Volume 49, Number 1 · January 17, 2002
Occidentalism
By Avishai Margalit, Ian Buruma
In 1942, not long after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a group of Japanese philosophers got together in Kyoto to discuss Japan's role in the world. The project of this ultra-nationalist gathering was, as they put it, to find a way to 'overcome modern civilization.' Since modern civilization was another term for Western civilization, the conference might just as well have been entitled 'Overcoming the West.' In a complete reversal of the late-nineteenth-century goal of 'leaving Asia and joining the West,' Japan was now fighting a 'holy war' to liberate Asia from the West and purify Asian minds of Western ideas. Part of the holy war was, as it were, an exercise in philosophical cleansing.
Feature, 5029 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |