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Re-conceptualizing China in our Time: From a Chinese Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2015

Zhang Longxi
Zhang Longxi*
Affiliation:
Department of Chinese, Linguistics and Translation, City University of Hong Kong; E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

China as a concept had not been put under much scrutiny and challenge until the recent postmodern and postcolonial theoretical discourse on nation and nationhood, and the radical scepticism about tradition and homogeneity. Some scholars have questioned whether China could have been a nation state before there was any nation state in Europe, and others have challenged the very notions of China and Chineseness. How do the Chinese themselves respond to such scepticism and challenge? How does one re-conceptualize China at the present time? By drawing on recent debates on such important issues, this essay tries to find some answers and offers some views from a Chinese perspective, while fully engaging Western theoretical discourses, to attempt an international dialogue and meaningful exchange.

Type
Rediscovering China from Today’s Perspective
Information
European Review , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , May 2015 , pp. 193 - 209
Copyright
© Academia Europæa 2015 

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