Art and the Conception and Creation of 'Asia': Towards a New Model of Social Theory

Author: Clammer John  

Publisher: Berghahn Journals

ISSN: 2042-6151

Source: Asia Pacific World, Vol.2, Iss.1, 2011-03, pp. : 5-24

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Abstract

In discussing how conventional geographical zones of the world are formed and constructed, and how ideas about social formations move and are transmitted, we often forget that it as much images as it is concepts that are involved in communication between cultures. This essay discusses the identity of 'Asia' by looking at regional identity through art, and argues that the region has long been globalized not only through networks of trade and the exchange of ideas—often embodied in religions—but equally through the transfer of the visual images that accompanied these ideas. The essay however does not remain at an empirical level, but goes on to demonstrate how an aesthetic approach to regional identity can contribute to the reformulation of social theory and transcend the abstract concept of 'society' through the reinsertion of images, the visual and the sensuous into such theory. If 'Asia' can be understood through such a methodology, this raises the possibility of a distinctively Asian form of social theory based on premises rather different from those of Western social theory.