The Teleology of the Modern Nation-State: Japan and China

by Joshua A. Fogel (Editor)

Japan and China did not begin to emerge as unified political entities until the nineteenth century. Yet scholars and politicians persistently refer to "Japan" and "China" in discussions of earlier periods, as if the modern nation-state had long been established in these regions. Joshua Fogel here brings together essays by eight renowned East Asian scholars to demonstrate why this oversight distorts our historical analysis and understanding of both countries. The nation-states of Japan and China developed much later and, indeed, far less uniformly than usually conveyed in popular myth and political culture. Moreover, the false depiction of an earlier national identity not only alters the factual record; it serves the contemporary engines of nationalist mythology and propaganda.

This interdisciplinary volume asks deceptively simple When did "Japan" and "China" become Japan and China? When and why do inhabitants begin to define their identity and interests nationally rather than locally? Identifying the role of mitigating factors from disease and travel abroad to the subtleties of political language and aesthetic sensibility, the answers provided in these diverse and insightful essays are appropriately complex. By setting aside Western notions of the nation-state, the contributors approach each region on its own terms, while the thematic organization of the book provides a unique lens through which to view the challenges common to understanding both Japan and China. This highly readable collection will be important to scholars both inside and beyond the field of East Asian studies.

Genres: Japan, China

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2004

Reviews

[Winston Or · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is ideal for anyone who likes to challenge commonly-held notions of nation, identity and national history.

I only read editor Joshua Fogel's introduction and the four chapters dealing with modern Chinese history, specifically the historical juncture when the dynastic empire was transformed into a nation-state in the late Qing and Republican eras. I've noticed that many of the Ivy League scholars/historians featured here are associated with the New Qing History movement and one shouldn't be surprised by their characteristically anti-sinocentric stance. The culturalism-to-nationalism thesis is familiar, and these chapters added nuanced elaborations that drew on, amongst others, post-structuralist critique.

A highlight for me is inner Asia scholar Victor Mair's refreshing insights in his unorthodox hypothesis that the North(-Western) peoples of the steppes played a disproportionately significant role on the formation of what we usually call "Chinese" dynastic states (their naturalisation as "Chinese" states are results of the works of late Qing and Republican intellectuals).

Editorially, it is wise to juxtapose the experience of the two young East Asian nations and read one in the context of the other; I would have done so if I had the luxury of more reading time.

[Sophie]

Gosh this book is so cool. Especially if you have always wondered about nation-state formation outside of the western context

Highly recommend State-Making in Global Context: Japan in a World of Nation-States and When Did China Become China? Thoughts on the Twentieth Century (you can tell what I was looking for in this work by these recommendations)

Interesting food for thought, even if I have critiques or more questions

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[hoffnarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A central question in the various essays of the book is "When did Japan/China become Japan/China" - Some really great scholars, including the editor Fogel, Eiko Ikegami, William C. Kirby, David L. Howell, Peter Perdue etc. all offer their thoughts and bring their years of research to their responses.