The Pretended Asian: George Psalmanazar's Eighteenth-century Formosan HoaxWayne State University Press, 2004 - 182 páginas In the summer of 1703, George Psalmanazar traveled to London posing as an East Asian native from Formosa - now modern Taiwan. In the following year, Psalmanazar published a book about his native country, A Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa, a highly entertaining account of exotic Asiatic customs, replete with illustrations of Formosan costumes, temples, houses, castles, funeral processions, ships, and coins, as well as examples of the Formosan language and its alphabet. The book quickly went through two editions and appeared in French, Dutch, and German. Psalmanazar's fake Formosan language even became confused as an authentic language sample in the developing field of comparative linguistics. Although he was a blond European, posing as a member of another race was never a problem for Psalmanazar or his audience, since the concept of race, Michael Keevak claims, did not yet exist. In The Pretended Asian, Keevak looks at how Psalmanazar - far from having a difficult time pretending to be East Asian - readily played upon Asian stereotypes and the preconceptions of a public all too eager to learn about the Far East, enabling him to build an identity that could eve |
Índice
Illustrations | 2 |
Title page of Psalmanazars Memoirs 2d ed | 3 |
Title page of Psalmanazars Description of Formosa 1st ed | 7 |
Title page of Psalmanazars Description of Formosa 2d ed | 8 |
The True and the False Formosa | 17 |
Chapter 2 | 34 |
Frontispiece portrait of Psalmanazar | 39 |
Formosans in the Description of Formosa | 47 |
Manuscript version of Psalmanazars Lords Prayer in Formosan | 69 |
Formosan coins in the Description of Formosa | 81 |
The Lords Prayer in a Formosan aboriginal language | 84 |
The Lords Prayer in a Formosan aboriginal language | 86 |
Psalmanazars Formosan alphabet | 89 |
Psalmanazars Formosan alphabet | 91 |
Formosan alphabet table | 92 |
The Jew Psalmanazar | 99 |
Formosan men | 49 |
Formosan man with two Formosan women | 50 |
Formosan warriors | 51 |
Chapter 3 | 59 |
Psalmanazars Formosan alphabet table in the Description of Formosa | 64 |
Manuscript version of Psalmanazars Formosan alphabet table | 68 |
Anima Fuerte | 119 |
viii | 132 |
Works Cited | 161 |
175 | |
Palavras e frases frequentes
actually Adelung Amsterdam appears Asia Asian Atlas Chinensis authentic Boswell C. R. Boxer Campbell Candidius Candidius's century Chamberlayne chapter characters China Chinese Christian Cited in Foley claims contemporary culture Description of Formosa DF Germ dominica Drake Dutch Early Modern East Eighteenth-Century England Enquiry Essays Europe European exotic eyewitness fact fake Fontaney forgery Formosan aboriginal Formosan alphabet Formosan identity Formosan Impostor Formosan language François Caron George Psalmanazar Hebrew Hiob Ludolf History of China included island Japan Japanese Jesuit Johann John John Ogilby Junius's Latin Leibniz Leonard Blussé letters linguistic London Lord's Prayer Lord's Prayer collection Lord's Prayer text Ludolf Mémoires pour l'histoire Memoirs missionary National Taiwan University native Oxford Paris Pausaos preface pretended Psalmanazar's Description Psalmanazar's Formosan published readers regular Samuel Johnson Schulze second edition seems simply story Taensa Taiwan University Library Terrien tion translation Universal History University Press vols Voyages and Travels