Archetypal East Asians in American Fiction
Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan are two important and well-known fictional East Asian characters in America's cultural history. Both were created by white authors, Sax Rohmer and Earl Derr Biggers respectively, in the early part of the 20th century. Fu Manchu is a sardonic, intelligent, yet evil Chinese murderer with plots of world domination, an embodiment of America's imagination of a threatening mysterious East Asian people. Charlie Chan is an apologetic submissive Chinese-Hawaiian detective who solves cases while politely handling the many racist insults hurled at him by white American characters, and represents America's archetypal "good" East Asian. Both characters found widespread popularity in numerous novels and films.
Read more about this topic: Stereotypes Of East Asians In The Western World
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