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February 26, 2026African Studies Review0 citations

Reflexivity as Method, or Reading Africa from China

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YCYing Cheng

Key Points

  • The aim is to investigate transnational cultural encounters between Africa and China through reflexivity.
  • Analyzed cultural exchanges between Chinese and African artists.
  • Examined the reception of Mati Diop's film among Chinese youth.
  • Focused on the exploration of infrastructure and artifact repatriation.
  • Identified new insights in knowledge circulation between cultures.
  • Highlighted the role of positionality in shaping perceptions.
  • Demonstrated structural disparities influencing cultural exchanges.

Abstract

Abstract Transnational cultural encounters between Africa and China, such as Chinese artist Pu Yingwei’s exploration of Kenya’s dam infrastructure and the reception of French-Senegalese director Mati Diop’s film Dahomey on African artifact repatriation among Chinese youth, generate new sites of knowledge circulation and epistemic inquiry. These exchanges exemplify an approach of “reflexivity,” which emphasizes critical reflection on one’s own positionality, research processes, and the broader conditions shaping knowledge production. Oriented toward mutual reference and epistemic affinity between Asia and Africa, this approach promotes a relational mode of knowledge-making attentive to both shared historical legacies and existing structural disparities.

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Cite This Study

Ying Cheng (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/699fe3f995ddcd3a253e815chttps://doi.org/10.1017/asr.2025.10128
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