Author: Clammer John
Publisher: Berghahn Journals
ISSN: 2042-6151
Source: Asia Pacific World, Vol.2, Iss.1, 2011-03, pp. : 5-24
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
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.
Related content
Towards a partisan theory of EU politics
By Hix Simon
Journal of European Public Policy, Vol. 15, Iss. 8, 2008-12 ,pp. :
NOTES TOWARDS A THEORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC LIMIT
By Chipkin Ivor
Cultural Studies , Vol. 26, Iss. 2-3, 2012-03 ,pp. :