In recent years, Orientalist discourse has permeated politics, economy, society, culture and other areas in some countries through education and media. Many people have accepted and helped to publicize it. The discourse is based on the logic of Western centrism, the goal of which is to construct a discourse system that serves the political purposes of the West by denying the history of Eastern countries.

In the political domain, Orientalist discourse is represented by narratives of the “Yellow Peril,” the China threat or the collapse of China. In history studies, the discourse is best demonstrated in history textbooks of some Western countries. For example, in American history books, the Chinese people are described as lacking an entrepreneurial pioneering spirit and a desire to explore. They are also depicted as arrogant and refusing to learn from the West.

Therefore, Orientalist discourse is in essence Western centrism, in which the West adopts a double standard when viewing their own history and that of others. This is the presupposition of Western centrism.

In modern times, this long-standing kind of view has become ingrained in the beliefs of many Western scholars, officials and even some Chinese scholars. For example, it has been employed to criticize China’s modernization.

In recent years, some Western scholars have been giving enormous publicity to American political scientist Francis Fukuyama’s concept of the “end of history,” which is based on Orientalist discourse. They suggest that there is only one path to modernization, i.e. capitalism, while denying the path of socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics.

Some Chinese scholars who buy into the concepts of “historical nihilism” have accepted and implemented the logic and applied it to interpret China’s path to modernization. They adopt the three-stage theory in formal logic. The major premise is that modernization began in the West, so the Western road is the right way. The minor premise is that modernization was imported to China, so China is a latecomer in modernization. The conclusion is that China must practice capitalism if it wants to become modernized.

In this way, historical nihilism and Orientalist discourse are in the same position and share the same methodology: Western centrism and its view of modernization. This standpoint not only determines people’s discourse logic but also decides perspectives and the choice of material for describing and interpreting history.

They will utilize materials that are in accordance with their own logic, while distrusting those opposite to their logic or even make up materials to justify their own discourse. Their ultimate goal is to serve the politics of the West. Hence, the discourse patterns used differ from era to era.

Therefore, we should be cautious of historical nihilism and Orientalist discourse. First, We must adhere to Marxism in philosophy and social sciences. Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that Marxism is now marginalized in some areas and “missing” in some disciplines, textbooks and academic meetings, at a symposium discussing the country’s work in philosophy and social sciences on May 17. This is because the trend of Westernization is widespread. He stressed that Marxism will remain the guiding theory in philosophy and social sciences in China.

We should also unswervingly  have confidence in our path, theories, system as well as our research. We must realize Western centrism has been declining while socialism with Chinese characteristics is beginning to show its advantages, exerting influence on the international community, which falsifies the concept that Western modernization is the only way.

 

Wang Zengzhi is from the College of Marxism at Hainan Normal University.