I had no idea that this precursor wave of Camp-of-the-Saints-like fiction existed in the case of 19th c. Chinese immigration, and I appreciate your bringing it to attention with this post. I wonder whether there was any pre-Civil War precursor associated with the anti-Catholic (especially anti-German/anti-Irish) Know-Nothing movement. Looking forward to the sequel.
Looking for more information on the books you list as "portraying Chinese immigrants as a fifth column" that would "destroy American culture and values," I found that "The Yellow Wave" is actually about a supposed Chinese immigrant invasion of Australia, not the US. Perhaps it had influence in the US, but it was published in Britain. "Under the Flag and Cross," which I could find no access to directly, seems not to be specifically anti-Chinese, as multiple descriptions I found say it recounts a "Japanese-Mongolian" invasion. (Since in 1908 all of Mongolia was still part of the Chinese empire, perhaps that means "Japanese-Chinese," but it's not a slam-dunk as a book about "Chinese immigrants.")
Thanks for flagging those items; I tweaked the language above. I do remember that the Yellow Wave wasn't a US invasion but something went awry between brain and keyboard. Re: anti-Catholic immigration, I found two prewar examples of anti-Catholic dystopias, neither of which I have been able to read/find. One, "Memoirs of the Twentieth Century" (1733) by Samuel Madden, was anti-Catholic but not immigration-focused (Madden was an Irish protestant). The other is "One thousand eight hundred and twenty nine, or, shall it be so?" (1819) by Edmund Lewis Swifte, a Brit writing about Britain, so not quite immigration focused. I have not seen any examples in the American context. There are very few proper dystopias prior to the Civil War, so I am pretty sure there isn't one, but I never say never, because despite a 1,000-strong bibliography, I am still finding or being told about new titles all the time.
I had no idea that this precursor wave of Camp-of-the-Saints-like fiction existed in the case of 19th c. Chinese immigration, and I appreciate your bringing it to attention with this post. I wonder whether there was any pre-Civil War precursor associated with the anti-Catholic (especially anti-German/anti-Irish) Know-Nothing movement. Looking forward to the sequel.
Looking for more information on the books you list as "portraying Chinese immigrants as a fifth column" that would "destroy American culture and values," I found that "The Yellow Wave" is actually about a supposed Chinese immigrant invasion of Australia, not the US. Perhaps it had influence in the US, but it was published in Britain. "Under the Flag and Cross," which I could find no access to directly, seems not to be specifically anti-Chinese, as multiple descriptions I found say it recounts a "Japanese-Mongolian" invasion. (Since in 1908 all of Mongolia was still part of the Chinese empire, perhaps that means "Japanese-Chinese," but it's not a slam-dunk as a book about "Chinese immigrants.")
Thanks for flagging those items; I tweaked the language above. I do remember that the Yellow Wave wasn't a US invasion but something went awry between brain and keyboard. Re: anti-Catholic immigration, I found two prewar examples of anti-Catholic dystopias, neither of which I have been able to read/find. One, "Memoirs of the Twentieth Century" (1733) by Samuel Madden, was anti-Catholic but not immigration-focused (Madden was an Irish protestant). The other is "One thousand eight hundred and twenty nine, or, shall it be so?" (1819) by Edmund Lewis Swifte, a Brit writing about Britain, so not quite immigration focused. I have not seen any examples in the American context. There are very few proper dystopias prior to the Civil War, so I am pretty sure there isn't one, but I never say never, because despite a 1,000-strong bibliography, I am still finding or being told about new titles all the time.