Failures East and West

Examines why and how cultural encounters between East Asia and Europe are framed as failures

• Opens up fresh perspectives on intercultural encounters by focusing on failures as a paradigm
• Argues that a focus on failure helps to uncover the normative perspectives and expectations of intercultural encounters
• Establishes that intercultural encounters add a valuable new perspective to the emerging field of failure studies

Often, the story of encounters between Asia and the West has been told as one of success, of cross-fertilization, reciprocal stimulation and an exchange of commodities and knowledge. Yet, the history of East-West encounters is riddled with prominent examples of misunderstandings, ignorance, unrealistic expectations or unbridgeable cultural differences. Bringing together scholars working across Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies, English Studies and French Studies, this book presents new perspectives on such instances by theorizing epistemologies of failure. Providing examples from different periods and disciplines, it reveals how culturally informed expectations and biases, performative and linguistic practices and imaginative horizons specific to the cultures involved shape notions of failure and success. Case studies range from first encounters in the early modern period to contemporary novels and focus on actual or imaginary encounters between East Asia and Western European cultures.