Books by Alexis Lycas
De la dynastie des Han (206 av. J.-C.) à la fin des Tang (907 apr. J.-C.), il a existé en Chine, ... more De la dynastie des Han (206 av. J.-C.) à la fin des Tang (907 apr. J.-C.), il a existé en Chine, sur le cours moyen du fleuve Bleu, une population insoumise qui n'a laissé nulle trace et dont on ignore à peu près tout. Ces mystérieux Man ont pourtant défié l'empire, l'ont parfois soutenu, se sont trouvés tantôt hors et dans les limites de la puissance chinoise. Alexis Lycas se livre ici à une enquête fascinante sur les écrits des chroniqueurs, poètes, administrateurs ou militaires qui ont tenté un millénaire durant d'appréhender et définir ces populations rétives. À travers les circonvolutions de ces documents de diverses natures se déploie une « rhétorique de l'altérité » rapportant l'histoire d'une colonisation étirée sur plusieurs siècles, en même temps que se laisse deviner comment le pouvoir central a fabriqué un peuple pour mieux le dominer. Alexis Lycas est maître de conférences à l'École pratique des hautes études (EPHE-PSL). Historien de la Chine impériale, il s'intéresse à la fabrication et aux usages des savoirs géographiques dans leurs dimensions ethnographique, sociale et littéraire.
Papers by Alexis Lycas
Impressions d’Extrême-Orient, 2017
Les Évenk, des éleveurs de rennes en Chine septentrionale 1 Dessinant une frontière naturelle ent... more Les Évenk, des éleveurs de rennes en Chine septentrionale 1 Dessinant une frontière naturelle entre la République populaire de Chine et la Fédération de Russie, les fleuves Amour (Heilong jiang 黑龙江) et Argoun (E'erguna he 额尔古纳河) parcourent du nord au sud la frange la plus septentrionale du monde chinois, à cheval entre les provinces du Heilongjiang et de Mongolie-Intérieure. Le milieu naturel est propice à la chasse et à l'élevage du renne que pratiquent les Évenk du renne (Shilu Ewenke 使鹿鄂温克), un peuple nomade d'origine toungouse, comptant aujourd'hui moins de trois cents âmes.
Conference Presentations by Alexis Lycas
For over two millennia of Chinese imperial history, geography played an integral role not only in... more For over two millennia of Chinese imperial history, geography played an integral role not only in local and state administration, but also in literary and visual representations. As officials and literati collected and organized geographical data and knowledge, such efforts at local levels demonstrated both proximity to and distance from the centers of imperial authority. Why and how did officials and literati represent localities? How did they structure spatial information? Where do we find the "imperial" in the "local" and the "local" in the "imperial"? This workshop proposes a diachronic and place--based approach to examining the processes of producing and organizing geographical knowledge in imperial China. Our aim is to bring to light the structural and epistemological tensions between the standardization and localization of geographical knowledge beyond the temporal bounds of each dynasty and expand the view to the wide array of source materials that describe "things" according to their spatial configurations, such as local gazetteers, poetry, empire--wide geographical compilations, geographical treatises from standard histories, and any form of visual representations. These sources draw the boundaries of localities in divergent ways, and this workshop will probe the manner in which the boundaries were drawn, negotiated, and redefined in geographical representations. We invite contributions that question the organizational principles of local representations of place and address the ways in which social, political, and material factors shaped and were influenced by the production of geographical knowledge. We also welcome contributions examining different periods of imperial China to assess continuity and change in such structures of geographical knowledge. Topics to be discussed include:
Calls for paper and for contributions by Alexis Lycas
Usages et représentations de l'environnement dans le monde chinois Colloque international de l'AF... more Usages et représentations de l'environnement dans le monde chinois Colloque international de l'AFEC 12-13 juin 2020, Paris
Organization of conferences and symposia by Alexis Lycas
Uses and Representations of the Environment in the Chinese World. AFEC International Colloqium, 2020
From the insect outbreaks documented in the Spring and Autumn Annals (722–481 BCE) to the recent ... more From the insect outbreaks documented in the Spring and Autumn Annals (722–481 BCE) to the recent earthquakes in Sichuan, the Chinese world has been regularly affected by the changing conditions of the environment. As the Himalayan peaks continue to rise, the Yellow River to change course, and the country’s regions to become more transformed by human activity, it seems appropriate for the French Association of Chinese Studies (AFEC) to devote a colloquium to environmental issues and their practices, proven or potential, in the Chinese world.
The proposals expected for submission will serve to analyze the historical depth of the phenomenon as well as the prospective impact of current policies. For example, it will be a question of taking into account the environmental factors in the construction of the state in imperial and, subsequently, post-imperial China. The focus will thus be on the administration of localities and regional planning (agriculture, major public works, water management, etc.). What strategies have been put in place to anticipate and then respond to epidemics and famines? What individuals and groups (civil servants, military, scientists) have been mobilized to respond to natural disasters and the human consequences of political utopias? Environmental questions in the peripheral areas of the Chinese world will make it possible to address those of political boundaries and the role of the environment in their (re)definition, as well as the question of the ecological policies that have led to the displacement of millions of individuals, and, additionally, the reinterpretation of the relations between humans and non-humans (animals, plants, and spirits).
In the field of literature and the arts, which representations take into account the impact of the environment on Chinese society and, in return, the human effect on the environment, and what can their respective implications be?
These themes confirm that the environment is one key to understanding the political, cultural and social upheavals that have occurred in the Chinese world. Conversely, the Chinese experience offers a productive case study for addressing theoretical or more general issues, such as global warming or the validity of the concepts “Anthropocene,” “ecology,” or even the very notion of “environment.”
Conferences by Alexis Lycas
The topic of this workshop is one part of a three-pronged investigation into environmental and an... more The topic of this workshop is one part of a three-pronged investigation into environmental and anthropogenic factors that underlie the proliferation of long-distance contacts and transmissions emblematic of the dynamic of early China-Central Asia relations (from first millennium BCE through seventh century CE). The phenomenon in question is “city-building”— the creation of an organized, governed built space within which one’s identity as member of a political community is reified and manifested in shared iconography, practices, and beliefs that uphold the sanctity of the place and a sense of collectivity. A group of scholars each specializing in a different aspect of cityscapes in the history of Asia will convene to explore the making(s) of fixed urban locales in the context of mobility and regional connectivity as conditioned by differing needs of pastoral and agricultural cultures and economies in regions straddling the China-steppe contact zone. Subjects to be discussed include also territoriality, monument-making, social and environmental impact of architecture, urban planning, sociology of space, political geography of empire, spatial practices of sedentism and nomadism.
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Books by Alexis Lycas
Papers by Alexis Lycas
Conference Presentations by Alexis Lycas
Calls for paper and for contributions by Alexis Lycas
Organization of conferences and symposia by Alexis Lycas
The proposals expected for submission will serve to analyze the historical depth of the phenomenon as well as the prospective impact of current policies. For example, it will be a question of taking into account the environmental factors in the construction of the state in imperial and, subsequently, post-imperial China. The focus will thus be on the administration of localities and regional planning (agriculture, major public works, water management, etc.). What strategies have been put in place to anticipate and then respond to epidemics and famines? What individuals and groups (civil servants, military, scientists) have been mobilized to respond to natural disasters and the human consequences of political utopias? Environmental questions in the peripheral areas of the Chinese world will make it possible to address those of political boundaries and the role of the environment in their (re)definition, as well as the question of the ecological policies that have led to the displacement of millions of individuals, and, additionally, the reinterpretation of the relations between humans and non-humans (animals, plants, and spirits).
In the field of literature and the arts, which representations take into account the impact of the environment on Chinese society and, in return, the human effect on the environment, and what can their respective implications be?
These themes confirm that the environment is one key to understanding the political, cultural and social upheavals that have occurred in the Chinese world. Conversely, the Chinese experience offers a productive case study for addressing theoretical or more general issues, such as global warming or the validity of the concepts “Anthropocene,” “ecology,” or even the very notion of “environment.”
Conferences by Alexis Lycas
The proposals expected for submission will serve to analyze the historical depth of the phenomenon as well as the prospective impact of current policies. For example, it will be a question of taking into account the environmental factors in the construction of the state in imperial and, subsequently, post-imperial China. The focus will thus be on the administration of localities and regional planning (agriculture, major public works, water management, etc.). What strategies have been put in place to anticipate and then respond to epidemics and famines? What individuals and groups (civil servants, military, scientists) have been mobilized to respond to natural disasters and the human consequences of political utopias? Environmental questions in the peripheral areas of the Chinese world will make it possible to address those of political boundaries and the role of the environment in their (re)definition, as well as the question of the ecological policies that have led to the displacement of millions of individuals, and, additionally, the reinterpretation of the relations between humans and non-humans (animals, plants, and spirits).
In the field of literature and the arts, which representations take into account the impact of the environment on Chinese society and, in return, the human effect on the environment, and what can their respective implications be?
These themes confirm that the environment is one key to understanding the political, cultural and social upheavals that have occurred in the Chinese world. Conversely, the Chinese experience offers a productive case study for addressing theoretical or more general issues, such as global warming or the validity of the concepts “Anthropocene,” “ecology,” or even the very notion of “environment.”