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The Humanities in Contemporary Chinese Contexts pp 15–36Cite as

Meritocracy and Individualism: Negotiating Cross-Cultural Humanities Values in a Politicised Hong Kong Context

Part of the The Humanities in Asia book series (HIA,volume 2)

Abstract

The humanities may have as many faces as there are nationalities (Shumway 1998). However, in recent years an educational debate has emerged in Hong Kong, one that has travelled to China and Taiwan, that is committed to speaking for, and elaborating, what one contributor in this collection calls an Asian humanities (Lee in Keynote speech for the eighth annual meeting of the Asian New Humanities Net (ANHN). The Chinese University, Hong Kong, 2010). This is not a new discipline by any means but the fact that there has been a new call for an Asian humanities at the Chinese University of Hong Kong suggests that what is being imagined is something quite different from such “Asian Humanities” courses that presently take place in such universities as Columbia University (de Bary in The Great civilized conversation: education for a world community. Columbia University Press, New York, p. 51, 2015). However, this new call for an Asian humanities has emerged in the Hong Kong academic context, a region whose world-class universities embody its cross-cultural humanities history. This chapter explores some of the key values that are negotiated on a daily basis in this academic community. The aim for such cross-cultural educational practices has always been to sustain and nurture what Wm. Theodore de Bary calls a “great civilized conversation” between multifaceted traditions, an aim that might seem difficult to maintain today when barbarism is so virulent and academic freedoms are being eroded (O’Sullivan in Academic barbarism, universities, and inequality. Palgrave MacMillan, London, 2016; Williams in Academic freedom in an age of conformity: confronting the fear of knowledge. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2016). The chapter will begin by examining how different notions of meritocracy and individualism inform educational debates in contemporary Chinese contexts and it will then look at the politicisation of humanities courses in Hong Kong and examine student responses to an undergraduate course entitled “Literature and Politics” that I taught in Hong Kong in 2016.

Keywords

  • Academic Freedom
  • Chinese Student
  • Filial Piety
  • Asian Humanity
  • Civic Education

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In my earlier book, The humanities and the Irish university: anomalies and opportunities, I have also argued that Ireland is another ‘border’ region marked by colonialism and its aftermath that has also nurtured and developed a cross-cultural approach to the humanities that borrows from British, American and European liberal arts and humanities traditions.

  2. 2.

    “‘Be fearless, this is the start of your bright future’: Stephen Hawking to China’s 9 million students taking entrance exams” South China Morning Post, Tuesday, June 7, 2016.

  3. 3.

    See New York Times, Nov. 19, 2009, ‘A Crown Jewel of Education Struggles With Cuts’ where it is reported that the University of California, Berkeley dropped from a position as high as number two in the rankings in 2000 to a position of 39 in the 2009 Times Higher Education rankings. Meanwhile many Asian universities have appeared in the top 50 for the first time.

  4. 4.

    Professor Lee was delivering the keynote speech for the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Asian New Humanities Net (ANHN) held on 15th and 16th October, 2010 at CUHK.

  5. 5.

    See http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/english/features/professor-leo-lee.html.

  6. 6.

    http://www.asiancha.com/.

  7. 7.

    http://www.asiancha.com/content/blogcategory/258/473/.

  8. 8.

    https://peelstreetpoetry.com/.

  9. 9.

    https://www.facebook.com/PoetryOutLoudHK/.

  10. 10.

    http://www.chameleonpress.com/.

  11. 11.

    “Hong Kong National Party is born: will push for independence, will not recognise the Basic Law.” South China Morning Post, Monday, 28 March, 2016. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1931384/hong-kong-national-party-born-will-push-independence-will.

  12. 12.

    https://www.demosisto.hk/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Michael O’Sullivan

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  1. Michael O’Sullivan
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Correspondence to Michael O’Sullivan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Evelyn T. Y. Chan

  2. Department of English, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Michael O'Sullivan

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O’Sullivan, M. (2016). Meritocracy and Individualism: Negotiating Cross-Cultural Humanities Values in a Politicised Hong Kong Context. In: Chan, E., O'Sullivan, M. (eds) The Humanities in Contemporary Chinese Contexts. The Humanities in Asia, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2267-8_2

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