The Idea of Asia

Abstract

The idea of Asia is so easy to ridicule, and yet it tugs at the mind. It has a curious potency. It is sometimes referred to (for instance, by Australia's 1996 Boyer Lecturer, Pierre Ryckmans) as a European creation, brought into being for European purposes (Ryckmans, 1993:182). But it is much more than that. As semioticians would put it, 'Asia' is a free-floating signifier [1] - a term the exact meaning of which is not settled. The signification of 'Asia' is, in fact, in contest and it is those who would identify themselves as 'Asians', who have most recently been at the forefront of the defining process. Yet, their involvement is not just a recent phenomenon. This paper will trace the historical contribution of Asian thinkers to our understanding of 'Asia'; will probe the bases for positing an Asian unity and some of the implications; and will indicate that it is Asian notions of 'Asia' which have influenced and redirected the 'Asia' discourse in the 1990s - a reality which may have significant repercussions for Australia.