Chapter Eight Class, Race, Floating Signifier: American Media Imagine the Chinese, 1870–1900

Abstract

This chapter examines two innovative nineteenth century media namely, newspapers, particularly articles from the New York Times between 1870 and 1890, and advertising trade cards, created in printing centers in New York and Boston. Both of these products of nineteenth century technology were emblematic of modernization. The chapter is divided into two parts. The first part documents what is tantamount to a nine-step program in the racial construction of Chineseness: transforming the image of the Chinese from relatively affirmative descriptions to an increasingly antagonistic portrayal. The second part investigates the various significations of Chinese images found on advertising cards. The two sections testify that by the end of the nineteenth century, the spheres of influence for trade cards and newspaper imagery had become quite separate. Although trade cards also were publically disseminated, they were not perceived as the voice of authority and certainly not the voice of the dominant class. Keywords:Chinese racial construction; New York Times ; trade cards