Academic Nations in China and Japan - 9780415315456

Taylor & Francis

Academic Nations in China and JapanFramed by Concepts of Nature, Culture and the Universal\nAuthor(s): Margaret Sleeboom\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9780415315456, 978-0415315456\nSynopsis\nThe descriptions Chinese and Japanese people attribute to themselves and to each other differ vastly and stand in stark contrast to Western perceptions that usually identify a 'similar disposition' between the two nations. Academic Nationals in China and Japan explores human categories, how academics classify themselves and how they divide the world into groups of people.\nMargaret Sleeboom carefully analyses the role the nation-state plays in Chinese and Japanese academic theory, demonstrating how nation-centric blinkers often force academics to define social, cultural and economic issues as unique to a certain regional grouping. The book shows how this in turn contributes to the consolidating of national identity while iden.