Empire, Exoticism, and Heterotopia: The Interior of a Chinese Shop

Authors

Xinyao Lu, University College London

Abstract

This essay tries to interpret a 17^th-century Dutch painting, the Interior of a Chinese Shop from a postcolonial perspective. It argues that the picture is a reflection of the desire and anxiety of the Dutch empire to collect oriental luxuries under the context of mercantilism. It is a heterogeneous space that consists of exotic objects from different geographical zones and timelines, which corresponds to Foucault’s concept of “heterotopia.” The fantasy shown from the painting exposes real spaces and reveals the complexity between Self and Other, leading to a place that is beyond the dualist structure.

First Page

157

Last Page

166

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Lu, Xinyao (2022) "Empire, Exoticism, and Heterotopia: The Interior of a Chinese Shop," Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History: Vol. 12: Iss. 1, Article 9.
DOI: 10.20429/aujh.2022.120109
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh/vol12/iss1/9