The Concept of the Sinophone

PMLA ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 709-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Mei Shih
Keyword(s):  
Postcolonial Theory ◽  
The West ◽  
Colonial Expansion ◽  
Intellectual Labor ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
Western Imperialism ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
New Imperialism ◽  
Chinese Intellectuals ◽  
The Rise Of China

The spectacular rise of China as a superpower perhaps only now compels us to recalibrate existing discourses of empire and postcoloniality, but China has been an empire in the modern sense since the mid–eighteenth century, when it conquered vast lands north and west of “China proper.” This history has been largely hidden from view because of two unacknowledged obsessions: the fetishization of Western empires over other empires and the prevailing discourse of Chinese victimhood at the hands of Western empires. The rise of China would not have caught so many by surprise if our vision had not been persistently clouded by our privileging of the oceanic (i.e., Western) mode of colonial expansion, which paradoxically centered the West as the most deserving object of critical attention and intellectual labor. It also would not have been a surprise if we had looked back at the Manchu conquests of inner Asia, which present-day China largely inherited and consolidated in a continuous colonial project. Postcolonial theory as we know it, particularly its critiques of orientalism, may prove irrelevant or even complicit when we consider how the positions of Chinese intellectuals critical of Western imperialism and orientalism easily slip into an unreflective nationalism, whose flip side may be a new imperialism.

Mega-Events and Social Change

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice Roche
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
The West ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
The Media ◽  
Relative Decline ◽  
Modernization Process ◽  
The Rise Of China

This book analyses the biggest, most spectacular and at times most controversial types of events, namely ‘mega-events’, and particularly recent Olympics and Expos. In this respect it builds on the sociological, historical and empirical account of mega-events originally presented in Roche’s influential study ‘Mega-Events and Modernity’ (2000). This new book addresses how mega-events have changed in recent times. It argues that contemporary mega-events reflect the major social changes which now influence our societies, particularly in the West, and which amount to a new ‘second phase’ of the modernization process. These are particularly visible in the media, urban and global locational aspects of mega-events. The book suggests that contemporary mega-events, both in their achievements and their vulnerabilities, reflect, in the media sphere, the rise of the internet; in the urban sphere, de-industrialisation and the growing ecological crisis; and in the global sphere, the relative decline of the West and the rise of China and other ‘emerging’ countries. It investigates the way in which contemporary mega-events reflect, but also mark and influence, social changes in each of these three contexts.

Boundary-Crossing Words, Beliefs, and Experiences

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Gang
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
The West ◽  
Late Imperial ◽  
Cultural Encounter ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
The Rise Of China ◽  
Modern Era

The rise of China as a leading power in today’s world has attracted increasing scholarly attention to the country’s encounter with the West (primarily referring to Europe and North America in this volume) in the modern era, i.e., from the late sixteenth to the early twentieth centuries. While more recent research began to shift away from the model of a tradition–modernity polarity in explaining late imperial Chinese history, new approaches have been proposed to explore a broader range of subjects tied with the richly documented exchanges between China and the West since the sixteenth century. However, there is still a lack of collaborative effort to examine how Western culture, long shaped by the dominant Christian religion, was conceptualized and imagined by late imperial Chinese people, and vice versa, how Confucian-based Chinese culture was understood and interpreted in modern Europe and North America. Indeed, the multilayered two-way flows of words, beliefs, and experiences in such a significant cross-cultural encounter open up intriguing possibilities for further investigation. This volume, which consists of seven studies, presents cutting-edge research on the formation and transformation of different types of knowledge, perceptions, and representations exchanged between China and the West through the modern period. It aims to shed new light and provide refreshing perspectives for future exploration of related subjects in this field....

scholarly journals Analysis of Chinglish from the Perspective of Feminism

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Mingjing Su
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Relative Power ◽  
The West ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Chinese Men ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
The Rise Of China ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Variation Tendency

<p><em>Xi Yan is one of the protagonists and plays a significant role in Chinglish. The paper applies feminism to analyze Xi Yan and to find out what it represents. As opposed to the traditional women, Xi Yan goes after physical pleasure and spiritual fulfillment and gains both spiritual and physical freedom. In contrast with Chinese men, she performs even better than men and wins a certain economic and social status. In terms of foreign men, she prevails in the relationship with Daniel, which is a symbol of the rise of women that portends the rise of China.</em></p><em>The findings demonstrate that: Xi Yan symbolizes the transformation of modern women from being suppressed to the pursuit of spiritual and physical liberation; she is on behalf of strong women who try to improve the situation of women, in pursuit of equality; and the change in the relative power of male and female reveals the variation tendency of the relative force of the East and the West.</em>

scholarly journals Orientalisms and Occidentalisms: Evolution of Concepts and Divergence of Connotations

2020 ◽  
pp. 30-45
Author(s):  
Ingrīda Kleinhofa ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Postcolonial Theory ◽  
Colonial Discourse ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
The West ◽  
European Tradition ◽  
The World ◽  
Western Imperialism ◽  
Science And Politics

During the most part of its long history, the term ‘Orientalism’ has had several interrelated meanings with neutral or positive connotations, some of which are still preserved, for instance, in art, architecture, design, and music, where it refers to Oriental influences and works inspired by Oriental themes and sounds rather attractive and romantic. As an academic term, it was used to denote the European tradition of Asian studies, suggesting a thorough exploration of Eastern cultural heritage, in particular, languages, literature, and artifacts. After the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism in 1978, the term gained new negative meanings, related to postcolonial theory where it denotes mainly the biased, haughty attitude of the West towards an essentialized East and manifestations of Western colonial discourse in literature, science, and politics, such as the justification of Western imperialism, colonialism, and racial discrimination. The redefinition of the term by postcolonial theorists raised a debate about the about the so-called Western approach to history, sociology, and Asian studies as well as about the permissibility of division of the world into binary opposites, “the Orient” and “the Occident”. By the end of the 20th century, the term ‘Orientalism’ was adapted for the use by anthropologists, and its counterpart, ‘Occidentalism’ emerged, referring to the essentialized, dehumanized image of the West created by non-Western societies. Currently, most of the mentioned meanings have survived, each to some extent, and interfere in various fields of knowledge, creating complex sets of contradictory connotations.

4. From the end of the cold war to a new world dis-order?

2019 ◽  
pp. 70-83
Author(s):  
Michael Cox
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International System ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
The West ◽  
Clinton Presidency ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Rise Of China

This chapter provides a broad overview of the international system between the end of the cold war— when many claimed that liberalism and the West had triumphed— through to the second decade of the twenty-first century, when the West itself and the liberal economic order it had hitherto promoted appeared to be coming under increased pressure from political forces at home and new challenges abroad. But before we turn to the present, the chapter will look at some of the key developments since 1989—including the Clinton presidency, the George W. Bush administration’s foreign policy following the attacks of 9/11, the 2008 financial crash, the crisis in Europe, the transitions taking place in the global South, the origins of the upheavals now reshaping the Middle East, the political shift from Barack Obama to Donald Trump, the emergence of Asia, and the rise of China. The chapter then concludes by examining two big questions: first, is power now shifting away from the West, and second, to what extent does the current wave of populism in the West threaten globalization and the liberal order?

scholarly journals THE RISE OF CHINA BETWEEN CULTURAL AND CIVILIZATIONAL RATIONALITIES: LESSONS FROM FOUR QING CASES

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Chih-Yu Shih ◽  
Chihyun Chang
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Orientation ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
The West ◽  
Cultural Resource ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
Rising China ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Rise Of China

The rise of China is a major feature of global politics at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and one that raises the question of how a rising China and global politics will adapt to each other. This study argues that historical cases are also useful in addressing this question. Four cases are compared: two during the reign of Emperor Xianfeng and another two under the rule of Emperor Guangxu. Emperor Xianfeng's view of China was that it possessed a unique culture that should be separated from alien forces, which he intuitively conceived as different, whereas Emperor Guangxu accepted exchanges with the West as a civilization and was willing to learn from them as a cultural resource. Despite this difference in their political perspectives, both emperors similarly faced constraints to their power in implementing their policies. Two cases are selected for each emperor to demonstrate how they acted differently from a cultural orientation of estrangement and exchange on one hand as well as a position of strength and weakness on the other. This comparative study provides insights into how China in the twenty-first century adapts to its expanding influence.

Chinatowns and the Rise of China

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 1367-1393 ◽  
Author(s):  
IEN ANG
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Chinese Immigrants ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
The West ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
The World ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
Dominant Society ◽  
The Rise Of China

AbstractIn the early twentieth century, Chinatowns in the West were ghettoes for Chinese immigrants who were marginalized and considered ‘other’ by the dominant society. In Western eyes, these areas were the no-go zones of the Oriental ‘other’. Now, more than a hundred years later, traditional Chinatowns still exist in some cities but their meaning and role has been transformed, while in other cities entirely new Chinatowns have emerged. This article discusses how Chinatowns today are increasingly contested sites where older diasporic understandings of Chineseness are unsettled by newer, neoliberal interpretations, dominated by the pull of China's new-found economic might. In particular, the so-called ‘rise of China’ has spawned a globalization of the idea of ‘Chinatown’ itself, with its actual uptake in urban development projects the world over, or a backlash against it, determined by varying perceptions of China's global ascendancy as an amalgam of threat and opportunity.

China's Techno-Nationalism in the Global Era

2015 ◽  
pp. 85-91
Author(s):  
Luís Cunha
Keyword(s):  
High Technology ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The West ◽  
Global Era ◽  
Technological Leadership ◽  
Chinese Characteristics ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
The Rise Of China ◽  
Developed World ◽  
The Eu

This chapter introduces techno-nationalism, a growing trend in the rise of China that has global implications, particularly for the European Union (EU). Techno-nationalism finds expression in efforts to set new technological standards and in the desire for a Chinese scientist to win the Nobel Prize. The country distinguishes itself through the “Chinese characteristics” of its techno-nationalism. The gap between China and the developed world is narrowing. And that includes the field of high technology. Currently, the EU and China are waging a battle for innovation, and for this purpose, they mobilize vast resources. The author argues that Europe is beginning to have difficulty keeping pace. It will be increasingly difficult for the West to maintain technological leadership. The author hopes that this chapter will help decision-makers and academics to comprehend China's techno-nationalism and the risks of protectionism in the EU-China relationship.

Constructing Chinese Masculinity for the Modern World: with Particular Reference to Lao She's The Two Mas

2000 ◽  
Vol 164 ◽  
pp. 1062-1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kam Louie
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The West ◽  
Western Imperialism ◽  
Chinese Masculinity ◽  
Chinese Intellectuals ◽  
East West ◽  
European Civilization

In the early decades of the 20th century, Chinese identities were subjected to profound challenges posed by the West. Traditional Chinese linkages between gender and power were shaken by contact with aggressive western imperialism. Although there are numerous studies on this impact, almost nothing has been written on its effects on the Chinese constructions of masculinity. Did East-West contact significantly change the male ideal? If so, how did the new image integrate traditional and Western gender configurations? This article first examines the theoretical basis of masculinity models in traditional China, and then analyses the ways in which a Western context could alter the ways Chinese intellectuals reconstruct these models to arrive at a new male prototype. As one of the best known examples of the interface between East and West, Lao She's (1899–1966) novel Er Ma (The Two Mas) will be used as a case study. The 1920s was a time when many Westernized intellectuals such as Xu Zhimo were totally enamoured by European civilization, to such an extent that Xu's influential friend Hu Shi once called for a “wholesale Westernization” of Chinese culture. While there was a great diversity of masculine ideals in this period, the effects on the male identity from contact with the West were fundamental and enduring, and the images presented in The Two Mas were in many respects typical of the Republican era.

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