Humiliation and Modernity: Reflections on Pan-Asian and Pan-Islamic Discourses

Cemil Aydin discusses the two crucial aspects of Pan-Asian and Pan-Islamic thought in contemporary East Asia and the Muslim world.

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Cemil Aydin, Near East Studies, Princeton University

The history of Pan-Asian thought is still a controversial topic both in scholarly and non-scholarly writings. Why did the Pan-Asian discourse appeal to so many intellectuals in China, Japan, Korea and India, in a period retrospectively described as the formative era of nationalism? What are the contemporary legacies of Pan-Asian discourses that accompanied both Japanese imperial projects and anti-colonial thought in Asia? After emphasizing the global context of Pan-Asian thought in reference to its parallels to Pan-Islamic ideas, this paper will underline two important characteristics of anti-Western internationalisms in Asia. The first is the geopoliticization of globalization from the 1880s to 1914. The second is the formation of a modernist historical consciousness in Asia that underlined the themes of humiliation and redemption in describing civilizational relations with the “West.” These two crucial aspects of Pan-Asian and Pan-Islamic thought can help us better undertand their long lasting legacies in contemporary thought in East Asia and the Muslim world.