Short Pp

Troy University

Dr. Patrick Bonds Intertextual Issues Grading Rubric

Professor P. Bonds

ENG2212-XTIA

13 December 2011

The Grand Tour – China Style Comment by Patrick: An original title that reflects the main idea of the paper, not the assignment (i.e. Intertextual Issues Paper)

For this intertextual essay I selected an article from the International Herald Tribune by Sharon LaFraniere titled “Chinese, but Not Their Leaders, Flock to U.S. Envoy,” published November 11, 2011. The article describes the visit of the new American ambassador to China, Gary F. Locke, who was appointed to this post in March 2011. In this essay I will try to share how I believe Locke’s visit diminishes the archetype of the “ugly American,” while at the same time he brings hope to common Chinese people. Comment by Patrick: Introduces the news story and presents the thesis, or controlling idea, of the paper.

The visit of a newly appointed ambassador is not normally a newsworthy event, but this visit is newsworthy because Locke descends from Chinese immigrants who migrated in the late nineteenth century to the USA. Locke’s Chinese heritage makes him popular among common Chinese people, which becomes apparent when LaFraniere quotes Wu Qiang—a thirty-five year old factory worker from Taishan—who writes, “He [Locke] likes to be with common people. He has Chinese blood, but American characteristics.” At the same time, Locke’s Chinese heritage creates friction with the Chinese government officials who feel threatened by Locke’s common approach. That common approach badly reflects on the strict, aloof, Chinese government officials who appear to make efforts to distance themselves from Locke, a conclusion based on a statement by Mr. Wang—the powerful Communist Party chief of Guangdong Province—when he says, “He [Locke] is no hometown folk. He should clearly realize he is an American.” In addition, Locke’s polarizing presence in China is amplified by his common style of traveling—he travels economy class, he carries his own luggage, and he does not use limousines—and his willingness to meet and converse with common Chinese people. One of the destinations of his recent visit is his ancestral village Jilong, near Guangzhou—located a few hours north of Hong Kong—to visit the Locke homestead and to see an important wall in the family home that shows the Locke family history in pictures. Comment by Patrick: Brief but informative summary of the news item.

While reading this article and thinking of possible connections to the literary texts we have studied, Mark Twain’s Innocents Abroad comes to mind first. In Innocents Abroad, Twain describes his travel experiences to Europe and the Middle East, a grand tour that started in June 1867, when he leaves the Americas for a five-month trip on board the steamship Quaker City. Twain’s story is more than just a travel story, though; his story connects to an important American sentiment in the late nineteenth century, the sentiment of American inferiority vis-à-vis the old, dominating, colonial powers in Europe. Twain’s realistic, detailed travel account is presented with a dose of humor, which allows American readers to develop a feeling of superiority. Subsequently, this feeling of superiority assists Americans with the transition from colonial status to modern world power. An example of Twain’s subversion of European cultural superiority is evident in an anecdote about his visit to the Louvre in Paris: Comment by Patrick: Discussion of the ambassador’s visit in relation to Twain’s exploration of the “ugly American” motif.

We visited the Louvre, at a time when we had no silk purchases in view, and looked at its miles of paintings by the old masters. Some of them were beautiful, but at the same time they carried such evidences about them of the cringing spirit of those great men that we found small pleasure in examining them. Their nauseous adulation of princely patrons was more prominent to me and chained my attention more surely than the charms of color and expression which are claimed to be in the pictures. Gratitude for kindnesses is well, but it seems to me that some of those artists carried it so far that it ceased to be gratitude and became worship. If there is a plausible excuse for the worship of men, then by all means let us forgive Rubens and his brethren.

Clearly, Twain mocks the endless rows of paintings that are so culturally revered, yet so monotonously boring. Next, I see a connection to the archetype of the “ugly American” abroad when Twain writes:

Think of our Whitcombs, and our Ainsworths and our Williamses writing themselves down in dilapidated French in foreign hotel registers! We laugh at Englishmen, when we are at home, for sticking so sturdily to their national ways and customs, but we look back upon it from abroad very forgivingly. It is not pleasant to see an American thrusting his nationality forward obtrusively in a foreign land, but Oh, it is pitiable to see him making of himself a thing that is neither male nor female, neither fish, flesh, nor fowl -- a poor, miserable, hermaphrodite Frenchman!

Both of the concepts presented in Twain’s writing – the Grand Tour and the archetype of the “ugly American” – enabled me to reassess the significance of Locke’s recent visit to China.

Locke’s visit to China is a Grand Tour. During this visit Locke is coming-of-age in his new role as American ambassador to China; he works through this international, cross-cultural encounter, during which both the Chinese and Locke initiate their new relationship. During Locke’s voyage, he encounters both Chinese common folk and Chinese government leaders. I believe that Locke shows the Chinese that Americans are not always how the government-owned media presents them as: he travels economy class, not business class, and presents a simple approach to people. This style echoes Twain, who believed that “travel is fatal to prejudice” and, in addition, believed that we have to “un-learn” many of the ideas and opinions we have about others and other countries. In my opinion, this is not one-directional; specifically, Locke is the one traveling and challenging the prejudices of the Chinese—both common citizen and government officials—while at the same time Locke has to adjust his opinions during and after his trip, simply because that is what new (travel) experiences do to a rational thinking human being. In addition, Chinese common people are perhaps innocent in their opinion of Americans — their knowledge is based on the information presented in government-owned media, creating archetype images of the “ugly American” — and Locke’s laid-back, approachable demeanor redefines those images as he breaks down the negative archetype by encountering the Chinese people directly. Issues central to cross-cultural and international encounter, moreover, are evidenced in Locke’s Chinese heritage. For example, Locke brings a unique set of cultural values to China: He has been educated and raised in the USA and carries that set of norms and values with him, while he simultaneously possesses a better understanding and appreciation of the Chinese culture because of his Chinese heritage. I also believe that the theme of double-consciousness is applicable here, too: Locke, with his Chinese heritage, will never visit China the same way as an American without his Chinese heritage would, and Locke will never emotionally connect to China the same way as an American would. In addition, Chinese people will always see Locke differently than any other American without his the Chinese heritage. Locke is definitely changing the archetype of the “ugly American;” in fact, at his pace we may soon have a new archetype: the “friendly American.” Comment by Patrick: Discussion of the central/key concept of the Grand Tour as it relates to how the ambassador’s visit is perceived by Chinese citizens and the news media. Comment by Patrick: Discussion of how the central/key concepts of cross-cultural and encounter themes are relevant to understanding how the ambassador’s Chinese heritage shapes the news event.

The second literary text I will connect to LaFraniere’s news article is T.S. Eliot’s modernist poem The Waste Land, written in 1920 – 1922. The period immediately after WWI was characterized by many technological, political, religious, and social changes. Many people felt displaced and some of the traditional comforting structures of society were coming under question or completely destroyed. All of these changes and challenges caused fragmentation and contrasted the old vis-à-vis the new. What society knew to be true, or knew to be a reality, no longer applied. As a result, the world was unfamiliar to many young people, including writers, and therefore they felt displaced and lost. The fragmentation created a sense of loss, a loss from parents who were stuck in their old-fashioned beliefs. The fragmentation created a lack of direction of where to go in life. Reading Eliot’s poem The Waste Land leaves the reader bewildered with the fragmented sense of the world that is portrayed. Perhaps the best example of this sense fragmentation is in Eliot’s declaration: “These fragments I have shored against my ruins.” This line could be interpreted as a reference to Eliot’s own breakdown, to technology applied to create weapons of mass destruction, to postwar financial crisis, to political instability, to generational gaps and, of course, to changing gender relations. A disillusionment and lack of hope is further evidenced in the lines: Comment by Patrick: Brief summary of the second literary text using direct quotations from the work.

In this decayed hole among the mountains,

In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing

Over the tumbled graves, about the chapel

There is the empty chapel, only the wind's home.

It has no windows, and the door swings,

Dry bones can harm no one.

Here Eliot writes about a life without a Chapel Perilous, a life without hope, or a life without a quest; Is life is worth living without hope or the possibility of meaning? Both fragmentation and hope—or lack of hope—provide me with a connection to Locke’s visit to China.

LaFraniere’s article describes how various Chinese newspapers and media outlets react to Locke’s visit, and that description illustrates the way in which the Chinese newspapers’ portrayals are fragmented. LaFraniere quotes the China Daily: “Perhaps it is time for the Chinese dignitaries to follow the example of humble Locke.” In contrast, LaFraniere quotes the Guangming Daily: “[Mr. Locke’s appointment] reveals the despicable intention of the United States to use Chinese to control the Chinese and incite political chaos in China.” The Global Times writes, “a U.S. ambassador becoming a political star in China cannot be interpreted as U.S. respect for China.” And finally, LaFraniere reports that a large influential news source, the official Xinhua outlet, did not report on the visit at all. Reading this, I have to conclude that this fragmented, and at times contradictory reporting, must leave the common Chinese people often confused. Even if they believe the rather negative comments of the news outlets, they would be left bewildered if they ever had an opportunity to meet Locke. In addition, the fragmentation is amplified by the level of accessibility to technology for the common Chinese people: Some will have access to the internet—but even they will only see what the government allows to get through—and many do not have access to the internet. I also wonder about the absence of organized religion in China and have to ask if the combination of a lack of religion and a lack of technology results in a rather hopeless situation for the poor. They cannot get the technology they need to catch up, therefore they fall further behind, and the fragmentation (and sense of desperation) becomes amplified. This sense of desperation connects to Eliot’s stanza about the Chapel Perilous and is applicable to the common people in China who are left behind, who are not benefitting from the improving economy. These common people, often factory workers laboring for bare minimum wages, see wealth and development pass them by. Their world is fragmented, for a small fragment (of society) own everything, and a large fragment (of society) is struggling. For these struggling common people, Locke must be a great source of inspiration, especially when they hear Locke say, “it took the Locke family 100 years to move one mile, from the house where his grandfather toiled as a servant to the Washington governor’s Georgian-style mansion.” Furthermore, this success story is made even more attractive when one remembers that not too long ago, during the late nineteenth century, Locke’s ancestors moved from China to the USA. Add to this inspirational aspect Locke’s common style and his popularity is easily understood. Locke’s popularity is apparent when LaFraniere writes: Comment by Patrick: Discussion of how modernist fragmentation in Eliot’s poem has influenced the author to better understand the contradictory reports of the ambassador’s visit.

Hundreds of people gathered on the streets of the city of Taishan, to watch as he stopped at a local kindergarten and—if they were lucky—to have their picture taken with him. Taishan, a spawning ground for hundreds of thousands of Chinese immigrants to the United States, seems to be the rule, not the exception. Three months into Mr. Locke’s tenure in China, his popularity among the masses separates him from his predecessors.

In conclusion, Locke, the friendly American with Chinese heritage, connecting China and America in many different ways, truly must offer hope to these common Chinese people, allowing them to start dreaming about their own Grand Tour. Comment by Patrick: Catchy conclusion reaffirming the central connections of the paper and recasting the Grand Tour concept (which is used primarily to refer to Europeans and Americans who tour the capital cities of Western Europe) in a new way.