American Literature

J. Maarten Troosts Lost on Planet China is generally a travel narrative. However, this travel narrative is also a mix of various themes or issues about China including culture, politics, business, globalization, travel tips, and so on. From the culture of the material and non-material culture of the Chinese people, the history of the Chinese people, to the place of China and the countrys role in shaping international trade and relations, Troost has managed to create a humorous, thus entertaining, and enlightening narrative that informs readers about China mixed with the authors views and perspectives about his travels.

The Rhetorical Situation
    J. Maarten Troost, who has authored two other books about his travels, has chosen to emphasize the developments in China from its chaotic past to the countrys now modernized society. This idea or theme is palpable in Troosts initial discussion of post-war China when Mao Zedong, as the allotted leader, established the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 (1).  It was, according to Troost, Maos ruling as chief of the PRC, from which the early stages of Chinas modern society erupted. Thus, the purpose of Troost was to inform the general audience of how Chinas modern society was established.

    Troost emphasized how Chinese society, in general, viewed the Mao government in terms of how the leaders programs and actions have significantly influenced current conditions and situations in the country. To prove these ideas, Troost made use of empirical evidences, citing that majority of the Chinese people favored the actions taken by Mao during his rule of the PRC (Troost, 1). On one hand, the responses of China were positive, but this eventually changed when the people realized the impact or influences of the Chairmans radical actions to revolutionize Chinese society. The presence of factual and empirical information in the narrative prove Troosts reliability as a resource person for information on modern China, not only as one who has traveled in numerous places in the country, but also as an author who has read or conducted research on the country he wrote about. Troosts knowledge and proficiency of modern China raises the reliability and validity of the text to readers as a valuable source of information for further study and analysis.
Despite the seriousness of the issues initially discussed by Troost, the author has managed to inject humorous and entertaining points through derisive or sarcastic comments. Throughout Troosts travel narrative, there is a constant shift between purposes of informing and entertaining the audience. An example would be Troosts personal views on Maos plan for agriculture in the country. Since superpowers were supposed to be agriculturally productive, Mao joined in the export trade for grains. Troost then continued by saying To achieve this, Mao ordered the death of every sparrow in China. Sparrows ate grain seeds thus they had to die (Troost, 3). The above statement is just an example of how Troost attempted to mix fact and witty remarks in order to provide an informative, yet entertaining, piece of travel narrative for readers who have taken interest in studying modern China.

The Rhetorical Appeal
    If we are to base judgments and analysis of the text on Aristotles concept of rhetorical appeal, one may conclude that Troost was able to triangulate the travel narrative to appeal to the audiences by fulfilling ethos, logos, and pathos. As previously discussed, Troosts authority in writing a travel narrative is not only influenced by his personal travels around the country, as proven by numerous accounts or descriptions of the places he has been, but also of the authors personal knowledge about the past and present conditions of Chinese society. Furthermore, Troosts knowledge and experiences of modern China has also influenced his perspectives of the future role of China in the modern world as well. Overall, Troosts personal experiences and knowledge about China developed the ethos, or the authors credibility in writing such an ideally informative and comprehensive travel narrative.

    Troosts knowledge and experiences of China have consequently assisted the writer in raising the reliability and validity of the travel narrative by establishing facts through supporting evidences, specifically in Troosts brief discussion of the history of China during the rule of Mao. Several references were made about Maos own remarks during post-war China, empirical evidences from various sources about the opinions and perspectives of the Chinese people on Maos ruling, and specific information referenced from other books on the various events that unfolded due to the programs and policies implemented by Mao. These aspects of Troosts travel narrative have established the logos, or the reliability and validity of the narrative, due to the existence of factual evidences, supporting information, and arguments.

    Apart from the necessity of establishing ethos and logos in an effective rhetoric, Troost was also able to appeal to pathos by infusing his humorous thoughts on factual information. As previously discussed, Troost has managed to simultaneously utilize fact and humor to discuss the Chinese history chronologically and relay his personal experiences during his travels in China. In fact, Troosts discussion of his travels was vividly rich not only with details of the places he has been but also of the feelings or emotions that the author felt during those times. From fear and animosity of walking in Tiananmen Square (Troost, 7) to the authors amazement of how Beijing has been modernized throughout the years (Troost, 2), Troost has utilized his emotions and detailed descriptions as tools in connecting to the readers.