American media representations of China's traditions and modernity

Yasong Alex Wang, Duarte B. Morais, Christine Buzinde

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Most research on the touristic representations of peripheral countries has focused on former colonies of past imperial Western powers. This study attempts to extend colonialism and tourism studies by examining the American tourist gaze upon China, a country with a history of resistance to Western colonialism and dominance. A total of 60 travel articles published between 2000 and 2005 in six major American newspapers were analyzed. The emergent themes were interpreted within the framework of their colonial ideological underpinnings. The analysis revealed that China was represented in three major themes. While many descriptions were similar to other markedly colonial representations of oriental destinations, some were derogatory and imbued with ideological bias. These findings extend the study of colonialism in tourism as they show that conflicting political ideologies may overshadow the tourism media's tendency to praise destinations. More-over, this study reinforces previous assertions that tourism reflects the dynamic power relations between nations as the complex representation reported here may arguably reflect the nature of contemporary US-China relations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)125-135
Number of pages11
JournalTourism, Culture and Communication
Volume9
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • China
  • Critical discourse analysis
  • Representation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Cultural Studies
  • Communication
  • Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management

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