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Notes -
Doesn't this roughly describe post-Meiji Japan too? Somehow they punch well above their weight in global culture (sushi, anime, business). (South) Korea arguably fits this narrative too, only with different imperial powers.
I don’t think the Japanese or the South Koreans have been ruled by their own people who actively destroyed their cultural heritage. Yes the Japanese had their own identity crisis after the Meiji restoration (e.g. 脱亚入欧) but I’m not sure if there is a societal wide, bottom up or top down destruction of its own cultural heritage similar to China. The South Koreans are subjugated by the Japanese from 1870s to 1945 and were forcefully Japanified, but being colonized is different from what we’re talking about here. North Koreans sure, and I don’t think they have any positive cultural export. Neither does Vietnam. I think the Vietnamese has the same problem just like us.
I guess a good comparison would be … the Turks? An empire that suffered defeat after defeat for a century and ruled by progressives who have in fact latinized their language and destroyed at least part of their cultural heritage? I’m not that familiar with them to tell if it’s an accurate description of their experience, but I’m also not reading Turkish novels or wearing Turkish clothes.
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