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> It is only Euro-centrism which treats them as separate languages while dumping diverse tongues into Chinese. This couldn't be further from the truth; it is t
by sltkr 14y ago
> It is only Euro-centrism which treats them as separate languages while dumping diverse tongues into Chinese.
This couldn't be further from the truth; it is the Chinese government that insists that all different Chinese languages are merely `dialects' of a common Chinese tongue, based on a Soviet-era ideology of national unity.
China does recognize distinct languages like French, Italian and Spanish, because it recognizes France, Italy and Spain as independent nations. This view isn't inspired by Euro-centrism, but by the idea that China is an indivisible nation while Europe clearly is not.
- chimeracoder 14y ago> This view isn't inspired by Euro-centrism, but by the idea that China is an indivisible nation while Europe clearly is not. Euro-centrism isn't the culprit here; it's the fixation on the arbitrary concept of the nation-state that's responsible.
- jivatmanx 14y agoThe concept of the nation-state was created at the treaty of Westphalia to solve some very specific problems and is a lot better than what came before. It's easy to knock things if you ignore why they were created or what existed before them. Also, you can't abolish something if you don't have anything to replace it with.
- chimeracoder 14y agoWho's knocking anything or looking to abolish anything? Being aware of the limitations and biases of one's own paradigm and cognizant of the fact that it's an artificial construction is different from declaring that it has no value.