From Philosophization of Literature to Literalization of Philosophy: Revisiting Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Thought on the Affinity between Literature and Philosophy

Abstract

Abstract: The intermeaving of philosophy into literature runs through Maurice Merleau-Ponty's thought. From his perspective, literature is the expression of existence rather than a tool for the conception of his phenomenological philosophy. In the course of Merleau-Ponty's thought, the interweaving of literature and philosophy presents a dual orientation and evolutional trajectory from philosophization of literature to literalization of philosophy, which corresponds to his creative opinion on the relationship between literature and philosophy in the dimension of concept and discourse, and reflects his approach to constructing metaphysical criticism and perceptual phenomenology. Expression and metaphor play significant roles in this interwoven relationship. Attempting to innovate on philosophical terms through metaphor in his later texts, Merleau-Ponty manages to ease the tension between philosophical concepts and discourses, providing an effective way to eliminate the idealistic remnants in the early perceptual theory and achieving self-consistency within his own theory.

Key words: Maurice Merleau-Ponty, philosophized literature, literalization of philosophy, expression, metaphor

Cui Xinxin. From Philosophization of Literature to Literalization of Philosophy: Revisiting Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Thought on the Affinity between Literature and Philosophy[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2023, 43(6): 122-129.

References

艾曼努埃尔·埃洛阿:《感性的抵抗——梅洛-庞蒂对透明性的批判》,曲晓蕊译。福州:福建教育出版社,2016年。
[Alloa, Emmanuel. Perceptual Resistance: Merleau-Ponty's Criticism of Transparency. Trans. Qu Xiaorui. Fuzhou: Fujian Education Press, 2016.]
Andén, Lovisa. “Literature and the Expressions of Being in Merleau-Ponty's Unpublished Course Notes.” Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology 50.3(2019):208-219.
Barbaras, Renaud. Le tournant de l'expérience: Recherches sur la philosophie de Merleau-Ponty. Paris: Vrin, 1998.
莫罗·卡波内:《图像的肉身:在绘画与电影之间》,曲晓蕊译。上海:华东师范大学出版社,2016年。
[Carbone, Mauro. The Flesh of Image: Merleau-Ponty between Painting and Cinema. Trans. Qu Xiaorui. Shanghai: East China Normal University Press, 2016.]
Chouraqui, Frank. Ambiguity and the Absolute: Nietzsche and Merleau-Ponty on the Question of Truth. New York: Fordham University Press, 2014.
de Saint Aubert, Emmanuel. “Metaphoricity: Carnal Infrastructures and Ontological Horizons.” Merleau-Ponty's Poetic of the World: Philosophy and Literature. Eds. Galen A. Johnson, et al. New York: Fordham University Press, 2020.
Flynn, Bernard. “Merleau-Ponty and the Philosophical Position of Skepticism.” Merleau-Ponty and the Possibilities of Philosophy: Transforming the Tradition. Eds. Bernard Flynn, et al. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2009.
乔治·莱考夫马克·约翰逊:《我们赖以生存的隐喻》,何文忠译。杭州:浙江大学出版社,2015年。
[Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. Trans. He wenzhong. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press, 2015.]
莫里斯·梅洛-庞蒂:《眼与心·世界的散文》,杨大春译。北京:商务印书馆,2019年。
[Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Eye and Mind; The Prose of the World. Trans. Yang Dachun. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2019.
——:《知觉现象学》,杨大春等译。北京:商务印书馆,2021。
[———. Phenomenology of Perception. Trans. Yang Dachun, et al. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2021.]
———. Signs. Trans. Richard Calverton McCleary. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1964.
——:《意义与无意义》,张颖译。北京:商务印书馆,2018年。
[———. Sense and Non-Sense. Trans. Zhang Ying. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2018.]
———. The Visible and the Invisible. Trans. Alphonso Lingis. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1968.
———. The Possibility of Philosophy: Course Notes from the Collège de France, 1959-1961. Trans. Keith Whitmoyer. Ed. Stéphanie Ménasé. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2022.
——:《可见的与不可见的》,罗国祥译。北京:商务印书馆,2016年。
[———. The Visible and the Invisible. Trans. Luo Guoxiang. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2016.]
——:《知觉的首要地位及其哲学结论》,王东亮译。北京:生活·读书·新知三联书店,2002年。
[———. The Primacy of Perception and Its Philosophical Consequences. Trans. Wang Dongliang. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2002.]
马塞尔·普鲁斯特:《驳圣伯夫》,王道乾译。上海:上海译文出版社,2007年。
[Proust, Marcel. Contre Sainte-Beuve. Trans. Wang Daoqian. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2007.]
杨大春:《“世界的散文”或“散文的世界”——梅洛-庞蒂论语言的文学使用》,《文艺研究》12(2021):5—16。
[Yang Dachun: “‘The Prose of the World’ or ‘The World of Prose’: Merleau-Ponty's Discussion on the Literary Usage of Language. ” Literature & Art Studies, 12(2021):5-16.]
张颖:《意义与视觉:梅洛-庞蒂美学与其他》。北京:北京时代华文书局,2017年。
[Zhang, Ying. Sense and Vision: Merleau-Ponty's Aesthetics and Others. Beijing: Beijing Times Chinese Press, 2017.]

[1]	. The Overseas Journeys and Image Metaphor of Chuang-tzu's Singing with Beating Basin [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2023, 43(5): 22-30.
[2]	Tuo Jianqing. Existential Predicament and Breakthrough of Literary Space Theory： A Study on Robert T. Tally Jr.'s Theory of Literary Cartography [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2023, 43(4): 82-92.
[3]	Cai Yaping. The Artistic Expression of Maritime Novels in the Late Qing Dynasty [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2023, 43(3): 160-168.
[4]	Sha Hongbing. Subtle and Implicit Rhetoric in Ancient Chinese Literary Criticism [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2023, 43(3): 179-193.
[5]	Zhuang Xuan. A Historical Critique on the Debate between “Poem Expressing Aspirations” and “Writings Conveying Ethics” in Zhou Zuoren’s Concept of Prose [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2022, 42(2): 44-53.
[6]	Li Guodong. A Study of the Concept of “Cyborg” [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2021, 41(5): 131-139.
[7]	Su Xin. On the Unity of Body and Mind in VR Painting Space: A Study of Spatial Phenomenology from the Perspective of Maurice Merleau-Ponty [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2021, 41(5): 144-156.
[8]	Zhang Hui. Nelson Goodman on Exemplification [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2021, 41(2): 193-202.
[9]	Yang Juanjuan. Recoding Postmodernist Art Criticism: The Debate between Anti-Pluralism and Pluralism [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2021, 41(1): 198-207.
[10]	Xing Jianchang. Confrontation with the Unconscious: A Reading of C. G. Jung's The Red Book [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2020, 40(5): 50-59.
[11]	Huang Zhouyin. The Ideal Qualities and Their Value in Niu Yunzhen's Historical Criticism [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2020, 40(3): 37-45.
[12]	Yang Jianguo. A Study of the "World" Metaphor in Contemporary Western Narrative Theories [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2020, 40(2): 159-169.
[13]	Feng Xiaoling. Natural-object Metaphor and Chinese Literary Criticism [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2019, 39(3): 141-.
[14]	Ling Chen'guang . Literary Expression in the Discourse of Artistic Interpretation [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2018, 38(4): 112-121.
[15]	Li Kelin . The Vibration of Appearance: The Immanence of Paintings [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2018, 38(4): 122-130.