The Rise of the Chinese Villain: Demonic Representation of the Asian Character in Popular Literature (1880–1950)

Abstract

The rise of popular literature at the end of the nineteenth century increased the production of books from authors who had never been to China, based on second-hand sources. From the context of Chinese immigration in Europe and in the USA, inconclusive commercial strategies on the Chinese territory and the threat of the ‘Yellow Peril’ led popular writers to fabricate Asian characters. These characters are the embodiment of the fears and anxiety of the Western world, losing power on the international scene. In spite of the conflation of all types of Asians, the Chinese are the most affected by this negative image. Fu Manchu, the Asian villain created by Sax Rohmer in 1912 (Rohmer 1912/2007), has been a model for all the Chinese villains in the world literature and in the cinema until today. This chapter will review its American and British foreshadows and the European characters based on the same features. Demonic, powerful, overcoming the stereotypes of the petty, swindling Chinaman, at the turn of the century the representation of Chinese people in the popular literature and movies reveals the feeling of guilt related to Western behaviour in China, the vast ignorance of Asia, and the concerns of a diminished Europe.