近現代中國海外遊記的英國形象（1840-1949）

Mainly based on the author’s research results of overseas travel notes, related material culture, and foreign images in the late Qing Dynasty, this project is a two-year research project(one-year extension due to the covid 19), and extends the research scope from the late Qing Dynasty to the modern overseas travels notes (1840-1949). Through the cross-cultural research theories and methods of comparative literature imageology, this paper explores what complex images of Britain, a symbol of western civilization opening up China’s modern experience, are presented by travelers under different ages. What’s more, the paper further analyzes the images of Britain which are repeatedly mentioned and continuously reconstructed to show what kind of collective imagination and cross-cultural implication are reflected.From the alien barbarians to Utopia and romantic / ordinary world, the image of Britain in Chinese overseas travel notes during the modern times shows a complicated and changeable picture, as the empire halo glitters and fades. The history backgrounds of different travelers also vary greatly. For example, the travelers in the late Qing Dynasty were forced to go beyond China under the pressure of saving China from subjugation and ensuring its survival, and travelers during the Republic of China chose to take a more diversified perspective and writing strategy after they got rid of the burden of the times. This project is poised to first sort out China’s cognition about Britain before the late Qing Dynasty, and then discuss the image of Britain in the works by Chinese travelers in two stages: late Qing Dynasty and Republic of China. Ultimately, these two stages are compared to integrate the development context of image of Britain in modern travel notes, and explore the self-cultural reflection projected by travelers into the image of Britain.