ORYANTALİZMİN GÜNCELLENMİŞ VERSİYONU: ÇİN’İN GÜNEYDOĞU ASYA’DAKİ YUMUŞAK GÜCÜ ÜZERİNE SÖYLEM ANALİZİ

Year 2025, Volume: 16 Issue: 2, 771 - 792, 29.12.2025

Ali Kiriktaş

https://doi.org/10.54688/ayd.1768255

Abstract

Bu makale, Edward Said’in Oryantalizm teorisini güncel bir jeopolitik bağlama taşıyarak, Çin’in Güneydoğu Asya’daki yumuşak güç stratejisini bir Neo-Oryantalizm biçimi olarak analiz etmektedir. Çalışmanın temel tezi, Çin’in “Kuşak ve Yol Girişimi” eylemiyle ve “İnsanlık için Ortak Kader Topluluğu” gibi anahtar söylemler aracılığıyla, kendisini modern, gelişmiş ve yardımsever bir merkez olarak inşa ederken, Güneydoğu Asya’yı ise kendi sermayesine, teknolojisine ve rehberliğine muhtaç bir öteki olarak temsil ettiğidir. Bu söylemsel pratik, klasik Oryantalizmin Batı-Doğu ikili karşıtlığını, gelişmiş bir Doğu gücü (Çin) ile gelişmekte olan bir Doğu bölgesi (Güneydoğu Asya) arasında yeniden üreterek yeni bir hiyerarşik ilişki kurmaktadır. Metodolojik olarak Foucaultcu söylem analizini benimseyen bu çalışma, Çin’in resmi belgelerini, lider konuşmalarını ve devlet medyasının (Xinhua, CGTN) yayınlarını incelemektedir. Analiz, Çin’in yumuşak güç söyleminin, altyapı projeleri ve Konfüçyüs Enstitüleri gibi maddi pratiklerle nasıl somutlaştığını ve bölgede hem kabul hem de dirençle karşılaşan karmaşık bir alımlanma sürecine tabi olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Bulgular, Oryantalist mantığın coğrafi bir öze değil, bir güç pratiğine dayandığını ve çok kutuplu dünya düzeninde yükselen yeni güçler tarafından benimsenebilecek evrensel bir hegemonya stratejisi olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu çalışma, Çin’in yükselişini ve küresel etkileşimlerini anlamak için postkolonyal teorinin eleştirel araçlarının önemini vurgulamaktadır.

Keywords

Neo-Oryantalizm , Çin , Yumuşak Güç , Güneydoğu Asya , Söylem Analizi

THE UPDATED VERSION OF ORIENTALISM: A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF CHINA'S SOFT POWER IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Abstract

This article analyses China's soft power strategy in Southeast Asia as a form of Neo-Orientalism by transposing Edward Said's Orientalism theory into a contemporary geopolitical context. The study's central thesis is that through its Belt and Road Initiative and key discourses such as the ‘Community of Shared Future for Mankind,’ China constructs itself as a modern, advanced, and benevolent centre, while representing Southeast Asia as an other dependent on its capital, technology, and guidance. This discursive practice reproduces the classic Orientalist East-West binary opposition, establishing a new hierarchical relationship between a developed Eastern power (China) and a developing Eastern region (Southeast Asia). Methodologically adopting Foucauldian discourse analysis, this study examines China's official documents, leader speeches, and state media (Xinhua, CGTN) publications. The analysis reveals how China's soft power discourse is materialised through concrete practices such as infrastructure projects and Confucius Institutes, and how it undergoes a complex process of reception that encounters both acceptance and resistance in the region. The findings suggest that Orientalist logic is grounded not in a geographical essence but in a power practice, constituting a universal hegemonic strategy that could be adopted by emerging powers in a multipolar world order. This study emphasises the importance of postcolonial theory's critical tools for understanding China's rise and global interactions.

Keywords

Neo-Orientalism , China , Soft Power , Southeast Asia , Discourse Analysis

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