Review: The Oriental Question
| Published date | 01 June 2004 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200405900220 |
| Date | 01 June 2004 |
| Author | John Meehan |
| Subject Matter | Review |
Reviews
orthodox
chronological
narrative
(perhaps
reflecting
in
part
the
previ-
ous
appearance
of
several
key
chapters
as
articles).
Within
these
parameters,
The
Lion
and
the
Springbok
makes
a
major
contribution
to the
historical
debate. These
are
not, it should
be
added, insignificant parameters.
Hyam
and
Henshaw
show
British
politicians
struggling
to make
compromises,
in
perennial
pursuit
of
the
lesser
evil.
Hyam
and
Henshaw
often
argue
against
the pat
demo-
nization
of
the
British
that
they
feel
has
dominated
historical
debate.
Ironically, however,
in
presenting
more
believable
politicians
and
civil
servants,
Hyam
and Henshaw
also
underscore
all
the
more
clearly
the
particular
blind
spots
and
self-delusions
of
many.
A
sanguine belief
in
British liberalism
and
fair
play
appears
to
have
enabled
a
number
of
officials
to
downplay
settler
racism
in
the
Rhodesias,
to
take
just
one
example,
while
the
desire
to
maintain
the
empire
remained
a
potent
political
force
well
into
the
1950s.
Whatever
one
makes
of
the moral
issues
involved,
self-delusion
is
also
an
important
part
of
the
historical
record.
This
is
an
important
book
based
on
a
deep
knowledge
of
the
British
archives
that
will
be
a
reference
point
even
for
those
(and
they
may
be
many,
given
the
range
of
the
book's targets) who
do
not
agree
with
all
the
rich
detail
of
its
interpretation.
Elizabeth
Elbourne/McGill
University
THE
ORIENTAL
QUESTION
Consolidating
a
White
Man's
Province,
1914-41
Patricia
E.
Roy
Vancouver:
UBC
Press,
2003.
viii,
334
pp, $85.00
cloth
(ISBN
0-7748-
1010-6),
$29.95
paper
(ISBN
0-7748-1011-4,
July
2004)
Wh
y
did
Canada
pass
a
Chinese
exclusionary
act in
1923?
Prompted
by
this deceptively
simple
question,
Patricia
Roy
pre-
sents
a
thorough
and
insightful
analysis
of
anti-Asian
sentiment
in
British
Columbia
between
the
wars.
The
Oriental
Question
is
the
sequel to
her
groundbreaking
book,
A
White
Man's Province
(1989),
and
continues
her
exploration
of
the
complex
social,
political,
eco-
nomic
and
ideological
bases
of
racism.
Like
her
earlier
book,
this
study
is
meticulously
documented,
drawing
on contemporary
press
reports,
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Spring200
4467
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