Episode 6: The West – Savior or Demonizer?

Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community.

Part 1

Introduction & content warnings
Why is this series focusing on premodern Asia?
The West isn’t the only imperial power
From the Silk Road to the Age of Exploration
British colonization of India, Section 377 & vagrancy Laws
Premodern Chinese law about sexual crimes (w. Prof. CunCun Wu)
Portuguese vs British India (w. Prof. Anjali Arondekar)
Spanish colonization of the Philippines
French colonization of Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos
Discussion with co-host (Stella)
Acknowledgments

Part 2

Introduction & content warnings
Missionaries in China
China, Britain & the Opium wars
Japan
Thailand
Iran & Turkey
Prostitution, sodomy and the colonial powers
Conclusion
Discussion with co-host (Cece)
Acknowledgments

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References:

Gupta, Alok, and Scott Long. “This Alien Legacy – The Origins of ‘Sodomy’ Laws in British Colonialism.” Human Rights Watch, 17 Dec. 2008,

SEN, TANSEN. “The Intricacies of Premodern Asian Connections.” The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 69, no. 4, 2010, pp. 991–99. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40929277. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.

“Key Points across East Asia by Era: 1450-1750.” Asia for Educators, Columbia University, afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/kpct/kp_1450-1750.htm. Accessed 8 Sept. 2024.

“Key Points across East Asia by Era: 1750-1919.” Asia for Educators, Columbia University, afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/kpct/kp_1750-1919.htm. Accessed 8 Sept. 2024.

“Key Points across East Asia by Era: 1900-1950.” Asia for Educators, Columbia University, afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/kpct/kp_1450-1750.htm. Accessed 8 Sept. 2024.

BAUTISTA, MARIE LOU FRIAS. “Historical Influences on Gender Preference in the Philippines.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies, vol. 19, no. 1, 1988, pp. 143–53. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41601414. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.

PISCOS, James Loreto C. “Demonization and Sanctification of Indigenous Feminine Roles in 16th Century Philippines”.

Alegre, Brenda Rodriguez. “From Asog to Bakla to Transpinay.” Alon: Journal for Filipinx American and Diasporic Studies 2.1 (2022): 51-64.

Alegre, Brenda Rodriguez. “From Asog to Bakla to Transpinay.” Alon: Journal for Filipinx American and Diasporic Studies 2.1 (2022): 51-64.

“The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898.” Edited by Emma Helen Blair et al., Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13701/13701-h/13701-h.htm. Accessed 8 Sept. 2024.

Reid, Anthony. Female Roles in Pre-colonial Southeast Asia. Modern Asian Studies Vol. 22, 3 (1988), pp.629-643.

VANN, MICHAEL G. “Sex and the Colonial City: Mapping Masculinity, Whiteness, and Desire in French Occupied Hanoi.” Journal of World History, vol. 28, no. 3/4, 2017, pp. 395–435. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26537617. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.

X, Jacobus. Untrodden fields of anthropology – observations of the esoteric manners and customs of semi-civilized peoples; being a record of thirty years’ experience in Asia, Africa, America and Oceania by a French Army Surgeon. 1893

Aphornsuvan, Thanet. 2009. “The West and Siam’s Quest for Modernity: Siamese Responses to Nineteenth Century American Missionaries.” South East Asia Research 17 (3): 401–31. doi:10.5367/000000009789838468.

Hongsaton, Preedee, Karin Zackari, and Søren Ivarsson. “Going Beyond the Tropes of ‘Friendship’ and ‘Modernization’: Internal Colonialism in Siam and Scandinavia in the Age of Empire.” Scandinavian Journal of History (2024)

Mason, Laura (2004). Food Culture In Great Britain. pp. 34–35. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 031332798X

Tze-Lan D. Sang, The Emerging Lesbian: Female Same-Sex Desire in Modern China, The University of Chicago Press, 2003.

G.B. Sansom (1952), Japan: A Short Cultural History, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, pp 449–455.

Additional Resources:

Coming Soon

Guest scholars:

Anjali Arondekar, professor of feminist studies and South Asian studies at the University of California Santa Cruz.
Wu CunCun, ⁠⁠professor of Chinese literature at the University of Hong Kong⁠⁠.
Sachi Schmidt-Hori, professor of Japanese literature & culture at Dartmouth College.
Niloofar Rasooli, doctoral fellow at the Swiss Institute of Technology.

Guest co-hosts:

Part 1

Stella is a writer, editor, and co-host for the Brazn Azn podcast along with the lovely Virginia Duan.

Part 2

Cece is a Canadian born Chinese transgender trans model, advocate, poet, and public speaker who is using her voice to lift up the marginalized, fill in the gaps, and instigate journeys of discovery.

Cece’s Wholesome Trans Story S4E7

Cece’s journey S1E7