The Columbia Journal of Asia

Masthead

2024-04-15T09:23:21+00:00

Cover Art

2024-04-15T09:01:44+00:00

Creation of a ‘New Species’: A Decolonial Reading of Frantz Fanon and B.R Ambedkar

2023-10-22T16:29:31+00:00

This paper argues that Fanon’s critique of colonisation and Ambedkar’s evaluation of the caste system share similarities because they collectively present a psycho-social understanding of the oppressed human condition. Both Fanon and Ambedkar argue that colonial and caste oppression has introduced a loss of cultural legacy, identity and capacity for self-determination. This loss is imprinted so deeply in the minds of the colonised and stakeholders of the caste system that a new species with a different social, political and economic consciousness is needed to transform and facilitate the formation of radical new social beliefs. For such a decolonisation of the mind to occur, Fanon proposes that violence—the capacity to resist and question—is fundamental, which I argue is also the foundation of Ambedkar’s solution to annihilate caste. However, violence in terms of Fanon and Ambedkar does not translate to physical harm. It is the intellectual capacity and desire for self-reflection that ruptures existing hierarchical power structures and renews the meaning of being human in democratic civilisations.

Bamboo, Landscape, Monumentality: Guan Daosheng's "View by the Bamboo and Stream Scroll"

2023-01-28T20:07:01+00:00

In this paper, I aim to reappraise the status of Guan Daoshen, one of the most well-known women artists across Chinese art history. Previous scholarship on her and her works has not only been scarce but also limited to her identity as a woman. I attempt to enrich the academic conversation on Guan through an examination of her painting View by the Bamboo and Stream Scroll (竹溪攬勝軸, 1309 b.c.). I argue that she contests the canonical modes to represent bamboo and the established conventions associated with the formats of scrolls. Specifically, the painting illustrates Guan’s innovative interpretation of shu hua tong yuan and obfuscation of the boundaries between hanging scrolls and handscrolls. In conclusion, the innovations presented by this painting broadened the repertoire of Yuan Dynasty literati paintings, which posits her as a significant figure within the genealogy of Chinese art history instead of a mere female counterpart of the male-dominated literati milieu.

Between Death and Rebirth: Visual and Religious Intermediates in Chinese Ten Kings of Hell Paintings

2023-09-14T05:20:42+00:00

In some schools of Chinese Buddhism, it was believed that after death, the deceased passed through the courts of the Ten Kings of Hell before being reborn. Paintings depicting this theme act as manifestations of the kings’ courts, instilling fear in the viewer through their vivid depictions of the king as a judge overseeing the torture of the deceased. Existing scholarship on the Ten Kings focuses on the iconography and style of Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasty examples, emphasizing a compositional evolution from the iconographic and narrative, scripture-based modes, to the hanging scroll format, where each king is represented in his own court. However, limited surviving paintings from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) leave a gap in the understanding of the Ten Kings and Buddhist hell during this time period.

Using a five Ming dynasty Ten Kings of Hell scrolls at the Harvard Art Museums, I argue that religious contexts, visual characteristics, and intermedial references within these paintings embody the notion of the intermediate. Hell in Chinese Buddhism is a state of intermediate existence; I first discuss the ritual contexts and religious iconographies of these paintings as visualizing the passage between death and rebirth. Next, I analyze the visual and stylistic characteristics of the Harvard set, assessing how pictorial motifs are arranged and recycled throughout the set in a formula that allows the paintings to convey the notion of a liminal, intermediate space. Finally, I discuss how the pigments in the Harvard set perform reference textiles and decorative arts of the Ming dynasty; these period-specific references mediate the experience of the viewer by creating a convincing and comprehensible vision of hell.

The KGB’s Black Box: Intelligence Operations and Bias in the People’s Republic of China

2023-10-30T14:52:23+00:00

The Soviet Union's intelligence operations in China helped to fuel tensions between the two communist powers, which were based on analytical biases and the difficulty of operating in China. While the Soviet Union was worried about a potential Chinese attack, it found it hard to penetrate Chinese political circles due to cultural differences and difficulties in recruiting Chinese spies. Prior to the Cold War, Soviet intelligence agencies had an easier time recruiting Chinese nationals as spies, but as the Sino-Soviet split deepened, recruiting agents, penetrating political circles, and making sense of China became more challenging. The Soviet Union's biased analytical framework on China contributed to escalatory tensions and created a feedback loop of distrust. While there are limitations to analyzing leaked USSR official notes carried by a defector, they provide valuable insights into Soviet operations in China. The KGB established its "Line K" department for Chinese espionage and operations, but complained about a chronic shortage of Chinese documents passed along by assets that would enable it to draw serious assessments about the Chinese communist government.

Sijo as Affective Refuge: Chosŏn Court Politicians’ Emotional Community in Poetry

2023-10-26T17:01:29+00:00

This paper aims to analyze the prevalence of negative emotions in Sijo written by aristocratic politicians of the Joseon court. To analyze these emotions, I will use two analytical frameworks: first, the analysis of emotions from the perspective of Neo-Confucianism and, second, the conception of “emotional communities” as put forth by scholar Barbara H. Rosenwein. By using these two frameworks, I aim to reconcile the tension between the prevalence of such negative emotions in the politicians’ poetry and the Confucian notion that such negative emotions are strictly contrary to the balance of the polity and must be sublimated.

Blood is Thicker than Water: A Genealogy of Water in Nation-State Building

2023-11-02T21:51:58+00:00

This work explores the multifaceted relationship between India and Pakistan, starting with India’s very recent decision to renegotiate the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 between the two countries. This treaty, considered to be a time-tested hallmark of peace on the Indian subcontinent, is particularly heralded by mediators like the World Bank. This desire for peace is confronted with the reality of border skirmishes and conflicts over Kashmir, a state through which the Indus River flows. Accordingly, I interrogate the interactions between various political actors over the Indus Waters themselves, specifically focusing on partition and the subsequent period that led up to the signing of the Indus Waters Treaty. This piece seeks to understand the role of nature in cohering international, national and subnational identity. Specifically, I focus on the two countries’ historical conflicts over water as well as sovereign claims to water in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, which are regions that must balance domestic priorities with the looming national interests of India and Pakistan. By linking water to the economic, cultural, and social language that comprises political imagination and identity, I hope to reveal new insights about how the relationship between nature and humanity has transformed from mutual cooperation to one of commodification and displacement.

Fragments of the Rural: Land dispossession and transformed livelihoods in India’s villages

2023-08-14T03:21:15+00:00

This study investigates how the partial industrial transformation of the Indian village—the decoupling of the farmer from their farmland and their incomplete absorption into industrial labour—changes the rural dynamics of social relations. It further analyses if and how the partial-proletarianization of farmers has changed rural women’s interactions with their surrounding socioeconomic structures—both within the home and in the public space of the market. Literature on the subject shall be studied in conjunction with the case of Asawarpur, in Sonipat district of Haryana, and interviews from the field site shall be used to understand the nature of changes caused by land-acquisition-based private development. The nature of land dispossession shall be studied through Michael Levien’s problematic of accumulation by dispossession. The analysis of changes in social groups—households, castes, and classes—shall follow Henry Bernstein’s understanding of fragmented livelihoods in developing countries. This essay shall specifically focus on the impact of land dispossession and the arrival of new economic pursuits on traditional livelihoods and existing inequalities. Case studies by various scholars, read with evidence from Asawarpur, shall be used to show the fragmented nature of livelihoods and aggravated inequalities in the transformed economy of India’s countryside.

Kipling's Manboys and Boymen: Masculinity as Child's Play

2023-08-15T09:45:56+00:00

This thesis delves into the representation of boys and masculinity in Rudyard Kipling’s fiction through the lens of creative criticism. Using the methodology of a thought experiment, the study meditates on whether male characters in Kipling’s nineteenth-century short stories are able to render a mature masculine identity, or whether they exist in a state of half-becoming, as ‘manboys’. The central contention posits that Kipling’s works are devoid of a definitive ‘man’ archetype; instead, they portray characters at varying stages of boyhood, shaping masculinity through skilful engagement in childlike play.

The analysis revolves around select short stories including “The Last of the Stories”, “The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes”, “The Cry of Blood”, “The Mark of the Beast”, “The Man Who Would be King”, “The Story of Muhammed Din”, “Without Benefit of the Clergy”, “Beyond the Pale" and “All the Mowgli Stories”.

Central interpretations in the iconic Raj narratives includes an exposure of the fragility and domestic instability of expatriate culture’s dynamics, behaviours, and institutions. “The Man Who Would Be King” is read as an adventure undertaken by schoolboys. In “Without Benefit of the Clergy” and “Beyond the Pale", this playful masculine existence is intertwined with the awkward problem of first love. Moving between short stories, the study keeps a steady eye on the character of Mowgli from “The Jungle Books”, drawing comparing his development to that of other characters.

Navigating Kipling’s literary terrain has traditionally been a challenging endeavour within academia. However, this piece attends to the complexities of Kipling’s expansive imaginative realm. By redefining masculinity through the lens of playful mastery, this study intends a nuanced interpretation of several of his male characters, contributing to broader critical conversations surrounding gender, coloniality, childhood and psychoanalytic approaches to Literature.

Corroded Stagnancy: A Literary Testimony

2023-08-15T20:37:05+00:00

This piece navigates the long term post-traumatic impacts of an acid attack victim in India.

In South Asia, the prevalence of reported acid attacks – or the throwing of concentrated acid on another person with the intention to disfigure or kill – remains high, despite strict penal codes against the crime. According to Acid Survivors Trust International, 80% of reported cases globally have been against women.

I had the privilege of speaking to a remarkable woman who survived one of these attacks. The physical, psychological, and social elements of this work come from her story.

Archaeology (Trilogy)

2023-08-16T03:49:06+00:00

Bishte Broor

2023-08-13T12:02:08+00:00

Bishte Broor is a story that explores the culture of Kashmir through animal-human relations. It throws light on different cultural aspects like folk music and traditions. It presents the cultural significance of wazwan at weddings. The tools used to make wazwan at weddings in Kashmir are also given a focus. The story illustrates how people in Kashmir treat stray animals and the belief that they should not be dependent on humans while living in their natural habitat. The story also uses the terms Bishte and Ded, derived from the names of two legends of Kashmir.

As a strawberry

2023-08-03T10:41:39+00:00

20:12

2023-07-16T05:53:40+00:00

I saw them in an evening in 2021 when I passed by a clothes shop in Chaoyang’s famous hutong, or narrow alleys formed by traditional courtyard houses, during one of the many lockdown heights in Beijing that rarely paralyzed the entire city. To keep the economy running, individuals who momentarily shared a public space such as subways, shops, or schools with someone who tested positive, as indicated by the health codes we scanned everywhere we went, were put into 14-day quarantines without shutting down the neighborhood. The conversation I heard between the women went as follows:

Customer: “So, you’re on lockdown?”

Saleswomen: “Yes.”

Customer: “You’d be here for 14 days?”

Saleswomen: “Yes.”

Customer: “How do you shower or sleep?”

Saleswomen: “There’s a sink in the back to wash our face.”

To protect public health, the public was ironically locked into unhealthy environments. Considering the inflation, artificial shortages in necessities, recession-induced layoffs, forced overtime in closed factories where most workers were quarantined at, and continued work that increased the risk of exposure, all without any financial assistance, the working class always bears the blunt of the impact of government and capitalist growth policies.

This work is the third in my series called “Progress,” which contains snapshots of my personal life, a glimpse, or a momentary revelation that gives context and complexity to the well-acclaimed liberalization of Chinese economy.