Submission Date
4-27-2015
Document Type
Paper
Department
East Asian Studies
Second Department
International Relations
Adviser
Hugh Clark
Second Adviser
Rebecca Evans
Committee Member
Matthew Mizenko
Committee Member
Hugh Clark
Committee Member
Rebecca Evans
Department Chair
Rebecca Evans
Department Chair
Matthew Mizenko
Project Description
The notion of the Yellow Peril, the perceived racial threat of Asians or Asian nations overtaking Western Nations and Western culture, is not a new phenomenon, but instead an idea that has existed for many centuries, becoming popular in the nineteenth century. The Yellow Peril has been a potent belief which has influenced not only personal opinions, but has also affected Western foreign policy. The United States, whose ideological foundations were built upon Western ideology, was not immune to concerns of the Yellow Peril. Drawing on the theories of critical constructivism, poststructuralism, and postcolonialism, this study analyzes the manifestation of the Yellow Peril in American discourse and political rhetoric from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.
Recommended Citation
Witwer, Laura K., "Constructing the Yellow Peril: East Asia as the Enemy in American Discourse and Political Rhetoric" (2015). East Asian Studies Honors Papers. 1.
https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/eastasia_hon/1
