한국발 ‘동아시아론’의 인식론 검토 : 동아시아 연구, ‘초국가적 공간’으로부터 접근하자

Abstract

This article examines some epistemological problems of ‘East Asian Discourse,’ recently developed in Korean intellectual milieu, that has vigorously sought to find ‘alternative East Asian civilization’ against the Western one, to adapt and overcome the (western) modernity, and to deconstruct the nation-state paradigm of thinking. The author proposes, instead, to give more attention to ‘transnational space of East Asia’ that we have been witnessing since recent past ― including contemporary times ― of East Asia . According to the author, in the transnational approach, the analytical subject is no longer limited to simple gatherings of nation-states or to international relations level. East Asia is reconstructed as ‘open space’ that allows various circles to coexist among various actors according to issues in question — not only Korea, China, and Japan as main actors, but also other regions and nations(ex. USA). With this open concept, East Asia becomes an ongoing mobile and multilayered “space” rather than a geographically fixed “region.”The article argues that this transnational approach can overcome the limitations of existing post-nationalism approach, and does not exclude the possibility that nation-states might introduce a new perspective in the formation of a transnational space. This approach is not confrontational as well. It can overcome the logic of regional rivalry, confrontational structures, and superiority-inferiority logic that have been associated with East Asian Discourse. The transnational approach considers, moreover, the sub-national level, taking account of various marginalized groups within nation-states, the author assumes.