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前言/BetweentheSilkandtheAmber
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theexperienceofthisacademicallyunchartedland,manyofthem,whetheroutof
habitornecessity,onlylookedthroughtheeyesofwesternEuropeansorAmericans.
Miłosz,forone,hasbeentranslatedintoChinesemanytimessincethe1980s,but
mostlyfromEnglish,duetothetranslators’inabilitytoreadtheoriginaltexts.More-
over,ourcriticaldialogueswithCentralandEasternEuropeanculturesandsocieties
ofentakeplacewithinthetheoreticalframeworksoftheAnglo-AmericanorFrench
traditions,when,bytryingtokeeppacewiththetrendsofuglobalacademics”
,the
critiquereadilyandhastilyadoptsthemodelsofpost-colonialism,deconstructivism,
etc.,andfailstorecognizethatthesubjectmatterresistssuchrigidcategorization.
Manycontemporarytheories,preoccupiedwithutherelationshipbetweenFirstand
TirdWorldcountries”
,asFredricJamesonputsit,forgottoaddressutheintermedi-
ateworld”
,aplacewherenomadicandsedentarywavesofliferepeatedlyconfronted
andranintoeachotherinthepast,whilelocal,national,regional,continentaland
globalconcernsarealwaysinterwovenwitheachotheratthepresenttime,aplace
whichisitselfneverahomogeneousentitybutacomplexsharingcommonheritag-
es,burdensandaspirations.
ItisoutofsuchconcernsthatIhopethiscompilation,asanillustrationof
worksbyresearcherswiththemostdiversebackgrounds,distinctinterestsand
fieldworkexperienceinbothEuropeandChina,willenlivenandenrichthearea
ofcross-regionalandcross-culturalstudies,boththematicallyandmethodolog-
ically.TeuBeltandRoadInitiative”shouldnotonlyboosteconomic,financial,
andsocial-municipalcooperationbetweenCentralandEasternEuropeandChi-
na,whichhasbeenanationalpriorityforthelatterlongbeforetheissuanceofthe
initiative,butalsocreateplatformsforconversationsandcomprehension.Inor-
dertorediscoverandreevaluatethephysicalandintellectualconnectionbetween
theSilkRoadandtheAmberRoad,onewouldneedtohearfromlifeexperience
atbothends,andultimatelylookbeyondtheuEastandWest”parametertosee
CentralandEasternEuropeinitself.Inthisway,itwouldnolongerappearasan
uimperialborderland”
,butasaEurasianuheartland”
,notexactlyinthegeopolitical
senseproposedbyMackinder,butintheanthropologicalsense,informedbyits
identityasthecradleofIndo-Europeancivilizationsandthestillthrivingpower-
houseofhumancreativity.
ZhangHui
ShanghaiInternationalStudiesUniversity
AdamMickiewiczUniversityPress©2022