Thorsten J. Pattberg (born 1975 in Hamm) is a German philologist and cultural critic from Peking University. He is the author of the East-West Dichotomy.

Thorsten J. Pattberg, c. April 2014.

Background edit

Pattberg studied Asian Studies and Sanskrit at the University of Edinburgh and Linguistics at Fudan University and Peking University. He is a former Researcher at the University of Tokyo and Harvard University. He received his PhD degree from Peking University in 2012. He is a disciple of Ji Xianlin and Tu Weiming.[1]

Research edit

Pattberg's research focuses on Translation Studies, in particular linguistic imperialism, the competition between cultural key terminologies, and the resulting sovereignty over the definition of thought. He considers the translation of cultural key terminologies as cause for concern over that culture's legitimacy and intellectual property right. In his book Shengren, Pattberg describes the Chinese term Shengren found in Confucianism as a unique, non-European archetype of wisdom, comparable to "Bodhisattva" or "Buddha" found in Buddhism.[2]

Possible Antisemitism and Conspiracy Theories edit

Pattberg uses his personal blog to spread conspiracy theories, as well as antisemitic, racialist and racist views. For instance, he describes East Asian people as “extreme outliers in cognitive abilities.” He further claims that mass migration from Africa will set European “civilization back to the neolithic age.” He describes European and American countries as “terror states”, as “most censorious and domineering”, and their “caged people” as receiving “Jewish marching orders.”[3] His Twitter account links the supposed “Great Reset” to Hitlerism and likens LGBT parenting to Sodom and Gomorrah.[4][5]

Chinese Government Affiliation edit

Pattberg was broadcast on Chinese state media Beijing Television BTV[6] as the originator for Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture under the auspices of Vice Premier Liu Yandong and CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping.[7][8] According to the State Council's official website,[9] the aim is to disseminate Chinese concepts and political doctrine via Hanban, the Office of Chinese Language Council International, academic exchanges, Western publishers such as Springer and the Confucius Institutes. Pattberg writes anti-Western propaganda for China Daily,[10] Beijing Review, Global Times and other state media, claiming, among other things, that "no power in history has ever attained greatness by being a democracy."[11]

Literature edit

  • The East-West Dichotomy: The Conceptual Contrast Between Eastern and Western Cultures. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. 2013. ISBN 9787119085821.
  • Shengren: Beyond Philosophy and Above Religion. New York: LoD Press. 2011. ISBN 978-0984209118.
  • "Lingualism: A New Frontier in Culture Studies". Asia Pacific World. Tokyo: Berghahn. Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 32–35. 2013

Essays edit

Interviews edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Thorsten Pattberg". Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies. Peking University. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013.
  2. ^ The East-West Dichotomy: The Conceptual Contrast Between Eastern and Western Cultures. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. 2013.
  3. ^ Pattberg, Thorsten J. (September 5, 2022). "The Xin-Civilization - What The Chinese Can And Cannot Do". thorstenjpattberg.substack.com. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  4. ^ Pattberg, Thorsten J. (August 26, 2022). "Klaus Schwab: Mein Reset". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  5. ^ Pattberg, Thorsten J. (August 8, 2022). "Sodom und Gomorrha auf Youtube für Kinder". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  6. ^ Pattberg, Thorsten J. (June 26, 2022). ""Chinese Thought and Cultural Terminology": Inheriting Culture, Connecting China and Foreign Countries, and Communicating the World". btime.com/ (in Chinese). Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  7. ^ "Chinese culture map tagged with 900 keywords". Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. 1 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Decoding China". Beijing Review. 18 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Arrangement, dissemination and database construction of Chinese ideological and cultural terms". chinesethought.cn. 18 August 2016.
  10. ^ "Arrangement, dissemination and database construction of Chinese ideological and cultural terms". China Daily. 29 December 2020.
  11. ^ Pattberg, Thorsten J. (February 23, 2015). "Chinese are not so foolish as to worship at the church of Western values". scmp.com. Retrieved 2022-09-05.

External links edit