Introduction to Techno-Orientalism

Who This Is For

All with an interest are welcome!

Course Description

This course will use the framework of techno-Orientalism to consider how the racialization and gendering of Asian/Americans articulate fears and anxieties about the future of technology, science, and U.S. empire. We will examine the long history of anti-Asian racism in the U.S. and discuss how concepts like “yellow peril” and “enemy alien” may help us understand contemporary political discourse and how they also cannot wholly explain the current moment. For example, what prompted the more recent fetishistic gaze on China as the site of the future on social media? How does it align with or diverge from long-established anti-communist tropes? Do the depictions of Asians as robots still have the same resonance as it did in decades past, now that developments in artificial intelligence may transform global labor economies? How is tech culture imagined differently in different Asian countries or in different Asian/American communities? Rooted in a historical materialist approach, our course will examine the histories of war, colonization, and imperialism that gave rise to techno-Orientalist imaginaries and fashioned common science fiction notions such as cyborgs, clones, hackers, and pandemics. We will trace the origins of these ideas and images in literature, film, video games, and art from the late 20th century to the early 21st century. We will also challenge techno-Orientalist imaginings by studying the works of Asian diasporic writers, filmmakers, and artists who have reappropriated, resisted, and critiqued racist representations.

Instructor(s)

• Tracey Wang is a literary scholar whose research centers on Asian American studies, postcolonial studies, and critical race studies. She is currently working on her first book project on contemporary Asian American literature and film. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Virginia, and has taught widely across the departments of English, American studies, and media studies at UVA and the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies.