Picturing China in the American Press
The Visual Portrayal of Sino-American Relations in Time Magazine
By (author) David D. Perlmutter
Publication date:
29 March 2007Length of book:
294 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksDimensions:
238x160mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9780739118191
Picturing China in the American Press juxtaposes what the ordinary American news reader was shown visually inTime Magazine between 1949 and 1973 with contemporary perspectives on the behind-the-scenes history of the period. Time Magazine is an especially fruitful source for such a visual-historical contrast and comparison because it was China-centric, founded and run by Henry Luce, a man who loved China and was commensurably obsessed with winning China to democracy and Western influence. Picturing China examines in detail major events (the Korean War and Nixon's trip to China), less considerable occurrences (shellings of Straits islands and diplomatic flaps), great personages (Chairman Mao and Henry Kissinger), and the common people and common life of China as seen through the lenses and described by the pens of American reporters, artists, photographers, and editors. Picturing China in the American Press is of great interest to both scholars of communications, Chinese history, China Studies, and journalists.
The primacy of imagery is one of the defining attributes of the post-modern world. This is particularly true in media coverage of foreign events and issues in remote settings. No country has frightened and fascinated Americans more than China in times ofcrisis and peace when the images of its panic-stricken soldiers crossing the Chinese-North Korean border and the massive hysterical crowds waving a little red book across the country appeared in the U.S. media. A top-notch scholar in the field of visual communication, Perlmutter captures in a painstaking fashion the changing faces of China that has intrigued Americans, both officials and civilians alike, for decades. This book adds a unique and perceptive dimension to our understanding of the love-hate relationship between the United States and China that spans more than 100 years. It is a significant contribution to Sino-American studies and visual communication research..