Description
Book SynopsisThe evil mastermind—and master of disguise—Fu Manchu has long threatened to take over the world. In the past century, his dastardly plans have driven serialized novels, comic books, films, and TV. Yet this sinister Oriental character represents more than an invincible criminal in pop culture; Fu Manchu became the embodiment of the Yellow Peril.
Serial Fu Manchu provides a savvy cultural, historical, and media-based analysis that shows how Fu Manchu’s irrepressibility gives shape to—and reinforces—the persistent Yellow Peril myth. Ruth Mayer argues that seriality is not merely a commercial strategy but essential to the spread of European and American fears of Asian expansion.
Tracing Fu Manchu through transnational serials in varied media from 1913 to the 1970s, Mayer shows how the icon evolved. She pays particular attention to the figure’s literary foundations, the impact of media changes on his d
Trade Review
"Mayer's book is fascinating look at not only the concept of seriality but a reminder that when the character Fu Manchu debuted in 1912 in a story and began his life as a serial the following year, China was regarded by the West as a backward, troubled mess. Thus, this book is worth reading for those interested in popular culture and the intersection in fictional form of East and West... This is a solid contribution to cultural studies." - Critical Margins
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments1 Going Serial: Fu Manchu, the Yellow Peril, and the Machinic Momentum of Ideology2 Enter Fu Manchu: The Transatlantic Periodical Press and the Circulation of Stories and Things3 Image Power: Seriality, Iconicity, and the Filmic Fu Manchus of the 1930s4 Machinic Fu Manchu: Popular Seriality and the Logic of Spread 5 Evil Chinamen: Yellow Peril Comics and the Ideological Work of Popular Seriality6 The End of the Assembly Line: Seriality, Ideology, and Popular CultureReferencesIndex
