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25 May 2021, Volume 41 Issue 3 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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A Study of Socialist Discourse System with Chinese Characeristics

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Inner Feelings and Perseverance of the Editor-in-Chief of Modern Times: Notes on Shi Zhecun’s “Elegy for Master Lu Xun” and Seven Other Poems Zhou Shengwei 2021, 41 (3):  1-10.  Abstract ( 339 )   PDF (1418KB) ( 144 )   Shi Zhecun’s “Elegy for Master Lu Xun” and its preface, written around the end of 1956, clearly express his understanding and evaluation of Lu Xun, and his attitude toward Lu Xun has always been respectful. At the same time, they also display his reflection and introspection on his controversy with Lu Xun, not only reviewing his own short-sightedness of being a “well frog presuming to measure the sea”, but also insisting on his consistent position of “I aspire to promote essay”. As for Lu Xun’s “frowning at the evil young men” and its adverse effects, Shi’s heart still hurt despite his efforts to downplay them. Previously, commentators paid little attention to this poem, thus ignoring its significance to the study of Shi and his relationship with Lu Xun. Since this poem is a long five-character poem in ancient style, the preface is written with pianwen (parallel writing), and it contains many allusions, I will try to annotate it for the benefit of readers and researchers. Related Articles | Metrics

Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory and Cultural Studies

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On the Edition Criticism of New-Era Novels and Its Academic Value Luo Xianhai 2021, 41 (3):  11-22.  Abstract ( 367 )   PDF (4018KB) ( 215 )   Different versions of novels in the new era through the writers’ revision or rewriting has not been paid due academic attention. Different versions of novels are produced in three periods particularly. Among these revisions and rewritings, the “substantive textual variants” center round expressions that are politically sensitive or that are concerned with sex scenes. Other changes are made concerning artistic perfection and socio-historical requirements. Apart from political factors, literary awards, commercialization, film and television adaptation, copyright, regional culture, network and new media, as well as changes in the context of globalization, are also contributing reasons for textual modification and variation. Textual criticism of novels in the new era is of great academic value in promoting the collation and indexing of contemporary literary texts and documents, enriching the awareness of problematization and methodologies in contemporary literary research, and advocating accuracy in literary history research. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Compilation of Anthologies and the Theoretical Issues in Constructing Contemporary “Study of the Literary Selection” Xu Yong 2021, 41 (3):  23-33.  Abstract ( 306 )   PDF (3648KB) ( 54 )   In order to construct a contemporary “study of literary selection”, we should center on the compilation of anthologies while taking into consideration of other mechanisms concerned with the selection of literary works, so as to construct a multi-dimensional system through multi-layered analysis of the “study of literary selection”. The multi-layered structure of contemporary “study of literary selection” allows for its departure from the study of “The Selection of Refined Literature”, and manifests as the important features of its modernity as well the anxiety of modernity. An investigation of contemporary “study of literary selection” informs our understanding of literary canonization. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Crisis and Future of National Memory in the Digital Age Zhao Jingrong 2021, 41 (3):  34-43.  Abstract ( 468 )   PDF (3995KB) ( 133 )   The concept of national memory can be interpreted in two ways, either as “memory about a nation” (or “a nation as a kind of memory”) or as “a nation that remembers” (or “a nation’s memory”). With a reference to nation which could be understood as country, native land, nation, and state, the national memory also unfolds as memory of China in geopolitical sense, memory of the native land in cultural and psychological sense, memory of nation in ethnographic sense, and memory of the state in political sense. The signification of the national memory changes in different contexts. There are two ways in which national memory is formed, the “top-down” approach and that of the “bottom- up.” The former is marked by the compulsory “embedding” of memory and the latter by the poetic “conscious remembering.” In the digital age, memory research focuses on the relationship between memory and forgetting, as well as the issues of privacy, cyber violence and justice. The crisis of the national memory is mainly manifested in “the ways in which memory is chosen” and “the transformation of the public space.” The internet has subverted the ecology of memory originally driven by the state and society (or the folk), and created more possibilities for memory including national memory. Such subversion is embodied in the subject of memory (“the multitude”), the object of memory (“information”), the method of remembering (“electronic reading” and “cultural habits”), and the representation of memory (“the memory of multitude”). Related Articles | Metrics

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From Bruce Lee to Eddie Peng: Transformation of Chinese Male Star’s Body and Its Cultural Significance Wu Hongtao 2021, 41 (3):  44-53.  Abstract ( 421 )   PDF (1416KB) ( 88 )   Bruce Lee and Eddie Peng, two high-profile Chinese male stars of different generations, are both recognized and loved by the public for their masculine bodies characterized by perfect muscles. Their bodies, as well as the public's imaginations and evaluations of their bodies reflect profound changes in contemporary cultural trends. In terms of body politics, this change shows a transformation from national discourse to international symbols; in terms of body types, it embodies a shift from martial hero to fitness expert; in terms of body landscape, it demonstrates a change from masculinity to masculine temperament. Due to the diversified visions of body in the present, it is necessary to analyze the cultural significance behind their bodies, in order to reflect on Chinese public's general concept of body culture. Related Articles | Metrics

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Articulation Theory and the Evolution of Cultural Studies Yang Dongli 2021, 41 (3):  54-64.  Abstract ( 485 )   PDF (3641KB) ( 122 )   Articulation theory has special value for cultural studies. This article discusses the evolution of the concept “articulation” from its origin through Ernesto Laclau to Stuart Hall, and goes on to portray articulation theory’s developing landscape in cultural studies – from “articulation”, “double articulation” to “triple articulation”. The developments of articulation theory have updated foundational concepts in cultural studies, helping it break the conflicts between “culturalism” and “structuralism”. However, articulation theory has also complicated the scene of cultural studies, as it overemphasizes the agency of audiences in decoding activities and overly relies on language’s expressive logic in the interpretation of cultural issues. The complications have even developed the tendency of “disarticulation” in cultural studies. Nevertheless, due to articulation theory’s intrinsic conjunction with mid-and-late-stage cultural studies and its context, it would still functions as the theoretical basis and methodological guidance for contemporary researchers in cultural studies in the short term. Related Articles | Metrics

Western Literary Theory

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Kitsch Andrea Mecacci 2021, 41 (3):  65-75.  Abstract ( 474 )   PDF (1415KB) ( 122 )   Used improperly as a synonym for “bad taste”, the term kitsch refers to one of the most important aesthetic categories of the last century. This paper, after trying to provide a historical framework of kitsch, focuses on two themes: the kitsch object and the link between postmodernism and kitsch, which will be referred to as neo-kitsch. In the first field of investigation, through the morphology of the kitsch object, the opposition of the kitsch aesthetic to that of functionalism will be outlined. Neo-kitsch, on the other hand, will be interpreted as a process of aesthetic hybridisation, one of the most obvious results of postmodern aesthetics. Related Articles | Metrics

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Towards “Post-Critique”: A Debate Over the Future of Western Literary Studies Dan Hansong 2021, 41 (3):  76-85.  Abstract ( 381 )   PDF (1775KB) ( 63 )   In the era of “after theory”, it is always a heated scholarly issue to debate over the future of Western literary studies. Recently, Rita Felski and Joseph North respectively advance their arguments as to how literary studies as a discipline can overcome its methodological and disciplinary impasse. After a scrutiny of the inherent flaws of contemporary criticism, Felski suggests that we choose to practice “post-critique” so as to avoid the restraints of the “hermeneutics of suspicion”. She is much in favor of Latour’s “Actor Network Theory”, which in her view is a significant new tool to reorganize literary criticism. North’s study starts with a new periodization of literary theory, followed by a poignant critique of the so-called “scholarly turn” in literary criticism dominated by neo-liberalism. He concludes with a prediction about the possible paradigm shift of criticism, after reviewing all sorts of new trends in the twenty-first century literary studies. The two scholars, in spite of their obviously incongruent positions, offer some insightful observations regarding the future of Western literary studies, and in doing so they might unwittingly hold an interesting dialogue. Related Articles | Metrics

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“Re-Theatricalization” and “Re-Totalization”: The Historical Influence of Japanese Touring Troupes on the “Revitalization” of Western Theatre in the Early 20th Century Gao Yang 2021, 41 (3):  86-96.  Abstract ( 304 )   PDF (4048KB) ( 145 )   From the turn of the century to the 1930s, three Japanese theatre troupes successively toured the West spanning a long period of time and a large geographic area. During their overseas tours, the various “theatrical” and "total” qualities identified in the troupes’ stage performances highly fascinated and impressed the Westerners. Although the Westerners’ reception of the Japanese touring troupes’ performances was inevitably accompanied by some “(mis)interpretations”. Nonetheless, these “(mis)interpretations” could be regarded as a kind of positive “self-affirmation”, which greatly strengthened and reinforced the ideals and visions of some innovative Western theatre practitioners who had been aspiring to “revitalize” Western theatre by feasible means of “re-theatricalization” and “re-totalization”. Related Articles | Metrics

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Fictional Characters from the Perspective of Possible Worlds Theory Qiu Bei 2021, 41 (3):  97-103.  Abstract ( 354 )   PDF (1364KB) ( 83 )   According to the possible worlds theory, there are three types of alethic logics, i.e. necessity, possibility and impossibility.  Literary works can then be seen as a specific possible world: fictional narrative world, while characters are its inhabitants. Taking into consideration the accessible relation of the fictional characters with the human beings in the real worlds, we divide the fictional characters into plausible characters, physically impossible characters and logically impossible characters. These three types of characters cover all the character types in fictional works. Possible worlds theory provides a new research scale and theoretical framework for categorizing character types as well as for constructing a theory of characters. Related Articles | Metrics

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Pleasure and Aesthetic Experience from the Perspective of Neuroaesthetics Hu Jun 2021, 41 (3):  104-112.  Abstract ( 339 )   PDF (1395KB) ( 232 )   The study of the relationship between cognition and emotion in the common aesthetic mechanism of human brain is subject to debates. Oshin Vartanian, among others, suggests that cognition and emotion play an equally important role in the aesthetic process. He brings the concept of “pleasure” to the forefront in aesthetic experience and attempts to build a theoretical framework of neuroaesthetics that can link the study of emotion and that of cognition. Based on the aesthetic experience processing patterns, the emotional experience theory, as well as aesthetic experiential cases, Vartanian speculates and illustrates how “pleasure” plays a role in aesthetic experience. “Pleasure” links cognitive and emotional functions in aesthetic appreciation, which jointly drive the aesthetic experience and aesthetic judgment in human brain. The theory of aesthetic pleasure has also informed new interpretations from the perspective of neuroaesthetics about such fundamental questions as beauty and the sublime, aesthetic feeling and pleasure, aesthetic purification, and aesthetic common sense. Related Articles | Metrics

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Joyce le Sinthome: Literature and Writing under the Perspective of Lacanian Psychoanalysis Ye Juanjuan 2021, 41 (3):  112-122.  Abstract ( 455 )   PDF (1416KB) ( 140 )   From the onset of psychoanalysis, literature has been its common topic. The change in theoretical positions and ethical concerns from Sigmund Freud to Jacques Lacan led to the upgrading of literature from the symptom to the sinthome of the subject. Lacan theorized his literary criticism by analysing the “Joyce lesinthome”, and hence the proposition of literature as the sinthome of the subject. On the one hand, literature enacts a break-away from the imaginary and the symbolic by way of writing, and represents the subject’s jouissance of the unconscious by way of a resetting of letters through meaning reduction. On the other hand, the author enacts self-naming by way of writing, and then forms the fourth ring of the Borromean Knot in the form of sinthome, avoiding the collapse of the subject caused by its inability to be embedded in the imaginary and the symbolic. From the perspective of Lacanian psychoanalysis, literature and other types of artistic creation share the property of sinthome. They protect the human subjecthood with “the knowledge of doing” by keeping people away from the devouring of desire. Related Articles | Metrics

Studies of Art Theory

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Some Issues Concerning the “Chorus“ in Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy Hu Youfeng, Wu Mian 2021, 41 (3):  123-134.  Abstract ( 399 )   PDF (1797KB) ( 168 )   In The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche, starting from the Satyr chorus and the original phenomenon of drama with a connection to his own aesthetic experience, offered a provocative aesthetic explanation of the origin and the development of tragedy. Tragedy, according to Nietzsche, originated from the Dithyramb and evolved in the form of “Dionysian chorus heading towards Apollo.” The chorus, in which the tragic effect of “metaphysical comfort” was embodied, enabled tragedy to engage in the existence of Greek as a kind of primitive aesthetic experience. As the musical spirit of the chorus diminished, tragedy gradually declined. Nietzsche attempted to revive the tragic spirit via chorus and music, and to complete a “grafting” of the Greek tradition in modern Germany. By tracing and reinterpreting the Satyr chorus, Nietzsche completed the outline of the development of tragedy and revaluation of the classical philology, and placed art on a superior position to truth from the standpoint of life. Related Articles | Metrics

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Physical Instruments and Image Art Li Tian 2021, 41 (3):  135-145.  Abstract ( 235 )   PDF (1416KB) ( 58 )   From cavern fresco to easel painting, from photograph to computer-generated imagery (CGI), the physical instruments for capturing and creating images have constantly evolved thanks to the progress of technology. Accordingly, the development of image art has undergone three stages, that is, those of simulation, reproduction, and generation. Following the popularization of painting software and the Internet is the seamless integration of simulation, reproduction, and generation, which gives rise to an unprecedented prospect of visuality as well as more profound aesthetic thinking. This article, with a reference to the changes in drawing tools and a focus on the relationship between technical object and human beings, examines the connection of physical instruments to image art. Related Articles | Metrics

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T. J. Clark’s Logic of “Negation” and the Practice from an Opposite Perspective in Social Art History Li Haoyang 2021, 41 (3):  146-156.  Abstract ( 313 )   PDF (1795KB) ( 102 )   Social art history is one of the most popular approaches to writing art history in the English-speaking context. T. J. Clark, who has been viewed as the leading scholar of social art history, introduced such discourses as “ideology”, “class,” and “production” into the writing of early French modern art history, seeking to interpret the relation of “vision-context” between ideology and social context. It is interesting to note that, when the social art history was in its heyday, Clark did not continue on its path, but proposed to “negatively” evaluate modern art. Once published, this view immediately triggered in the field of art writing (theory, criticism, art history) a fierce debate and reflection between modern art theory and historiography. During the debate, Clark constantly revised and changed the interpretation of “negation,” thus shaping a unique discursive mechanism, which has driven the construction from the opposite position in social art history and become an important logic and endogenous force in the evolution of modern Western aesthetics. Related Articles | Metrics

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From “Truth” to “Place”: On the Turn of Martin Heidegger’s Artistic Thought Feng Yaxin 2021, 41 (3):  157-165.  Abstract ( 327 )   PDF (1762KB) ( 95 )   Chinese scholars have reached a basic consensus on the periodization of Martin Heidegger that his thought can be divided into early and late stages by the ideological turn in the 1930s. Noticeably, however, at the Le Thor seminar more than three decades later Heidegger used three keywords — meaning, truth, and place — to mark the three stages in the development of his thought. In accordance with Heidegger’s own rule, his thought had two turns and were thus divided into the early, middle, and late periods, the subjects of which are respectively “the meaning of being”, “the truth of being”, and “the place of being”. At the same time, Heidegger’s artistic thought is not confined to the theoretical horizon of “truth”, but has experienced a development from the middle to the late period and ultimately focused on the relationship between art and “place”. Different from the observation that “art is the setting-itself-to-work of truth” in the middle period, Heidegger argues that “art is the place created in the work” in the late period. After clarifying the turn of Heidegger’s artistic thought, it is necessary to go beyond Heidegger to think over: Does Heidegger’s artistic thought reveal the nature of art or conceal its independence? Related Articles | Metrics

Ancient Literary Theory and Theoretical Study of Ancient Literature

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Mao Jin’s Emphasis on Celebrated Drama and the Compilation of Sixty Plays Liu Jianxin 2021, 41 (3):  166-175.  Abstract ( 417 )   PDF (1427KB) ( 104 )   In the late Ming and early Qing dynasty, Mao Jin paid much attention to celebrated works, which was embodied in the selection and compilation of his Sixty Plays. It included the classic dramas of the Yuan dynasty such as Romance of the Western Chamber and Tale of the Pipa, which had been canonized since the late Ming dynasty. The book also included more contemporary works such as The Peony Pavilion, which became noted as they were circulated among greater audiences. The selection of “potentially” famous dramas such as Xilou Ji and Feiwan Ji was in line with Mao Jin’s consistent pursuit of rare and secret editions, and manifested his deep understanding of the internal characteristics and standards of celebrated dramas. Mao Jin’s attentiveness to celebrated dramas reflected his sentimentality as a literato as well as his conception of drama. His perception of lyricism and didacticism, textual reading and stage performance, as well as wencai (literary grace) and bense (true qualities) were important embodiment of shared understanding about drama after the controversy between Tang Xianzu and Shen Jing in the late Ming dynasty. Such predispositions were also collectively reflected in the dramatic production and fashion of performance during the late Ming dynasty. Related Articles | Metrics

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Aloofness of Tai-ge School Literati in the Qianlong Era (1736-1795): A Case Study of Shen Deqian Zhang Haosu 2021, 41 (3):  176-187.  Abstract ( 299 )   PDF (1841KB) ( 88 )   In the eighth year of the Qianlong era (1743), Hang Shijun (1696-1772), a famous poet of the Zhejiang School, was demoted because of his disagreement with Emperor Qianlong about the “Inner Manchu and Outer Han” policy, in which the Manchu were given preferential treatment, while the Han were excluded. Shen Deqian (1673-1769), the leader of the poetry circle who was favored by Emperor Qianlong, wrote poems and presented them to Hang Shijun. By comparing Shen Deqian’s two poems with those by the Jiangsu and Zhejiang scholars in the same period, this study identifies the internal consistency in their sympathy towards Hang Shijun and the latent discontent with the official cultural policy of the Qing dynasty. This discontent was also related to Shen Deqian’s early friendship with the adherents of the former dynasty, and his later punishment by Emperor Qianlong for compiling the collection of poems of the Qing dynasty and the biography of Xu Shukui. Findings in this study imply that, as a representative of “Tai-ge School literati”, Shen Deqian’s individualized expression and his pursuit of “different tune” are still not well understood. Investigations of this topic broadens current understanding of Shen Deqian’s literal thoughts, and clarifies his stereotyped public image. The subsequent quotation of Shen Deqian’s student Wang Chang (1725-1806) and similar literary creation and speech of the time also support that there was general aloofness among the literati in the Qianlon-Jiaqing era. Most of the Tai-ge poets were simmered with discontent, which featured the mentality and literary thought of the literati in this period. Related Articles | Metrics

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He Shaoji’s Inheritance and Revision of the Poetic Concept of Natural Spirituality Xiang Shuangxia 2021, 41 (3):  188-197.  Abstract ( 298 )   PDF (1779KB) ( 308 )   He Shaoji has historically been considered a theoretician of the Song poetry school during the Daoguang and Xianfeng reigns, his poetics often taken as a representative of scholar poetry and as an altered form of Wen Fanggang’s concept of textuality. However, when his poetics is studied on itself disregard of his personal link with the poetry school, it could be argued that He Shaoji was practically a follower of Yuan Mei. He's poetics is grounded in Ye Xie and Yuan Mei’s concept of natural spirituality (xingling), and the shared features with Ye and Yuan’s poetics show in his elucidation on poetic lines, theorization of poetic concepts, and poetic commentaries. He’s poetics share some distinctive features with the concept of natural spirituality in that He Shaoji emphasized the grace in temperament, textual study, description- and agenda-focused poetic criticism and evaluation. In sum, He Shaoji prioritized temperament over knowledge, and the concept of natural spirituality served as the base of his poetics and the starting point of his argument. Related Articles | Metrics

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Tongcheng School's Criticism of Anti-order Writing: On Annotative Criticism in Classical Prose Anthologies Yang Xinping 2021, 41 (3):  198-209.  Abstract ( 260 )   PDF (1815KB) ( 15178 )   “Anti-order” is an important theoretical category in Chinese traditional culture, often compared with the category of “fro-order.” As the categories of “anti-order” and “fro-order” develop, two value orientations are formed in the process, that is, the orientation that favors “fro-order” over “anti-order” and that puts more merit on “anti-order” than “fro-order.” The preference to “anti-order” has exerted greater influence and given rise to the concept of “anti-order writing” in theoretical criticism of classical Chinese literature. It is a common aesthetic aspiration in literary criticism of the Qing Dynasty that values the “anti-order.” The Tongcheng school, for instance, makes detailed comments on the use of the “anti-order writing” through anthologies and commentaries to emphasize its important meaning. Their creative interpretation by means of metaphor enriches the criticism of the anti-order writing. Tongcheng scholars’ criticism of anti-order writing is a concrete reflection of their literary thought. Moreover, their works not only reflect the profound understanding of Tongcheng school’s creative view on anti-order writing, but also embody the mindset of favoring the aesthetics of twists over smoothness. Related Articles | Metrics

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Transformation in Women’s Ci-poetry towards the Su-Xin Style in the Mid-and Late Republican Period and Its Significance in the History of Ci-poetry Xu Yanting 2021, 41 (3):  210-218.  Abstract ( 340 )   PDF (3628KB) ( 457 )   The mid- and late Republican period witnessed a transformation in ci-poetry initiated by a group of female poets, drawing on the style of Su Shi and Xin Qiji (Su-Xin hereafter). This transformation had its origins in the female poets who, due to their experience of modern education and particularly systematic education on ci-poetry, gradually formed a new practice to write under the guidance of certain thought on ci-poetry. The direct reason for this transformation was the emphasis on literature’s social function brought about by the dramatic changes since the late 1920s, and the indirect reason was to use the Su-Xin style to correct the popular style of ci-poetry promoted by Wu Wenying. This transformation, resulting from female poets’ conscious and active choice by combining restrained and unconstrained styles, is of great significance in the history of ci-poetry. Related Articles | Metrics