Constructing a white mask through English: the misrecognized self in Orientalism

By examining relationships between language and race within Bourdieu's theoretical concept of “misrecognition”, this article highlights distinctive ways in which the mental structure of a minority individual becomes Orientalized in relation to a racialized identity construction. Specifically, it examines how English becomes misrecognized as the key to a desired white identity in the case of one prominent Korean intellectual of the 19th century, Yun Chi-Ho (1864–1945). To this end, this article analyses the English diaries written by Yun, which began during his sojourn in the United States (1888–1893). The analysis of the diaries illustrates how Yun subjected himself to an Orientalized gaze in 19th century America, a society marked by racial and language boundaries and how his inferiority complex led him to pursue a white identity with English as a primary tool. While Self-Orientalism is regarded as both a cause and outcome of Asian participation in the construction of the Orient, this article reconceptualizes Self-Orientalism as a process of misrecognition born out of the colonial context of superior-inferior distinction characterized by the boundedness of language and race. The article concludes by broadening out from the case of Yun to illustrate the impact of misrecognition on the continued covert operation of Self-Orientalism in contemporary times.

Corporeal Crisis and the Contested Female Terrain: An Ecofeminist Reading of ‘The Birth-Mark’

This paper originally and substantially studies Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Birth-Mark’ from an ecofemninsit perspective, while exploring the interconnections and interdependency between the systematic and institutional ways in which woman and nature were dominated by male-centred society in 19th century America. By building on significant contributions to ecofeminist theory, this paper argues that the oppression of women and exploitation of nature by patriarchal culture and male-run institutions are represented in ‘The Birth-Mark’ as a product of masculinist, colonialist and capitalist assumptions and practices. This paper demonstrates that patriarchal culture’s unjust hierarchies and systems of domination are connected conceptually, and the promise of Aylmer to relieve Georgina from the corporeal crisis is an instance of difference-and-hierarchy-based domination; it aims at perpetuating the accepted authority and power of man who can contest God’s female terrain, and to claim his ability to recreate and reintegrate it in ways that show absolute control over nature and God.

Nineteenth-Century American Magazines

Studying the literature, history, or culture of 19th-century America often requires one to read magazines from the time period. Even more so than today, 19th-century magazines were a place for readers of all kinds across the growing nation to consume news, literature, entertainment, advice, illustrations, and more. Therefore, they provide a valuable record of what the 19th century was like for various segments of society and make for a compelling topic of research in their own right. As printing machinery, distribution networks, and business practices advanced, magazines evolved from short-lived, largely local affairs in the 1830s to long-lasting, wide-reaching publications in the 1880s. Magazines grew in their reach, influence, and sometimes page count; improved in quality of contributor content, presentation, and illustrations; and became more numerous, stable, and enduring. Despite all the changes magazines underwent during the 19th century, one characteristic remained consistent: they were essential forums for 19th-century print culture. For the purposes of this bibliography, we rely on the Oxford English Dictionary definition of “magazine”: the term has been used since at least the early 18th century to describe “a periodical publication containing articles by various writers”—particularly ones that are prepared for a readership with a specialized interest. This definition is broad enough to capture other serialized print publications, and we embrace the inclusive interpretation. The line dividing newspapers from magazines is especially unclear because these media have elastic boundaries; the line has become even more muddied within modern magazine scholarship because studies treating marginalized groups often rely heavily on newspapers. Therefore, we have chosen to be expansive in our treatment of magazines, meaning our sources occasionally consider other serial forms of print because they were an integral part of the wider print landscape of the 19th century. We often use the term “periodical” to include these serialized publications that weren’t strictly magazines. In this bibliography, some studies make heavy use of newspapers oriented toward readers with specific cultural, racial, or ethnic identities. Similarly, scholarship about books is not the focus of this bibliography; however, magazines were often printed in the same shops as books by the same publishers and were distributed along the same routes. Therefore, information about the larger book market and distribution is frequently essential to the works included here. Finally, studying magazines usually requires a multidisciplinary approach that draws on the established fields of literature, history, book history, and cultural studies. It also can require several methodological lenses, including close reading of texts; consideration of historical contexts; biographies of writers and publishers; sensitivity to class, gender, and race; concern for material and economic constraints in production; an eye for audience; thought about distribution; and attention to both niche and mass cultures. This bibliography attempts to wrangle sources from disparate fields and approaches to provide a starting place for those curious about the many facets of 19th-century American magazines.

3. Ghettos of the imagination

With the destruction of ghetto gates by Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, actual ghettos were replaced by imagined ones. ‘Ghettos of the imagination’ explores 19th-century ghetto literature. This literature crossed borders—for example, the exportation of British writer Israel Zangwill’s bestselling fiction to America. Late 19th-century America saw a huge influx of Eastern European refugees fleeing pogroms, leading to the establishment of large urban Jewish communities in its cities. Early French and German ghetto literature portrayed the ghetto as romantic and culturally rich, and associated it with the past. By the end of the 19th century, the free-floating ghetto had moved to the present, across to America, and from Western Europe to Eastern Europe.