China and the West

Reise von Jacques Derrida im September 2001 nach China : Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hong Kong.
Er gibt folgende Vorlesungen und Seminare :
1. 'Pardon : the unpardonable and the imprescriptible' und 'Pardon and ethical practice' an der Conference Hall of Science Building der Beijing-Universität. Er erhält den Ehrenprofessor der Beijing-Universität.
2. 'Twenty-first century's social sciences and The specters of Marx' an der Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
3. 'Deconstruction and globalising capitalism' an der Nanjing-Universität. Er erhält den Ehrenprofessor der Nanjing-Universität.
Er sagt : "The responsibility of each of us is singular and different. The French responsibility will be different from that of the Chinese ; today's Chinese are different from those of the end of 1980s. A man's responsibility will be different from that of a woman, and that of one from Nanjing will be different from someone from Beijing."
4. 'The future of profession or the University without conditions' an der Fudan-Universität in Shanghai ; am Tag nach der Terror-Attacke auf das World Trade Center in New York. Er erhält den Ehrenprofessor der Fudan-Universität.
Er beginnt die Vorlesung mit den Worten : "At this very grave moment that we have spent together, I hope this ceremony that calls us here together is not irrelevant to the agonizing tragedy that kept us awake last night. I believe that, like me, you see from these terrible signals a reminder for us to keep alert in the face of such an event. Symptomatic as it is of a new phase in world history, its consequences are still difficult to foresee. We have to keep thinking about all that is happening in the cours of globalization."
Professor Wang Hongsheng delivered a speech in recognition of Derrida's contribution to the humanities.
5. 'Ontology and deconstruction' an der Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Er erhält den Honorary Fellow der Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
6. 'Globalization and capital punishment' und 'Deconstruction and ethical concerns' an der Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Liu Guoying = Lau Kwok-ying schreibt : "Many guests and senior staff hat to sit on the staircase or stood at the back of the lecture hall for two hours, listening attentively and waiting for the opportunity to raise questions. There were some one hundred disappointed late comers, many of whom made subsequent phone calls and sent e-mail to request the retransmission of the event online."

Zhang Ning : What trace is left from this encounter of Jacques Derrida with China ? From my personal observation, I would say that Derrida'visit to China has had several positive influences on the Chinese academic circle : 1. A clearing up of the misunderstandings concerning deconstruction existing in the Chinese reception of Derrida's philosophy through the demonstration of the dynamics of deconstructive analysis of the questions of forgiveness, unconditional university, and capital punishment. 2. The discovery of some common interests in issues regarding human rights, the construction of international law, the crisis of sovereignty, the death penalty, globalization, and cultural characteristics. 3. A stimulation of the philosophical exchanges between Europe and China. 4. A reintroduction of a European perspective into that of the Chinese intellectuals already overwhelmed by American tendencies.