Arise Africa, Roar China: Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century

by Yunxiang Gao

Overview

This book explores the close relationships between three of the most famous twentieth-century African Americans, W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, and Langston Hughes, and their little-known Chinese allies during World War II and the Cold War—journalist, musician, and Christian activist Liu Liangmo, and Sino-Caribbean dancer-choreographer Sylvia Si-lan Chen. Charting a new path in the study of Sino-American relations, Gao Yunxiang foregrounds African Americans, combining the study of Black internationalism and the experiences of Chinese Americans with a transpacific narrative and an understanding of the global remaking of China’s modern popular culture and politics. Gao reveals earlier and more widespread interactions between Chinese and African American leftists than accounts of the familiar alliance between the Black radicals and the Maoist Chinese would have us believe. The book’s multilingual approach draws from massive yet rarely used archival streams in China and in Chinatowns and elsewhere in the United States. These materials allow Gao to retell the well-known stories of Du Bois, Robeson, and Hughes alongside the sagas of Liu and Chen in a work that will transform and redefine Afro-Asia studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469664613
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	12/17/2021
Series:	The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	408
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Gao Yunxiang is professor of history at Toronto Metropolitan University, and author of Sporting Gender: Women Athletes and Celebrity-Making during China’s National Crisis, 1931-1945.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This ambitious and innovative book makes a significant contribution to the scholarship in a number of fields, including African American studies, Black internationalism, China-U.S. relations, modern Chinese history, and, very importantly, transnational history. It offers an exhaustively researched, brilliantly structured, and beautifully written account of left-wing African Americans and diasporic Chinese activists reaching across national borders in their struggle for identity, camaraderie, and solidarity.”—Wang Xi, professor of History, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Changjiang Professor of history, Peking University

Editorial Reviews

A History Today 2022 Book of the Year | A Book Authority 2022 Best New African American History Book and Best Politics Ebook

“Original, intelligent, and deeply researched. . . . The extraordinary, globetrotting experiences of the five protagonists naturally provide rich material for this type of narrative. Nevertheless, Gao demonstrates exceptional storytelling abilities and thorough research, leaving no archival stone unturned. . . . [E]ssential reading for historians across multiple subfields.”—American Historical Review

“The book excels in its close reading of primary sources, which paint detailed descriptions of Gao’s subjects. . . Arise, Africa! Roar, China! is a solid addition to this growing field within Chinese history, and individual chapters will be particularly useful for expanding syllabi in courses on China, global history and African American studies.”—China Quarterly

“This tour-de-force of research connects the scholarship on Black internationalism, Chinese American studies, modern Chinese popular culture and politics, Black Diasporas, and transnational studies. . . . Arise, Africa! Roar, China! will surely stimulate more research on Sino-African diaspora history and the transnationality of modern Chinese history in the future.”—Chinese Historical Review

"Gao’s book presents a significant addition to the burgeoning field of historical scholarship exploring black American connections with China during the 20th century. In five chapters, Gao meticulously examines the personal journeys and intellectual contributions of five influential figures . . . shedding new light on their roles in shaping Chinese relations with African Americans.”—Journal of Cold War Studies

“Ambitious in its scope and inspiring in its subject material. Gao’s provocative book demonstrates the importance of transpacific and translingual approaches in modern Chinese and African American history. It offers a new perspective on Sino-American relations through five compelling case studies that have rarely been examined side-by-side. . . . A pleasure to read and a layered work of scholarship that invites further rereading, revisiting, and reflection.”—Modern Chinese Literature & Culture

“Gao is by any measure a talented and engaging writer who brings her fascinating subjects vividly to life. . . . Gao tells a good story, actually five, and tells them very well. That the stories and protagonists are all linked yields a book is far more than the sum of its parts.”—Asian Review of Books

“A most impressive display of transnational research which furthers the important field of African American internationalism.”—Peace & Change

“Through an archivally rich and meticulously researched account of five prominent individuals, Gao Yunxiang’s Arise, Africa! Roar, China! explores the richness of friendships forged between the US and China at the turn of the 20th century. . . . [This book] is a solid addition to this growing field within Chinese history, and individual chapters will be particularly useful for expanding syllabi in courses on China, global history and African American studies.”—China Quarterly

“A compelling and ambitious work that broadens our understanding of interactions between Chinese Communists and African Americans beyond the conventional narratives of the Cold War era. . . . The book underscores the interconnectedness of race, culture, and globalization. Essential reading for scholars, students, and enthusiasts alike, Gao’s rigorous research, nuanced analysis, and original insights make this book a seminal contribution to the field.”—Journal of Cold War Studies

From the Publisher