Yang Huang
dates de séjour
discipline
Fonction d’origine
Institution d’origine
pays d'origine
lien internet
projet de recherche
Par delà les frontières des empires: visions de l'Etranger dans la chine ancienne et la Méditerranée
The project will study the idea of the barbarian in ancient China and the Mediterranean from a comparative perspective. In particular it will compare notions of the barbrian in ancient China, Greece, Rome and Achaemenid Persia and explore how and under what historical circusmtances such notions arise, what implications they have for the ethnic identity and political construct of the societies concerned. It is also hoped that the study will question the current application of the modern concept of ‘ethnic identity’ to the ancient world and attempt to answer anew the question to what extent that modern concept can be applied to the ancient world in general. Such a comparative study could also bring to light new historical data (for Chinese material), new interpretations (for Iranian, Greek and Roman sources) and enable a critical approach to Western concepts such as imperialism, colonization/diaspora and acculturation/cultural transfers. The final outcome of the project will be a book to be published in 2018-19.
biographie
Huang Yang is professor of Ancient History and also the head of the History Department at Fudan University in Shanghai. He is currently working on a comparative study of Greek and Chinese ideas of the barbarian. He considers classical civilization to be a cultural heritage not only for the west but for the whole mankind. Studying classical civilization will enable to learn from a different way of thinking that’s not fully developed in Chinese tradition. Also, it will allow a better understanding of western civilization. Democracy and its ancient origin is one of his topics of study and interests.
