Modern, too modern! China: Compared to Western dangerous places and postmodern cultural arts

Author: He Qing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: This book first elaborates on five characteristics of Western "modernity" culture: anthropocentrism, individualism, progressivism, the cult of the "new," and de- thematicization (modern art). The "postmodern" phenomenon is a questioning and rejection of "modernity," an extreme reaction to it. The author reveals certain commonalities between Western "postmodernity" and Chinese culture, further emphasizing that Chinese culture is not "backward" but a unique culture with substantive differences from Western culture. Chinese and Western cultures are not in a "gap" relationship but in a "difference" relationship. The author believes that modern China has fully embraced Western modernity culture and transcendentally negated its own culture, reaching a point of being "too modern." Therefore, advocating a "cultural nationalism" is an urgent necessity for contemporary China.