Taking Italian scholar Lina Unali's work as its point of departure, this collection of new essays examines the “transnational turn” in cultural studies between Asia and the West. Drawing on literature, history, culture, film and media studies, scholars from a range of disciplines explore the constructs of “Asia” and “the West” and discuss their cultural collision.

Topics covered include the relationship between European and American writers and Asia, western travelers to the East and eastern travelers to the West, transnational historic and literary figures, the deconstruction of Orientalism, new critical perspectives in transnational studies, the immigrant experience in literature, post-colonial studies, and teaching “the West” in Asia and “Asia” in the West.