Stereotype Bilder über den Fernen Osten der Jahrhundertwende (am Beispiel des Unterhaltungstheaters)Kim Kison

ASIEN – Nr. 19 (1986) pp. 44–62

The reception of one cultural value in an another culture goes through several different phases in varied degrees. The reception is contingent on the cognitive structures and trends of the respective time and society. Round the turn of the century the Asian reception in Europe presents a diffuse character in which stereotypes and prejudices – especially those taken from earlier phases – play an important role. Asian figures appear decorated with objects such as pagodas, jades and paravants in operettas like „The Mikado“ or the „Geisha“. These figures have than through their own plurality in turn reinforced these Asian stereotypes. Geisha as a picture for a girl who could be cought anchors itself easily in the proud Wilhelmine society. Another favorite picture of Asians in detective or sensational plays was a mean crucial figure representing the „yellow race“. The individual who is hindered in his own development is not capable of recognizing the courses of his frustration. He strives rather to compensate for his frustration by developing a fantasy world or fleeing to an adventure or strange fairytale-like milieu.