“Overcoming Modernity” in Asia? A Critical Review

Abstract

Discussing the issues of “Asia,” Takeuchi Yoshimi’s discourse of “Overcoming Modernity” () has received broad attention among the international community of scholars. Commentators try to identify the ideological elements of this discourse that, as they hope, could help to solve post-modern problems. After analysing Takeuchi’s understanding of the war and its context, this paper shows that his discourse of “overcoming modernity” has an anti-historical tendency, which stems from the ideological ambiguity of his attitude towards the question of who was responsible for the war.