Sinology in Post-Communist States: Views from the Czech Republic, Mongolia, Poland, and Russia

Editor:
Chih-yu Shih

Publication Date:
March, 2016

Publisher:
The Chinese University Press

Abstract:

Drawing on extensive historical studies of the lives and works of distinctive yet understudied sinologists in the Czech Republic, Mongolia, Poland, and Russia, this volume takes readers on a journey of exploration and rediscovery of post-communist sinology—an important topic that we know surprisingly little about. After the end of the Cold War, the China Studies research agenda in these four countries has evolved divergently without any apparent shared orientation, despite the previously shared socialist and Communist legacies. Contributors draw on case studies to illustrate how sinologists in these countries actively use diverse approaches to map China’s modern evolution and deconstruct stereotypical notions of China’s rise in the twenty-first century. These hallmark studies also reveal sinologists’ deep engagement with the Chinese humanities. The conclusions in this volume have major implications for the evolution of intellectual history and its analysis, by emphasizing the importance of individualized agency to the practice of post-Communist sinology as both a statement of identity and a strategy for survival during tumultuous political times.

Table of Contents:

List of Contributors vii

Introduction:
An Anthropology of Knowledge in Post-Communist Sinology xi
Chih-yu Shih

Part I Doing Sinology from Post-Communist Perspectives

1 Beyond Academia and Politics: Understanding China and
Doing Sinology in Czechoslovakia after World War II 1
Olga Lomová and Anna Zádrapová

2 Linguistic Choices for the Identity of “China” in the
Discourse of Czech Sinologists 27
Melissa Shih-hui Lin

3 Surging between China and Russia: Legacies, Politics,
and Turns of Sinology in Contemporary Mongolia 41
Enkhchimeg Baatarkhuyag and Chih-yu Shih

4 Sinology in Poland: Epistemological Debates and
Academic Practice 61
Anna Rudakowska

5 The Lifting of the “Iron Veil” by Russian Sinologists
During the Soviet Period (1917–1991) 93
Valentin C. Golovachev

6 Soviet Sinology: Two Conflicting Paradigms of
Chinese History 115
Alexander Pisarev

7 Chinese Studies in Post-Soviet Russia: From Uneven
Development to the Search for Integrity 133
Alexei D. Voskressenski

Part II Being Sinologists in Post-Communist Societies

8 Polish Sinology: Reflections on Individualized
Trajectories 159
Bogdan J. Góralczyk

9 “The Songs of Ancient China”: The Myth of “The Other”
Appropriated by an Emerging Sinology 189
Olga Lomová and Anna Zádrapová

10 Between Sinology and Socialism: The Collective Memory
of Czech Sinologists in the 1950s 213
Ter-Hsing Cheng

11 Tangut (Xi Xia 西夏) Studies in the Soviet Union: The Quinta
Essentia of Russian Oriental Studies 233
Sergey Dmitriev

12 Different Ways to Become a Soviet Sinologist:
A Note on Personal Choices 253
Marina Kuznetsova-Fetisova

Conclusion:
The Evolution of Sinology after the Communist Party-State 267
Chih-yu Shih