‘Asia as Method’ and ‘Asia Literacy’: Post-colonial and post-imperialist epistemologies for transforming ways of knowing and ‘structure of sentiments’

Abstract

In this presentation I shall outline what I think we can learn from the notion of ‘Asia as Method’ as proposed by Taiwan scholar and cultural theorist Chen Kuan-hsing. I shall focus on post-colonial and post-imperialist epistemologies (Chen, 2010; Lin, 2013) and discuss how our sense of cultural self and other is routinely re/produced in everyday discourses. The method of ‘critical syncretism’ and ‘multiplying our references’ is then proposed as a critical proposition to transform existing knowledge structures and simultaneously to transform ourselves (Chen, 2010). Then I shall explore how ‘Asia as method’ can be connected to the notion of ‘Asia literacy’ which is taken not as a static set of skills, knowledges and languages, but more importantly, as ‘learning how to advance a reflexive and open dialogue with oneself, and with others, in an age of global interconnectedness’ (Iwabuchi, 2015).