Subjectivity Response, Essay Example

Many people assume that concepts such as history and race are an objective phenomenon; but actually, there is a substantial subjective component in how individuals view and analyze the world. Indeed, in the modern and post-modern period, subjective opinions of history began to take hold; not only in the western world, but also among how some in the east saw their own culture.

Thus far in the class, we have examined many authors and readings that have explored the notion of “East Asia” in a number of different contexts including how westerners have imposed their own subjectivity upon the East. It may be said that Edward Said started the intellectual trend by analyzing how Westerners idealized and imagined individuals from other races.  This unit explores how Asians view themselves vis-à-vis the world and others.

Chow posits that among China’s rise and opening to the Western World, the idea of “Chineseness” has undergone rapid change.  Indeed, Chow writes “Chineseness can no longer be held as a monolithic given tied to the mythic homeland but must rather be understood as a provisional ‘open signifier’.”  In Chow’s analysis, the idea of being Chinese is no longer an objective phenomenon, but has become a cultural signifier that refers to a person’s internal characteristics.

Miyoshi also explored the topic of how subjectivity entered the Japanese lexicon in the post-WWII cultural milieu.  Miyoshi looks back on the nearly five decades since the US occupied Japan after WII, and also engaged in a war with Vietnam in the region.  The Japanese word “shutaise” according to Kenkyusha’s New Japanese English Dictionary is “subjectivity, subjecthood, independence, identity.” Although this word has four different definitions, it still does not equally equate to the word of “subjective.”  Miyoshi uses this fact as an entry point to point out that Japanese have not developed a robust self-critique system in order to understand their own history. Although Miyoshi takes the opportunity to trace the pattern of subjectivity, he realizes that is a gradual process that will require added change by the Japanese.

Overall, these writers point to an interesting question: How do Asians actually see themselves?  This question has gained particular currency after World War Two in which Asians have tried to understand themselves in a globalizing world.  Although these writers all deal with specific ethnicities (such as Chinese and Japanese), it would have been equally interesting to read authors who looked at how different Asians themselves vis-à-vis other Asians- that is, how subjectivity is viewed among Asians.