can we move forward as a race? Two of the strongest countries in the world have backgrounds that are two of the most polar. How they are able to overcome these differences will be the deciding factor for what direction the world moves in the 21st century..

(31) 30. Research Methods Two methods of research comprise the bulk of this thesis: historical research about the relationship between the United States and China and comparisons between the Chinese and English home pages for China on the BBC. Other methods of research were also considered for this thesis, such as: surveys of Chinese Americans and comparisons of English – Russian Cold War translations to Chinese – English 2018 Trade War news translations; however, due to time constraints, inexperience with creating social surveys, and the scope of researching translations in three languages and from two very distinct time periods, these research methods were taken out of consideration. To best represent the modern struggle of understanding from West to East, I believe the research methods stated above will allow further investigations into the misrepresentations of China and Chinese culture in the West. To place this research in contemporary context, an examination of the history between China and the United States will allow readers to comprehend the potential motives for purposeful manipulation of information about the East. This historical research has been conducted using historical journals and textbooks, personal knowledge, and historical non-fiction novels. The information collected attempts to represent a holistic view of the US – China relationship and the many ways in which the US has subjugated and suppressed Chinese citizens in both the US and China. Since there has always been an imbalanced power relation between the US and China, most information collected shows the many negative representations China faced due to US involvement. To supplement the historical information provided, images from.

(32) 31. magazines and news publications will depict western ideology toward China. These images give further evidence toward negative contemporary media representations of China. The next research method brings the thesis toward the present day where the Chinese and English BBC webpages are compared to show the differences in selection of stories. The research will take BBC English edition’s China front-page stories and BBC Chinese edition’s front-page stories and compare the topics, headlines, and photographs chosen. Since it can be safely conjectured that the English edition and Chinese edition of the BBC are targeted toward different audiences, their range of stories will likewise differ. The BBC is a news source that provides thousands of people with information from all over the world. In America, the BBC ranks as the fourth most trusted news sources according to a survey conducted by the Missouri’s School of Journalism: Trusting News project.35 A graph of the most and least trusted news sources can be found in The Least and Most Trusted News Sources.36 The survey asked 8,728 people which news sources they trusted to give them the most accurate account of what happened around the world. An excerpt from the American number one trusted news source, The Economist, will appear later in this essay, criticizing the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. If the argument is made that the way in which American readers view the news accounts for how other western countries view the news, then The Economist’s view of China does not bode well for China’s image in contemporary media.. 35. Michael W. Kearny. “Trusting News Project Report 2017.” A Reynolds Journalism Institute research project, 2017, https://www.rjionline.org/reporthtml.html. 36 See [figure 1]..

(33) 32. [figure 1] Michael W. Kearny. “Trusting News Project Report 2017.” A Reynolds Journalism Institute research project, 2017, https://www.rjionline.org/reporthtml.html.. While the BBC and The Economist both come from Britain, they have a large following in America. Their influence on the American populace and American media plays a large role in how the American public shapes their perceptions. Even if a portion of the American population does not follow the BBC, or use the BBC as a main news source, the influence the BBC carries in the USA inadvertently manifests itself in other American news sources and the free flow exchange of information amongst the American people. As mentioned above, the BBC and The Economist are ranked fourth and first respectively in their trustworthiness amongst American audiences. Moreover, in Reuters Institute Digital.

(34) 33. News Report 2019, 11% of Americans read or watch the BBC on TV, radio, print, and online.37 This shows that although the BBC does not come from America, one of the largest consumers of BBC news is the American audience, thus the news must be adapted to represent the needs of the American populace.. [figure 2] Reuters Institute Digital News Report. 2019, p. 118.. In chapters four and five, I have chosen twenty images from the BBC English and Chinese webpages to compare the selection of stories and ways in which those stories have been represented on each respective homepage and how those stories have been translated. Of course, selected a few stories to represent three years of international relations comes as no easy task. As such, during the selection of these stories, my goal was to remain as unbiased as possible. The stories selected represent both negative, neutral, and a few positive representations of China in Western eyes. This has been with the hopes of avoiding the same fault which I accuse Western media of committing: the cherry-picking of information for my own means and purposes.. 37. See [figure 2]..

(35) 34. Chapter Three: China’s History and Western Media Perspectives To better comprehend the relationship between the current western media culture and its attitude toward China, a look at the key trends in history dealing with China and the West will provide a structural framework to better understand contemporary media perspectives. The history between the West and China is long and complex. Dating back to Marco Polo and his ventures into Asia during the 13th century, there is clearly an abundance of historical information. For the sake of brevity and conciseness, this chapter will focus on the last 150 years of history between the West and China. Even during these 150 years there has been a tumultuous amount of interaction with China and the West. The following information will very briefly attempt to examine a general overview of the Western viewpoint on China. This chapter in no way attempts to sum up the entirety of West-East history; it will simply provide a framework with which to base this thesis. This brief historical relationship between the West and China will give evidence to the Theo Hermans idea that the “general cultural and ideological norms which may be held to apply throughout the larger part of a community.”38 The consistent, condescending, colonialist behavior portrayed by the West toward China makes apparent the modern media agenda of creating an unfavorable image of China. China’s most globally significant exposure to the west happened in the mid-19th century, during the Opium Wars. This period saw extensive trade between China and the West, particularly the sale of opium from Britain. Between the years 1839-1860, trade ports in China were forced open by western powers who desired to create further trade ties with an unwilling. 38. Theo Hermans. “Translation and Normativity.” Current Issues in Language and Society, vol.5, No 1&2, 1998, p.60..

(36) 35. China. Due to China’s loss in the Opium Wars, a series of ‘unequal’ treaties were created, splitting more than thirty trading ports amongst Western nations.39 “In Chinese eyes there could not have been a more blatant case of international bullying, of the morally repugnant imposing their will on those trying to do the right thing.”40 While these are widely held views of the unfair treatment toward China during the ‘Opium Wars,’ arguments exist catered toward China treating the West as ‘barbarians’ and ‘vassals.’ John Quincy Adams famously stated, “The opium question is not the cause of the war, but the arrogant and insupportable pretensions of China that she will hold commercial intercourse with the rest of mankind, not upon terms of equal reciprocity, but upon the insulting and degrading forms of the relation between lord and vassal,”41 thusly creating the segregation of Chinese into ‘Other.’ An ‘Other’ that places the West into the position of a ‘vassal,’ an obviously unacceptable fate for colonizing powers such as Britain and the United States. However, we see a phenomenon at play here that Stuart Hall has borrowed from British artists and art historians Kobena Mercer and Isaac Julien, referred to as “…the circularity of power and the ambivalence – the double-sided nature – of representation and stereotyping.”42 He compares the representation of black and white men, during the early 1980’s in America, working on two different levels, a conscious or overt level and a subconscious or suppressed level. Consciously the white men believe that ‘Blacks’ were childish in order to cover up the subconscious belief that ‘Blacks’ were actually ‘super-men’ and better than white men in many. 39. Patricia B. Ebrey. The Cambridge Illustrated History of: China. Cambridge University Press, ed. 2, 2010. Ibid., p. 236. 41 David A. Wells. “The Truth About the ‘Opium War.’” The North American Review, vol. 162, no. 475, 1896, p.759760, www.jstor.org/stable/25118667 42 Stuart Hall. “The Spectacle of the ‘Other.’ Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. edited by Stuart Hall, Sage Publications, 1997, p. 263. 40.

(37) 36. facets.43 This power and ambivalence is at play from both China and Britain. On the conscious level, China treated foreign powers like ‘barbarians’ and people devoid of appropriate behavior, but may be seen as a cover up for a subconscious fear that the West was bringing its own value and culture systems into China which many Chinese were concerned was a direct challenge to the humanistic pattern of Confucian thought that prevailed for centuries in China.44 Fear of internal change manifested itself in overt acts of hostility to protect subconscious ideas of Chinese values and was thusly taken by Western powers on an unconscious level that China was ‘backwards’ and needed to be brought into ‘modernity’ – the embodiment of the West. The Opium War created some of the first visions of China in the 19th and 20th centuries and was an early step in the creation of a westernized idea of China and Chinese culture. After skirmishes with Japan and the loss of large amounts of territory to foreign powers, mostly due to the ‘unequal treaties,’ groups of Chinese citizens, mostly from rural parts of China began to revolt against colonizing powers in what became the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. The uprising was another attempt to rid China from foreigners, particularly missionaries who “…had ventured out of the treaty ports into the Chinese interior to tell Chinese that their beliefs and practices were wrong and backward.”45 The Boxers originated from Shandong and were making their ways across China to Tianjin and Beijing, harassing and sometimes killing foreigners and converts. Empress Dowager Cixi hesitated on whether to promote the Boxers, but eventually conceded acknowledging the necessity of removing foreigners from China; however, in August 1900, 20,000 foreign troops from Britain, America, France, Japan, Spain, Germany, Italy, the. 43. Ibid., p. 263. Earl Swisher. “Chinese Intellectuals and the Western Impact, 1838-1900.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 1, no. 1, 1958, pp. 26, www.jstor.org/stable/177856. 45 Patricia B. Ebrey. The Cambridge Illustrated History of: China. Cambridge University Press, ed. 2, 2010, p. 255. 44.

(38) 37. Netherlands, Russia, and Belgium gathered in Beijing to lift the Boxers siege on the city. After lifting the siege, sequential looting began by every country involved in the battle.46 This presents two different aspects of China to the West. First, as a country in direct opposition. The limitations placed on China from 1839 until the end of the 19th century allowed for western countries to increase trade with an unwilling China but led to direct opposition to trade and created conflicts with western powers. This then caused the forceful transitions of the 19th century. Second, a country in need of modernization and assistance by western powers. In describing the Western influence on Chinese revolutions during the unequal treaties, Joseph R. Levenson says that these interventions are, firstly, premeditated, and more importantly, directly beneficial to the nations involved. Therefore, liberal Western nations, often providing the inspiration for Chinese protests against Chinese rulers, tend to support discredited Chinese regimes; to see a regime discredited, then to step in as its only hope – that is the way to buy it. The West drains power from the Chinese ruling circles, so that the West, for a quid pro quo, can give it back to them. This is the ideal pattern for the Western use of leverage against Chinese governments. 47 During this time, early depictions of China are also beginning to appear. Le Petite Journal, a French daily newspaper, published an illustration that portrayed China’s position during the late 19th century. The illustration, En Chine: Le gâteau des Rois et... des Empereurs (1898), shows a stereotypical Qing dynasty official throwing his hands in the air as the “pie” of 46. James L. Hevia. “Looting and its Discontents: Moral Discourse and the Plunder of Beijing, 1900-1901.” The Boxers, China, and the World, edited by Bickers and Tiedman, 2007, p. 94. 47 Joseph R. Levenson. “Western Powers and Chinese Revolutions: The Pattern of Intervention.” Pacific Affairs, vol. 26, no. 3, 1953, p.231, www.jstor.org/stable/2753287..

(39) 38. China is divided by five “western” powers.48 While each character portrayed in the illustration is a caricaturized representation of symbolic figures in each respective culture, the Chinese man, a person already looked down upon by the societies of the world, stands out the most, both because of where he stands in the picture and his physical features. The Chinese official brandishes pointed talons for fingernails, upturned eyes, blackened teeth, and exaggerated facial characteristics. In an already western dominated world, this representation creates what Peter Hamilton calls a dominant representational paradigm.49 This paradigm describes photographic tendencies of events and people of certain time periods or certain ethnic groups. The photographs are judged by the choices made by photographers and the press, but, most importantly, by the values of the people receiving and producing these images.. 48. See [figure 3]. Peter Hamilton. “France and Frenchness in Post-War Humanist Photography. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. edited by Stuart Hall, Sage Publications, 1997, p. 76. 49.

(40) 39. [figure 3] Henri Meyer, “En Chine: Le gâteau des Rois et... des Empereurs” (English: China – the cake of kings and…of emperors). Le Petite Journal, 16 January 1898, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k716261c/f8/. The dominant representational paradigm arose from post-World War II French humanistic photography, where photographers would capture the everyday lives of French citizens. Reactions to these photographs created the idea of ‘Frenchness,’ or what it meant to be French during that period. While the post-war French humanist photographs fostered positive emotions with viewers, the ‘unequal treaty’ era Chinese illustrations provide viewers with a.

(41) 40. vastly different representation, one that creates a clear separation of West and ‘Other.’ Illustrations have historically been used to cement the Western viewpoints on China during the late 19th and early 20th century. For example, [Figure 5] 50 depicts China as an octopus grasping western figures in each tentacle that are labeled with China's most negative aspects.. [figure 5] “Anti-Chinese Cartoon from 1886. The Bulletin, 1886, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anti-Chinese_Cartoon_from_1886.png. [Figure 4] 51 shows China as a 'pest’ while Queen Victoria, a woman with a hat labeled USA, and three other western women pull a pole labeled ‘Federation’ away from an enlarged Chinese man's face.. 50 51. See [figure 5] See [figure 4].

(42) 41. [figure 4] 1886 Anti-Chinese Cartoon from Australia. The Bulletin, 1886, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1886_Anti-Chinese_Cartoon_from_Australia.jpg#globalusage. [Figure 6]52 brings America front and center by depicting Uncle Sam standing tall on a map of China. His figure towers over five other older white male representations of France, England, Germany, Russia, and Italy. He clasps the “Trade Treaty with China,” also known as the Open Door Policy of 1899, and says, “Gentlemen, you may cut up this map as much as you like, but remember that I’m here to stay, and you can’t divide me up into spheres of influence.” This presentation of America’s relationship with China during the early 20th century clearly depicts a power imbalance not only with China and the US, but with the US and the rest of the. 52. See [figure 6].

(43) 42. world. This cartoon symbolizes the dominance with which the United States saw itself. It also segues into the late 19th century, early 20th century relations between the US and China.. [figure 6] “Putting His Foot Down.” Puck, 1899, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Putting_his_foot_down.jpg. As the Open Door Policy increased US exploitation of Chinese resources, thousands of Chinese immigrants poured into the American west in search of work. The book The Heathen Chinee: A Study of American Attitudes toward China, 1890 – 1905 provides an astute depiction of the American response to the influx of Chinese immigration during the mid-19th century. In the 1850s Americans on the West Coast did not view the Chinese as heathens, but by the time the stage carrying the first Chinese had arrived in Great Falls, their opinion had changed…when the demand for labor in California slacked in the 1870s, the qualities.