All roads lead to Sinology
Barthélémy Courmont attends the 2016 Young Sinologists Program in Beijing.[Photo provided toChinaculture.org]
Barthélémy Courmont is the professor at Catholic University in Lille, France, andsenior research-fellow at the Paris-based Institute of International and StrategicRelations (IRIS). He is a member of the 2016 Young Sinologists Program in Beijing.
As a European child, my interest for China, Chinese history and civilization naturally startedwith the discovery of Marco Polo’s 13th Century travels. Although I didn’t have any particularchance of exploring Asia yet, I developed a fascination for what was then a completelydifferent world to me, with customs, religions and social organization totally different fromwhat I have been growing with.
At that time, back in the 1980s, China was still a mystery for most Europeans, a country justengaged in its economic development, and still facing major problems. Traveling in China wasalso a dream more than a possibility. Yet, I slowly developed my interest through readings,and by learning Chinese history, as a student in Paris. I also learned about other Asiancountries and societies. This fascination kept growing, to the point that it has become a basisof my academic research. Interactions between China and its neighbors, as well as with therest of the world, are a crucial subject of contemporary international relations.
It is only years later, after visiting several Asian countries, that I finally had a chance to enterChina for the first time. My second trip was rather personal and unforgettable, as Ibackpacked with my wife, whose mother is from Hunan province, on our honeymoon.Discovering South China, from Guangdong to Sichuan, meeting with the minorities in Guizhouand Yunnan, visiting some highlights and marvels of China. Several trips also gave me theopportunity to discover another vision of the world, based on cultural specificities that I slowlycame to encounter. Later, I had the opportunity to explore most Chinese provinces, whileworking on a tourist book for a French publisher, which has been one of my activities parallelto my academic career for the past two decades.
Throughout my research, I have developed a deep interest in the relationship between Chinaand the world, its emergence as a great power and its implications at the regional level, aswell as its strategy in other continents. This research led me to question issues such asChina’s economic development; its military modernization; its assertiveness and itsdiplomacy, as well its relations with other great powers and developing countries. Thesequestions, although mostly covered in the field of political science and international relations,relate to historic and cultural backgrounds, as essential parameters to understand China’srise and its consequences. I have particularly focused on China’s soft power strategy,publishing several books and academic papers on the subject.
Some questions appear particularly relevant, however, for current and further research:
- Can China be perceived as a soft power?
- What can be identified as indicators of the success of a soft power strategy?
- Is there any "resistance" to China’s soft power, and how can it be characterized?
- Is China’s soft power a strategy that will gradually lead to another interpretation of China asa great power?
Although answering these questions will remain rather difficult, they appear to me as keychallenges to understand not only the future directions China is likely to take, but also thefuture of international relations at large. And it is my belief that this understanding starts with adeeper knowledge of Chinese culture and history, and in that sense, it looks like manydifferent roads ultimately lead to Sinology as a key to better understand China.
职业履历：2009年-至今 Monde chinois, nouvelle Asie杂志主编；2009年－2010年 魁北克大学蒙特利尔分校客座教授；2011年－2014年 韩国翰林大学教授；2000年-至今 国际和战略关系高级研究员；2015年-至今 李尔天主教大学教授。
研究领域及成果：国际关系、政治、中国现当代问题研究；在多个国家的大学教授课程，担任研究员；相关领域译著及论文颇丰，获得多项国家研究基金。
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