An Examination on Chinese Alternative Discourses

The idea of alternative modernities arise from the §context that modernization means processes of §westernization. Although Chinese modernization was §believed to be based on learning from the West §from its outset, contemporary Chinese intellectuals §contend that the Chinese experience of modernity is §not merely a variation of Western modernity. §Drawing from different theoretical inspirations, §Chinese intellectuals claimed that China has §its model of modernization, buttressed by a §restoration of Chinese culture. This study §calls to question such an alternative discourse for §its assertion of Chinese essence becomes another §form of Orientalism. This work aims to §address how contemporary Chinese intellectuals §anxiety to valorize Chinese difference in the idea §of Chinese alternative bespeaks a dichotomous way §of thinking. It argues that Chinese alternative §modernity emphasizes the essence of traditional §culture. Such an alternative discourse replicates §Orientalist mode of Self/Other confrontation which §Chinese intellectuals accuse the West of employing §as a way of understanding non-Western cultures.