Modern Europe's Epic Journey of Self-Discovery: The Representation of Chinese Cultural Space in <i>The Travel Diary of a Philosopher</i> by Hermann Keyserling

ZHENG Jiaxin

doi:10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236308

Volume 6 Issue 3

Sep. 2023

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ZHENG Jiaxin. Modern Europe's Epic Journey of Self-Discovery: The Representation of Chinese Cultural Space in The Travel Diary of a Philosopher by Hermann Keyserling[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2023, 6(3): 138-160. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236308

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ZHENG Jiaxin. Modern Europe's Epic Journey of Self-Discovery: The Representation of Chinese Cultural Space in The Travel Diary of a Philosopher by Hermann Keyserling[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2023, 6(3): 138-160. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236308

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Modern Europe's Epic Journey of Self-Discovery: The Representation of Chinese Cultural Space in The Travel Diary of a Philosopher by Hermann Keyserling

doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236308

ZHENG Jiaxin^,

Lingnan Normal University

Received Date: 2023-05-07
Accepted Date: 2023-08-21

Abstract

Abstract

The Travel Diary of a Philosopher(1919) by the German philosopher Hermann Keyserling is a report of his travel around the world, which records what he saw and felt when he traveled to China in 1912. This paper analyzes the narrative mode and rhetorical strategy of the text considering the political and historical context to explore the role of its representation of Chinese culture in the reconstruction of the broken subjectivity of modern individuals. In the text, the discourse strategy of constructing Chinese culture reflects the cultural symptoms of European metaphysical crisis and implies the role of the representation of Chinese culture in the construction of German national consciousness and the development of European modernity. The narrative mode of the Bildungsroman in the text demonstrates Keyserling's search for German national identity and the European spiritual unity. The Chinese cultural space constructed in the text is static, essentialist, de-historical, and de-politicized. In this other-oriented discourse, the relationship between China and the West is placed within the framework of the “traditional/modern” binary opposition. As a result, the domination of Western voice in the interpretation of modernity as well as the prospect of the Westernstyle modernization have been confirmed in the new order of the world's cultural territory. By adopting this mindset, the imagination of the unity of Western civilization and the vision of modernization project are established. The purpose of Keyserling's critique of modern civilization was to find a way out for the Western culture in crisis.But when he circled the earth and finally returned to the original point, he conceded that the way out for Europe is still modernization. However, the “Eurocentric” position of Western intellectuals in their representation of Chinese culture by no means indicates that Chinese culture is always in a subordinate and passive position. Instead, the bidirectional interaction of Chinese and Western cultures suggests that global modernity is not merely driven by “advanced” Europe alone. Modernity is a dynamic process that is made possible by the simultaneous interaction of Chinese and Western cultures.
- Keyserling,
- travel writing,
- Chinese culture

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References(52)

References

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