Abstract
As is well recognised, the issue of cultural hybridity is central to the work of Australian author Brian Castro who is also of Chinese, Portuguese and English descent. As a writer it is perhaps no wonder that Castro is also deeply concerned with the ways in which language, and particular language systems such as Chinese and English, construct identity. He is in good company, as such metalinguistic skepticism has been a central tenet of Eastern and Western philosophical traditions for centuries. Castro’s novel After China draws attention to the complicated reality of cross-cultural influence and comparative philosophy by opening a dialogue between Eastern philosophers Laozi and Zhuangzi and Western thinkers such as Derrida and Heidegger. In doing so, Castro not only demonstrates the creative potential of cross-cultural fertilization but also explores the idea of ‘cultural hybridity’ in much greater depth by questioning the ontological implications of such cross-cultural hermeneutics.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
According to Heidegger, in a moment of ekstase the temporality of past, present and future, is dissolved into an instant (Augenblick) and the being-in-the-world momentarily glimpses Being (see Haar 1993, pp. 36–37). Heidegger’s notion of serenity or releasement (Gelassenheit) also similarly parallels the Daoist idea of the action of non-action (Jung 1990, p. 232).
References
Barthes, R. (1974). S/Z. Paris: Editions du Seuil. (trans: Miller, R.). New York, NY: Hill and Wang. (Original work published 1970).
Brennan, B. (2008). Brian Castro’s fiction: The seductive play of language. New York, NY: Cambria Press.
Castro, B. (1992). After China. North Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Castro, B. (1999). Looking for Estrellita. St Lucia, QLD: University of Queensland Press.
Castro, B. (2008). Arrested motion and future-mourning: Hybridity and creativity. Transtext(e)s Transcultures 跨文本跨文化 4, 83–99.
Chervalier, J. & Gheerbrant, A. (1994). A dictionary of symbols. 1969 (trans: Buchanan-Brown, J.). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Reference. (Original work published 1969).
Clarke, J. J. (1997). Oriental enlightenment: The encounter between Asian and Western thought. London: Routledge.
Derrida, J. (1976). Of grammatology (trans: Spivak, G. C.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Derrida, J. (1978). Writing and difference (trans: Bass, A.). London: Routledge.
Fu, H. (1992). Deconstruction and Taoism: Comparisons reconsidered. Comparative Literature Studies, 29(3), 296–321.
Girardot, N. J. (1988). Myth and meaning in early Taoism: the themes of chaos (Hun-Tun). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Haar, M. (1993). Heidegger and the essence of man. Albany: SUNY Press. (Original work published 1978).
Heidegger, M. (1978). Basic writings (trans: Krell, D. F.). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Heidegger, M. (1996) Being and time (trans: Stambaugh, J.). Albany: State University of New York Press.
Ho, D. Y. F. (1995). Selfhood and identity in Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism: Contrasts with the West. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 25(2), 115–139.
Jose, N. (1995). Chinese whispers: Cultural essays. Kent Town, SA: Wakefield Press.
Jung, H. Y. (1990). Heidegger’s way with Sinitic thinking. In G. Parkes (Ed.), Heidegger and Asian thought (pp. 217–244). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (First published in hardcover 1987).
Kotoh, T. (1990). Language and silence: self-inquiry in Heidegger and Zen. In G. Parkes (Ed.), Heidegger and Asian Thought (pp. 201–212). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (First published in hardcover 1987).
Mabbett, I. W. (1995). Nargarjuna and deconstruction. Philosophy East and West, 45(2), 203–225.
May, R. (1996). Heidegger’s hidden sources: East Asian influences on his work (trans: Graham, P.). London: Routledge. (Original work published 1989).
McCumber, J. (2000). Philosophy and freedom: Derrida, Rorty, Habermas and Foucault. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Pöggeler, O. (1990). West-East dialogue: Heidegger and Lao Tzu. In G. Parkes (Ed.), Heidegger and Asian thought (pp. 47–78). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. (First published in hardcover 1987).
Qian, Z. (1995). Orientalism and modernism: The legacy of China in Pound and Williams. Durham: Duke University Press.
Rapaport, H. (1989). Heidegger & Derrida: Reflections on time and language. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Shepherd, R. J. (2007). Perpetual unease or being at ease? Derrida, Daoism, and the ‘metaphysics of presence’. Philosophy East and West, 57(2), 227–243.
Shin, E. (2002). Taoism and East Asian literary theories: Chuang Tzu’s theory of selflessness and the poetics of self-effacement. Korean Studies, 26(2), 251–269.
Tzu, C. (1968). The complete works of Chuang Tzu (trans: Watson, B.). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Tzu, L. (1974). Tao Te Ching (trans: Lau, D. C.). London: Penguin. (Original work published 1963).
Wilhelm, R., & Baynes, C. F. (1967). The I Ching or Book of Changes (3rd ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Yeh, M. (1983). The deconstructive way: A comparative study of Derrida and Chuang Tzu. Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 10, 95–126.
Zhang, L. (1985). The “Tao” and the “Logos”: Notes on Derrida’s critique of logocentrism. Critical Inquiry, 11(3), 385–398.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brooks, J. Writing beyond borders: Derrida, Heidegger, and Zhuangzi in Brian Castro’s After China . Neohelicon 42, 625–638 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-015-0309-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-015-0309-6