European Journal of East Asian Studies
A group of European scholars are launching a new academic journal in the field of East Asian studies. The journal is based at the Institut d'Asie Orientale, in Lyon, but it enjoys the support of nine other European research institutions. It will be published and distributed by Brill (Academic Publishers). The following text provides a summary of the goals of the journal.
By CHRISTIAN HENRIOT
Europe is home to a very large community of scholars working on East Asia whose research activities cover a broad spectrum of studies, in terms of countries, periods, and disciplines. There is, however, no internationally recognized journal in Europe encompassing within its covers the whole range of East Asian studies as there is in the United States. We believe that European East Asia scholars, by virtue of their own history, intellectual traditions, and specific relations with the region, offer a different perspective to that of American scholars and make an original contribution to East Asian Studies. Up to now, they have been able to reach international recognition principally through publications in American journals, for which most of them compete at an obvious linguistic disadvantage.A European journal will be better equipped to take into account this issue of language. It should be made clear here that we do not claim any kind of Euro-centred intellectual superiority, nor do we want to give the impression of an anti-American posture. On the contrary, we acknowledge the overwhelming contribution of American scholars to contemporary East Asian studies. The sole purpose of the initiators of this project is to create a new intellectual arena that will publish the best contributions of European scholarship on contemporary East Asia, without excluding contributions from other parts of the world. We believe in intellectual competition and stimulation. The journal will, therefore, welcome high-quality research, whatever its origin.
The journal will be interdisciplinary in nature, dedicated to the publication of scholarly research across the range of the social sciences including sociology, geography, anthropology, economics, political science, and law as well as modern history. We take the term "modern" to refer approximately to the last two hundred years. The journal makes no commitment to any particular trend in scholarly research, but it will be receptive to all the current approaches in Asian Studies. Our geographical compass will take in 'East Asia' in a broad sense, that is to say the groups of countries usually included in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines) and Northeast Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan). One of the major obstacles that has prevented the emergence of such a journal is undeniably the absence of a common language among European scholars. The initiators of this project believe that English has become the universal language in East Asian Studies.
The journal will be devoted mainly to original research based on the first-hand study of primary materials and fieldwork or a combination of the two. It will also welcome theoretical essays that offer new, synthetic visions and perspectives from the field. We hope to strike a balance between coherence (to make the journal attractive to a wide readership) and spontaneity (to allow for competition and attract first-rate contributions). To this end, we shall publish six papers per issue (initially with two issues per year). Three of them may be devoted to a "special theme" (a list of three themes is offered below) while another three will be individual contributions. These are of course guidelines, conceived as a general strategy for the initial issues. Research notes will also be welcome, though under a specific format. The journal will include a section for book reviews, concentrating on significant works written by European scholars. The first issue will be published in early 2001.
The European Journal of East Asian Studies welcomes from this announcement the submission of manuscripts from scholars on all aspects of East Asian societies as defined in the announcement. Authors should feel free to contact the editors for further information (EJEAS@ish-lyon.cnrs.fr).
Special themes: besides papers on any topic within the fields defined in the previous sections above, the editors will invite contributors to submit papers on special themes. These themes will be defined in a separate announcement. *
For further information or for submitting manuscripts, please contact the editorial office:
EJEAS
Institut d'Asie Orientale ISH
14, av Berthelot, 69363 Lyon cedex 07
France
Tel.: +33-472 72 65 40
Fax: +33-472 72 64 90
E-mail: EJEAS@ish-lyon.cnrs.fr
Editors:
Christian Henriot, Institut d'Asie Orientale, Lyon, France
Paul Waley, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, Great Britain
Book review editor:
Philippe Pelletier, Institut d'Asie Orientale, Lyon, France