Gastvortrag "Chinese Humanities in the Global Era" (06.07.2016)

Mi, 06 Jul 2016, 18:15 h
Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum,
KWZ 0.608
Heinrich-Dueker-Weg 14

Vortrag
Hsiung Ping-Chen (The Chinese University of Hong Kong):
"Chinese Humanities in the Global Era"

The Term "Humanities" is often used in reference to disciplinary
academic humanities: a modern, institutional subject. That its
development is usually a product (or byproduct) of cultural politics in
nation-building can be taken for granted. In the case of China, however,
the long and complicated civilization evidenced before the modern
era?since Neolithic times, with literary texts that date back thousands
of years?presents us with the particular problem of deciding whether
"national" is the best and most representative designation for the
evolution of Chinese humanities as a disciplinary subject or for the
cultural heritage behind it. The developmental phases of Chinese
humanities provide us with a good tool for considering the nature of
"national" humanities in an era that is increasingly global. The fact
that "Chinese" humanistic studies are the product of an ancient
civilization has also given them an undeniable regional quality, which
explains why they continue to exhibit characteristics that appear to be
more broadly "East Asian." In crises or opportunities involving Chinese
academic and public humanities, therefore, the interplay of this
national and intrinsically regional character may help scholars to
address the complex yet fundamental questions behind the assumption that
any humanities can be labeled as national or regional in this global era.