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Pessimistic Chinese Cosmopolitanism and Jia Zhangke's The World

Pessimistic Chinese Cosmopolitanism and Jia Zhangke's The World Sijia Yao Pessimistic Chinese Cosmopolitanism and Jia Zhangke’s e Th World Optimism permeates every vein of neoliberal globalization, be it in the capitalist West or in postsocialist China. Politically-correct multiculturalism, transnational travel autonomy, and neoliberal auence indeb ffl ted to the economic globalization all create a promising vision of an egalitarian free world enjoyed by most privileged elites. At the other end of the spectrum, some American scholars resist the bland optimism with a pessimistic but lucid insight into the exploitation, dislocation, and inhumanity that exists and persists in the hidden background of cosmopolitan fantasies. The theoretical term “discrepant cosmopolitanisms” coined by James Clifford (108) and the “inhuman conditions” observed by Pheng Cheah shift our sight to the dark side of cosmopolitanism and deliver a deep sense of pessimism (10). Pessimism, in this sense, defies any simple or convenient understanding of 悲观主 cosmopolitism or globalization. Pessimism, translated as beiguan z (huyi 义, sad-p erceptionism) in a Chinese cultural context, not only connotes the vigi- lant mind against the dominant rhetoric of progress and hope but also carries an ae ff ctive weight of sadness and melancholy. This paper examines the phenomenon of pessimistic Chinese cosmopolitanism through a case study http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Comparatist University of North Carolina Press

Pessimistic Chinese Cosmopolitanism and Jia Zhangke's The World

Yao, Sijia
The Comparatist , Volume 43 – Nov 15, 2019
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12 pages

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Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Comparative Literature and the Arts
ISSN
1559-0887

Abstract

Sijia Yao Pessimistic Chinese Cosmopolitanism and Jia Zhangke’s e Th World Optimism permeates every vein of neoliberal globalization, be it in the capitalist West or in postsocialist China. Politically-correct multiculturalism, transnational travel autonomy, and neoliberal auence indeb ffl ted to the economic globalization all create a promising vision of an egalitarian free world enjoyed by most privileged elites. At the other end of the spectrum, some American scholars resist the bland optimism with a pessimistic but lucid insight into the exploitation, dislocation, and inhumanity that exists and persists in the hidden background of cosmopolitan fantasies. The theoretical term “discrepant cosmopolitanisms” coined by James Clifford (108) and the “inhuman conditions” observed by Pheng Cheah shift our sight to the dark side of cosmopolitanism and deliver a deep sense of pessimism (10). Pessimism, in this sense, defies any simple or convenient understanding of 悲观主 cosmopolitism or globalization. Pessimism, translated as beiguan z (huyi 义, sad-p erceptionism) in a Chinese cultural context, not only connotes the vigi- lant mind against the dominant rhetoric of progress and hope but also carries an ae ff ctive weight of sadness and melancholy. This paper examines the phenomenon of pessimistic Chinese cosmopolitanism through a case study

Journal

The Comparatist – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Nov 15, 2019

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