09.12.2021Subjectivity, Human Agency, Hybris: On Progress and Other Dystopias in Modern China

Lecturer

Prof. Dr. Axel Schneider (Center for Modern East Asian Studies, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)

Date and Time

December 09, 2021, 4:15 - 6 pm

Abstract

The belief in progress and concomitant notions of subjectivity and human  agency are core elements of the modern condition, and hence have been central in the Chinese intellectual encounter with the modern West. The intellectual mainstream adopted notions of progress, albeit in different variations and with some adjustments. There were, however, intellectuals who from very early on voiced serious doubts about notions of progress, seeing it not as a promise for the future, but as a dystopian endeavor characteristic of the hybris of the modern project. These doubts were marginal for most parts of modern Chinese history, but in our troubled times, they are double interesting.

Venue

The lecture will take place via Zoom.

Join us via the following Link.

Organisation

Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies - Chinese Studies