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TECHNO-ORIENTALISM: IMAGINING ASIA

TECHNO-ORIENTALISM: IMAGINING ASIA

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What will the future look like? To judge from many speculative fiction films and books, from Blade Runner to Cloud Atlas, the future will be full of cities that resemble Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, and it will be populated mainly by cold, unfeeling citizens who act like robots. Techno-Orientalism investigates the phenomenon of imagining Asia and Asians in hypo- or hyper-technological terms in literary, cinematic, and new media representations, while critically examining the stereotype of Asians as both technologically advanced and intellectually primitive, in dire need of Western consciousness-raising. The collection's fourteen original essays trace the discourse of techno-orientalism across a wide array of media, from radio serials to cyberpunk novels, from Sax Rohmer's Dr. Fu Manchu to Firefly. Applying a variety of theoretical, historical, and interpretive approaches, the contributors consider techno-orientalism a truly global phenomenon. In part, they tackle the key question of how these stereotypes serve to both express and assuage Western anxieties about Asia's growing cultural influence and economic dominance. Yet the book also examines artists who have appropriated techno-orientalist tropes in order to critique racist and imperialist attitudes. Techno-Orientalism is the first collection to define and critically analyze a phenomenon that pervades both science fiction and real-world news coverage of Asia. With essays on subjects ranging from wartime rhetoric of race and technology to science fiction by contemporary Asian American writers to the cultural implications of Korean gamers, this volume offers innovative perspectives and broadens conventional discussions in Asian American Cultural studies.
THING KNOWLEDGE: A PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS

THING KNOWLEDGE: A PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS

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Western philosophers have traditionally concentrated on theory as the means for expressing knowledge about a variety of phenomena. This absorbing book challenges this fundamental notion by showing how objects themselves, specifically scientific instruments, can express knowledge. As he considers numerous intriguing examples, Davis Baird gives us the tools to "read" the material products of science and technology and to understand their place in culture. Making a provocative and original challenge to our conception of knowledge itself, Thing Knowledge demands that we take a new look at theories of science and technology, knowledge, progress, and change. Baird considers a wide range of instruments, including Faraday's first electric motor, eighteenth-century mechanical models of the solar system, the cyclotron, various instruments developed by analytical chemists between 1930 and 1960, spectrometers, and more.
TRUTH ABOUT PARALLEL LINES

TRUTH ABOUT PARALLEL LINES

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"The Group and The Best of Everything were the two books that made me want to be a writer. And here's Jill D. Block, clearly the long-lost bastard daughter of Mary McCarthy and Rona Jaffe, with The Truth About Parallel Lines. The story covers something like thirty years, and-just sayin'- I read it in one sitting." Jill Emerson

It is 1981 in New York City. While celebrating her 18th birthday, Jenna Kessler tells a story that stays with her for the rest of her life.

Growing up in the shadow of an over-protective mother, Chloe Toberman finds freedom in the secrets that she keeps.

Deirdre Schein is a doctor, struggling to find her place in her family. Her quiet and stable life is both challenged and made richer by the demands of her flamboyant and unpredictable twin brother.

The Truth About Parallel Lines takes place over more than 30 years. It is the story of three women, love after loss, triumph over tragedy, and the friendships that sustain them.

"Charming and utterly engaging, Jill Block's debut The Truth About Parallel Lines will make you laugh and cry as her characters follow their dreams and then entice you to meditate on the intersection of truth and fiction in your own life." Nina Solomon

WORCESTER STACKS UP: FIRSTS AND FUN FACTS

WORCESTER STACKS UP: FIRSTS AND FUN FACTS

$19.95
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Fifteen years of Janice Harvey in Worcester Mag.

It's the birthplace of space flight, candlepin bowling and that iconic yellow smiley face. The city was the first in the nation to be fly-free, and the idea for those famously whimsical pink flamingo lawn ornaments was hatched here too.

It's Worcester, Massachusetts, of course! From Pulitzer Prize-winning poets to packaged pizza pie, dive into the amazing history of Worcester, and discover something extraordinary about the unassuming city you thought you knew!