The Challenge of Curiosity During the Cold War: Representations of Asia Between Politics and Consumerism and the Reflections of Goffredo Parise in the 1960s

The article investigates multiform perceptions of Asia during the Cold War in the 1960s through the lenses of politics, tourism and curious travellers. The article shows how in a turn towards the criticism of mechanical modernity, the variety of images and perceptions of Asia diversified into extreme positions. Our contribution places travel writer politicians like André Malraux and literary figures like Goffredo Parise alike into a framework in which individualized notions of Asia as a plurality of geopolitical, ideological, regional and local spaces emerged. In combination with the intra-Asian reorientation of tourist images, this chapter argues for a broad spectrum of Asian travel images beyond a clear dichotomy of authentic observations versus colonial gazes under the auspices of Cold War ideology.