A Barbarian in Asia
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"A people, in fact, devoid of wisdom, of simplicity and of depth, over-serious, though fond of toys and novelties, not easily amused, ambitious, superficial and obviously doomed to our evils and our civilization." -- Henri Michaux on Japanese people in A Barbarian in Asia (1933) |
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A Barbarian in Asia is a collection of travel impressions by Henri Michaux first published in February 1933 as Un barbare en Asie. The book is the result of travels Michaux undertook to Japan, China and India. Oriental culture became one of his biggest influences (the philosophy of Buddhism and the Oriental calligraphy later became the principal subject of many of his poems).
The first English translation was by Sylvia Beach published by New Directions in 1949. Jorge Luis Borges translated A Barbarian in Asia into Spanish.
