SOURCE: "The Importance of Being Charlie Chan," in America Views China: American Images of China Then and Now, Jonathan Goldstein, Jerry Israel, Hilary Conroy, eds., Lehigh University Press, 1991, pp. 132-47.

In the following essay, Hawley addresses Chinese stereotypes in American literature and how Biggers's character Charlie Chan figures into their history.

In searching for the sources of American ideas about China and the Chinese, one of the important places to look is the mystery fiction of Earl Derr Biggers, starring Charlie Chan—detective extraordinaire, Honolulu resident, half-mocked, half-mocking descendant of Confucius.

Charlie Chan's durability and widespread popularity are unrivaled by other fictional Orientals. Although only six books featuring the Hawaiian-based detective were published from 1925 to 1932 (Biggers died in 1933), Charlie Chan's renown equals that of fictional detectives like Hercule Poirot and Nero Wolfe. The charlie Chan books were all serialized in The Saturday Evening Post, published in hardcover editions...