Abstract
The awakening of self-consciousness and subjectivity resulted from the enlightenment demonstrates in the May 4th Movement as a radical criticism on tradition, and this criticism itself becomes a means to modernity. The enlightenment also resulted in the loss of Chinese cultural subjecthood, the consequence of which was felt strong in the post-colonial Taiwan and Hong Kong first. Among the intellectuals under the colonial culture, Wai-lim Yip believes that identification with Chinese culture in Hong Kong may reinstall the cultural identity of the colonized people and establish national identity. Identification with Chinese culture may prompt reflection on the constraints of the colonial culture, and therefore it can also perform the function of enlightenment. In the post-colonial context, traditional Chinese culture turns from the object of criticism in the May 4th Movement to the subject of cultural enlightenment, and the primary objective of post-colonial enlightenment is to retrieve the subjecthood of the traditional culture.
First Page
115
Last Page
124
Recommended Citation
Liu, Yiqing. 2012. "The Tension between the Enlightenment and Cultural Identity in Postcolonial Context: with Wai-lim Yip as a Focus." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 32, (6): pp.115-124. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol32/iss6/16
