Abstract
In the preface of The Order of Things, Michel Foucault quotes and analyzes the classification of animals in a "certain Chinese encyclopedia" referred to by Borges, with which he initiates his brand new philosophical thinking. There are many discussions and interpretations by Chinese scholars on this part, but generally they understand Foucault from the perspective of the differences between China and the West, and they tend to blame him for these reasons. For example, they may think Foucault attached too much importance on the particularity of Chinese culture and the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, so he ignores the universality and communicability between cultures and regards China as an "other" different from the West, and even as the opposite of the West. For these scholars, Foucault tries to seek novelty, which is a kind of Western fiction and even cultural neo-colonialism. This article aims to rethink these thoughts and ideas. Through revisiting and re-reading the texts by Borges and Foucault, we will investigate whether these popular understandings in China are valid or reasonable.
First Page
24
Last Page
27+127
Recommended Citation
Che, Jinshan. 2012. ""The Chinese Encyclopedia" in Foucault'sThe Order of Things." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 32, (1): pp.24-27+127. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol32/iss1/3
