LE3 .A278 2001

2001

Perrins, Robert John

Acadia University

Bachelor of Arts

Honours

History

History & Classics

The end of the nineteenth century marked the emergence of American political and economic interests in China, as a result of the 1899 Open Door Policy enacted by the American Secretary of State, John Hay. Americans entered the race of imperialist expansion at the turn of the twentieth century and, in doing so, needed a contemporary cultural icon that would help to shape American public opinion. With the growth of overseas interests, the National Geographic Magazine was created to ensure the expansion of geographic knowledge, as well as introduce Americans to the regions their country was economically and politically involved with. This Thesis examines the travel writings of Joseph F. Rock and Owen Lattimore, both in the National Geographic Magazine and in their extensive published works. The thesis will investigate how both writers were able to transcend cultural barriers and introduce Americans to China and Inner Asia in the mid-twentieth century. Further the study will conclude that Joseph F. Rock represented the cultural absolutist. He compared western progress with that of the non-western world. Owen Lattimore was representative of the cultural relativist, as he studied Inner Asian cultures within their historical contexts. The thesis takes an American cultural icon, the National Geographic Magazine, and shows, through writings and photographs, how the travel literature of Joseph F. Rock and Owen Lattimore in the 1920s and the 1940s played an important role in formulating American perceptions of Inner Asian and Chinese politics, culture, and geography.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:1178