Model Machines: A History of the Asian as Automaton

Long Bui's book "Model Machines" explores how Asians are portrayed as automatons in the Western imagination, challenging the concept of Asian roboticism and highlighting the overlapping racialization of Asians and Asian Americans with the robot-machine nexus. Through case studies, it shows how Asians are reimagined as model machines and offers examples of resistance against this stereotype. The book spans from the early nineteenth century to the present, with the resurgence of China presaging the "rise of the machines."

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 305 pages
Publication date: 07 June 2022
Publisher: Temple University Press,U.S.

In the contemporary Western imagination, Asian people are often portrayed as automatons, which denies their humanity. Long Bui delves into what he refers to as Asian roboticism or the ways in which Asians embody the machine and are assigned robotic characteristics in his book, Model Machines. Bui provides the first historical overview of the overlapping racialization of Asians and Asian Americans through their conflation with the robot-machine nexus. He introduces the concept of the "model machine myth," which raises specific questions about personhood, citizenship, labor, and rights in the transnational creation of Asian/America.

The case studies in Model Machines showcase the representation of Chinese laborers, Japanese soldiers, Asian sex workers, and other examples to illustrate how Asians are reimagined as model machines as a result of globalization, racism, and colonialism. Furthermore, it provides examples of how artists and ordinary individuals resisted this stereotype to consider alternative ways of being human. The book spans from the early nineteenth century to the present, with the new millennium marking the "rise of the machines" and the potential doomsday scenarios this might bring for global humanity.

Dimension: 229 x 152 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781439922347