Kevin Bockholt, M.A.
Topic
Chinese Debates on the Two World Wars and their Impact on Perceptions of Europe
Abstract
The First and Second World War had a tremendous economic, political, and social impact on all countries involved. Much research has been done on how both wars have changed the self-perception of Europe. However, Chinese reflections on the First and Second World War have received little attention from historians and sinologists alike. The purpose of the dissertation project at hand is to bridge this gap by examining debates of Chinese intellectuals on the two world wars and thus obtain a deeper understanding of Chinese perceptions of Europe and of modernity itself. Chinese debates on the world wars took place in newspapers and journals and can be divided into three periods of time: From the outset of the First World War in 1914 until the mid-1930s, from the beginning of the Second World War in Europe in 1939 until the early 1950s and from the mid-1990s until today. For the first two time periods, the main emphasis will be put on studying the departure from mostly positive images of Europe which Chinese intellectuals embraced at the beginning of the 20th century. The underlying question will be whether negative notions of Europe caused by the wars had a profound impact on related discourses – such as modernity, progress, and civilization – as it was the case in postwar Europe and America. Since discussions on the two world wars were subjected to ideologically charged discourses on the history by the Communist Party of China until the 1980s, the third period under discussion starts in the mid-1990s. Since then, the Holocaust which was not discussed extensively in the decades after the war started to receive increased academic attention. As a last step, the dissertation project will examine this arising interest in the structural and ideological context of the Holocaust in order to find out, whether it caused a transformation of Chinese perceptions of the Second World War and Europe.
Research interests
- Modern Chinese history
- Intellectual history of modern China
- Cultural Revolution
Biography
Before obtaining the Master’s degree in sinology at Hamburg University in 2017, I completed a diploma in East Asian Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Both studies had their focus on the analysis of contemporary and historical phenomena in China. During that time, extended research stays were conducted at Xiamen University (2007/2008) and Fudan University (2015).
Presentations
2019-04: “Reporting on the First World War in China from 1914 to 1919.” Cultural Exchange and Knowledge Production between China and Europe. Young Researchers’ Workshop, Fudan University.
2018-11: ““世界大战”概念在中国的产生.” 第一届由复旦大学主办的华东地区新汉学计划博士生论坛, Fudan University.
2018-05: “Chinese Terms for the Two World Wars in the First Half of the 20th Century.” Changing names, changing meanings. Young Researchers’ Workshop, Hamburg University.
2018-01: “Perceptions of ‘East’ and ‘West’ after the First World War.” China-Workshop „Iserlohn 2018“, Schwerte.
2017-09: “Chinese Debates on the Two World Wars and their Impact on Perceptions of Europe.” Sino-European Entanglements in the Age of Globalization. Young Researchers`Workshop, Fudan University, Shanghai.
Contact
k.bockholt@hotmail.com