ABSTRACT
The invitation to contribute an essay with the title “New Orientalisms” implies, at least, three preliminarily assumptions: first, that the main entryway to discussing the Latin American production of Asia is inescapably mediated by Edward Said's Orientalism (1978); second, that there is an “older” articulation of such a gaze; and lastly, that there is not one, but multiple forms of orientalizing attitudes in the present. In other words, “New Orientalisms” should address the postcolonial theoretical framework, trace a literary history of the term, and, finally, discuss the current forms of such imaginary constructions of Asia in Latin America. My contribution aims to discuss these questions through a review of the growing scholarship on the topic in the field of Latin American studies. This essay will explore not only the persistence of critical terms and textual approaches that confine the discussion of Latin American orientalism to the realm of representation, but also the introduction of theoretical frameworks from global history of world literature. These methodologies stimulate material approaches that cast light on overlooked literary and visual archives, as well as revisit traditional works in search of new literary cartographies.
