Meiji Japan’s pro-Western turn reversed into a late-century Asia-facing revival

Evidence

Modernization has generally enhanced the material level of Civilization throughout the world. But has it also enhanced the moral and cultural dimensions of Civilization? In some respects this appears to be the case. Slavery, torture, vicious abuse of individuals, have become less and less acceptable in the contemporary world. Is this, however, simply the result of the impact of Western civilization on other cultures and hence will a moral reversion occur as Western power declines? — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 900 (#complicates, via linked claim)

The ground had shifted considerably from Hurgronje to Gibb, as had the priorities. No longer did it go without much controversy that Europe’s domination over the Orient was almost a fact of nature; nor was it assumed that the Orient was in need of Western enlightenment. What mattered during the interwar years was a cultural self-definition that transcended the provincial and the xenophobic. For Gibb, the West has need of the Orient as something to be studied because it releases the spirit from sterile specialization, it eases the affliction of excessive parochial and nationalistic self-centeredness, it increases one’s grasp of the really central issues in the study of culture. If the Orient appears more a partner in this new rising dialectic of cultural self-consciousness, it is, first, because the Orient is more of a challenge now than it was before, and second, because the West is entering a relatively new phase of cultural crisis, caused in part by the diminishment of Western suzerainty over the rest of the world. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 664 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Among Flaubert’s sketches for the conclusion of this panorama of despair are two items of special interest to us here. The two men debate the future of mankind. Pécuchet sees “the future of Humanity through a glass darkly,” whereas Bouvard sees it “brightly!” … Modern man is progressing, Europe will be regenerated by Asia. The historical law that civilization moves from Orient to Occident … the two forms of humanity will at last be soldered together. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 313 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Religious revival signals anti-Westernism, not rejection of modernity — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 276; The notion of Europe regenerated by Asia strands in Orientalist civilizational law. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 313; Modern moral progress may be a Western artifact that reverses as Western power fades — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 900 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Modern moral progress may be a Western artifact that reverses as Western power fades #complicates (0.74) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 900
• Interwar Orientalism reframed the Orient as a cultural cure for Western provincialism #complicates (0.73) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 664
• The notion of Europe regenerated by Asia strands in Orientalist civilizational law. #complicates (0.72) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 313