MO3354 Rethinking the World in East Asia 1850s - 1990s

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Module description

This intellectual history of late modern East Asia explores the ways social, political and religious movements, as well as the evolving ideas of key individuals in Korea, Japan, and China hoped to transform or reimagine the social and political order, especially at a global scale. The module also highlights the highly creative ways that religious and philosophical traditions of the region informed and enriched the diverse range of imaginative projects for social and political reform. Literary and visual sources as well as philosophical texts, debates, and the political tracts of various movements will be at the core of the module and offer opportunities to explore the multiplicity of inspirations and dynamic nature of the intellectual history of the region that challenges some common depictions of the relationship between tradition and modernity, as well as assumptions about the simplistic adaptation of Western ideologies in East Asian history.