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"I, Stereotype: Detained in the Uncanny Valley"
- Author(s):
- Seo-Young Chu (see profile)
- Date:
- 2015
- Group(s):
- Arts and Culture for Global Development, Cultural Studies, GS Speculative Fiction, Literary theory, Narrative theory and Narratology
- Subject(s):
- Race, Ethnicity, Asian Americans--Study and teaching, Orientalism, Speculative fiction, Ethics
- Item Type:
- Book chapter
- Tag(s):
- uncanny valley, Stereotypes, ethnic stereotypes, yellow peril, Race/ethnicity, Asian-American studies, Theory
- Permanent URL:
- https://doi.org/10.17613/0yaz-w536
- Abstract:
- In "I, Stereotype," Seo-Young Chu applies Mori's theory of the uncanny valley not to robots but to a different species of humanoid artifact: stereotypes of the "yellow peril." Through analyses of stories by Sax Rohmer, World War Two propaganda, and films from the Bond franchise, Chu investigates ways in which the logic of the uncanny valley has interacted with and shaped Orientalist and techno-Orientalist stereotypes (as well as the stereotype-as-a-perceived-type-of-person more generally). In the process, Chu explores what it means to find one's ethnic group detained in the uncanny valley, what it means to use stereotyping as a time-saving technology facilitating mental shortcuts, what it takes for a stereotyped "Other" to transcend the uncanny valley and become recognized as fully human. Ultimately Chu posits three Laws of Stereotypes (corollary to Asimov's Laws of Robotics) and suggests: "Asian Americans have an obligation to refuse to perceive ourselves through the lens of destructive stereotypes."
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Book chapter
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 10 months ago
- License:
- Attribution
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