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25 April 2014, Volume 34 Issue 2 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory and Criticism

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The Constructs of Literary Form and its Multilateral Relationships Nan Fan 2014, 34 (2):  6-20.  Abstract ( 1076 )   PDF (11121KB) ( 245 )   Literary form is often regarded as a mythical concept. For a fairly long period of time, literary form is always a suppressed object. Be that as it may, scholars have been making attempts to establish a self-contained system of literary form beyond the dimensions of logos, subjecthood and historical contents. This paper investigates the construction of literary form and its relationships with peripheral elements, especially the relationship between literary form and historical content. History has constantly intervened in the structure of literary form, and the literary content is often rendered as a transitory space between them. In this sense, the longstanding debate of the form-content is more of a theoretical fiction. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Play and Liminality in Chinese Cinema: Star Studies in the Perspective of Performance Theory Zhang Yingjin, Yi Qianliang 2014, 34 (2):  21-31.  Abstract ( 1158 )   PDF (8006KB) ( 259 )   Star studies sees film stars as "structured polysemy" and anticipates a salient system of meaning for us to decode and appreciate. Performance theory treats meaning as "conjunctural" rather than "structured" and privileges coincident, improvisation and juxtaposition. Approaching star studies through performance theory helps explore a wealth of filmic techniques and performance tactics. This article focuses on Tony Leung Chiu-Wai's "self-effacing" performance of repetition and examines special cases of play and liminality as well presence and absence in Chinese cinema. These cases challenge our conventional habit of thought and cognition and reveal an unlimited potential of alternative and alteration vis-à-vis history and reality. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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"Redefining Literature and Art": Strategies for Reconstructing the Political Dimensions of Literature Yin Chuanlan, Liu Fengjie 2014, 34 (2):  32-41.  Abstract ( 752 )   PDF (7528KB) ( 166 )   Since the mid 1990s, critics and theorists have begun to "re-visit" the relationship between literature and politics in an attempt to reconstruct the political dimensions in literature, which, as this paper maintains, marks the emergence of the trend of "redefining literature and art." The core theoretical strategy behind the re-politicalization of literature is to emphasize the inseparability of literature from social context or social relationships, but during the process, literary heterogeneity in terms of politics is not scrutinized with sufficient attention. The paper maintains that the relationship between man and literature may be both a reflection of and a choice from the social relationships. Therefore, the paper concludes that the reconstruction of the political dimensions in literature has to propose the imagined politics of literature if the reconstruction tries to maintain the aesthetic property of literature. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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On the Methodological Evolution and its Limitation of Literature Anthropology Wang Daqiao 2014, 34 (2):  42-49.  Abstract ( 894 )   PDF (5649KB) ( 209 )   This paper is a critical survey of literary anthropology in Chinese context. In the early 20th century in China, the main areas of investigation of literary anthropology are myths and ballads; during the Post-Mao Period, literary studies from the anthological perspective expand to literary texts and cultural texts, due to the influence of experimental ethnography and postmodernism. Practices in the above two periods show a consistent interest of research in the approaches of literary anthropology which evolves into the methods of cross-cultural comparison, primitivism, contextualism and field study etc. The paper concludes with the reflection on the potentialities and limits of literary anthropology in Chinese literary theory. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Evolution of Literary Image of Peasant Migrant Workers in Urbanization from the Burden-Bearing to the Weightless Existence Zhang Lixin 2014, 34 (2):  50-55.  Abstract ( 954 )   PDF (4590KB) ( 161 )   Literary image of the peasant migrant workers in China is closely related with the process of urbanization in contemporary China, and during the process, the image of peasant migrant workers has undergone significant transformation with the drastic change of literary ecology. When peasant migrant workers as characters entered the mainstream literature at the beginning of China's reform period, they appeared to be the "new character" that embodied the social ideal and life expectation of the intellectuals. The image changed, however, around the turn of the century when peasant workers became the strugglers of survival who had degraded to the concerns of almost social strata, especially the elite group. After the image of the peasant workers released the spiritual energy it had previously embodied, they rapidly fell to the bottom of the society, their intellectual air lost while turning back to the status of peasants. When the peasant workers are deprived off the image of the burden-bearers in the heroic drama of the time, and relapse into the weightless existence in the postmodern tragicomedy, they are in varying degrees rewritten and oversimplified. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Classical Literary Theory and Criticism

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On the Stylistic Origins and Literary Forms of Ci and Fu Qian Zhixi 2014, 34 (2):  56-65.  Abstract ( 848 )   PDF (7375KB) ( 250 )   The paper argues that ci (poetic prose) and fu (rhymed prose) were two different genres, each originated from its oral tradition. Ci, a form of poetic prose, originated from various stylistic writings such as ritual presentation on sacrifice and historical events and ambassadors' orations, while Encountering Sorrow by Qu Yuan (343-278 BC) and Nine Songs from the Songs of the South from were related with them. Ci and Fu became merged into one genre at the hands of Song Yu (ca. 298-222 BC), Tang Le (ca. 290-223 BC) and Jia Yi (200-168 BC), and to the time of the Han Dynasty, the Great Fu (rhapsody) became to replace the general term of Ci-Fu. The paper argues that ci and fu are not only two different styles but also two different genres, and they each had different ways of composition at different stages of development. Fu, after taking place the earlier general term of Ci-Fu, developed in the Han Dynasty into the earliest form of the refined writing (literati's writing) and represented the highest aesthetic pursuit of the men of letters. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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An Investigation on the Antenarrative in Ancient Chinese Novels Wan Runbao 2014, 34 (2):  66-75.  Abstract ( 918 )   PDF (659KB) ( 129 )   The antenarrative takes many forms in ancient Chinese novels with varied functions, and religions and folklore are among the main source of influences on its formations. The religion-influenced antenarratives may be classified into explicit, implicit, undetermined and multiple antenarratives in terms of their function. The antenarrative plays an important role in the overall design, the narrative schema, and the setup of suspense in the ancient novels, and suggests a unique national characteristic of Chinese classical novels. The folklore-influenced antenarrative takes the form of "the entry to the story (ru hua)," "the head to chapters (tou hui)," the comments of the story-teller and the story-end "lessons," which foreshadow the plot development in the later chapters. The paper concludes that the incorporation of antenarrative enhances the structure of the novel and the flow of narration, and heightens the expectation of readers. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Connotation and Referent of Chuanqi in the Study of Fiction in the Ancient China Wang Qinghua 2014, 34 (2):  76-84.  Abstract ( 1047 )   PDF (6534KB) ( 289 )   Through a critical examination of the connotation and referent of the term chunaqi (legendary story, literally, "transmission of the strange") in the study of fiction in the ancient China, the paper points out that the term chuanqi in the ancient critical discourse was not a concept of genre but a concept of content and thematic type. When chuanqi is referred to as a genre, it was often called as a then homophonic term zhuanji (biographical record), while chuanqi referred to "a book-length account of an event from the beginning to the end." This term of chunaqi referred to a literary text in the form of a book, which differed from literary sketches in the form of a collection or an anthology. In the orthodox concept, chuanqi was, compared with literary sketches, only "a subsidiary of literary creation," less significant in literary status and value, and the self-consciousness of fictional nature in writing chuanqi stories did not start in the Tang Dynasty but in the Ming Dynasty. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Poetic Education in Academies of Classical Learning in the Qing Dynasty Cheng Nensheng 2014, 34 (2):  85-93.  Abstract ( 878 )   PDF (6733KB) ( 216 )   In the context of imperial examination, academies of classical learning in the Qing Dynasty could not afford not to stress the techniques of examination-required poetry and regulated prose composition, with some academics teaching technique for composing other forms of poetry. The purpose of turning the coarse writing into the elegant corresponded with the government's aims of promoting noble style in writing so that the technique pursuit of composing poems was not meant to be instrumental for passing the imperial examination only but also nurture the person for the country. To that end, many academies developed methods that focused on the study of canonical works. After a survey of the methods, the paper explains that Qing-dynasty academies had found the inner theoretical relationships between poetry and eight-part essays which helped to redress the over-emphasis on the eight-part essay. In some academies, the examination preparation lessons had also academic contents such as critical analysis of literary texts, which eventually contributed to the progress of textual study learning in the Qing Dynasty. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Is Wang Guowei's Theory of the Poetic State Focused on Feelings: A Discussion with Mdm. Ye Jiaying Geng Zhi 2014, 34 (2):  94-99.  Abstract ( 829 )   PDF (3815KB) ( 140 )   In her book Wang Guowei and His Literary Criticism, Mdm. Ye Jiaying describes the theory of poetic state as "a vivid expression in the work [… of] the feelings of the author." If Ye's interpretation of the theory is interpreted within the context of the book, however, it may be found that Ye's interpretation is insufficiently supported by the theoretical discourse and practice. The problem in Ye's interpretation include the following. Firstly, her interpretation of the essence of the theory dissolves not only the intrinsic characteristic of "the emotion" and "the scene" but also the poet's conscious artistic pursuit and active emotional engagement. Secondly, Ye's interpretation in terms of subjective expressionism simplifies the dual nature of the poetic state which integrates both the subjective and the objective representation. Thirdly, Ye's interpretation expands the original concept. Fourthly, when interpreting the creative state and descriptive state, Ye leaves no space for the former, while interpreting the self-involved and the self-detached states, she brings the interests in the physical world into aesthetic contemplation and artistic creation. The paper maintains that Wang Guowei's theory of the poetic state is not built on the feelings of the author but on inbuilt nature of the scene and the emotion. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Issue in Focus: Western Marxist Literary Theory

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Two Main Routes of the Construction of Western Marxist Literary Theory Feng Xianguang 2014, 34 (2):  100-112.  Abstract ( 813 )   PDF (9170KB) ( 132 )   The paper starts with the observation that unique thoughts and routes distinguish various kinds of Marxism literary theories when they were constructed. The constructive differences lie in both the so-called "orthodox" and the later Western Marxist literary theories, and different developing routes and modes were developed especially in the later during its early and later periods. After an analysis of the periodization and the different features of Western Marxist literary theory, the paper concludes with the significance of the analysis to the construction of a Chinese Marxist literary theory. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Cultural Theme in Terry Eagleton's Critical Theory Mai Hailiang 2014, 34 (2):  113-122.  Abstract ( 866 )   PDF (7433KB) ( 195 )   This essay explores the content and exceptionality of Terry Eagleton's idea of culture and its significance for contemporary thinking on culture, and it posits the exploration in the context of current academic heat on culture, the intellectual history of English cultural theory and the tradition of Western Marxism. The paper maintains that Eagleton's proposition of cultural crisis not only reveals the intrinsic contradiction of the cultural heat but also helps for the understanding of the fundamental logic of modern cultural theory. Cultural crisis has been in existence along the modern era and it has intensified into contemporary culture wars. It shows in the neglect of the historicity, materiality, productivity and politics of culture in the mainstream cultural discourses, which is resulted from the innate contradiction in capitalism. For Eagleton, the fundamental way out of the cultural crisis lies in the recovering of the original function of culture so as to promote socialism and enable everyone to live a cultured life of self-realization. The paper concludes that Eagleton's idea of culture is crucial for understanding the nature and features of his critical theory. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Transformation from Being to Dasein: Agnes Heller's Neo-Marxist Aesthetics as a Breakthrough on Lukács' Theoretical Framework Fu Qilin 2014, 34 (2):  123-129.  Abstract ( 766 )   PDF (5157KB) ( 171 )   Agnes Heller's neo-Marxist aesthetics is based on the individual construction of Dasein and the human condition of contingency, and it can be argued as a breakthrough of Lukács' aesthetics of Being. By way of humanist aesthetics, she accomplishes the transformation from the philosophy of consciousness into the selective construction of everyday life. This transformation is doubtlessly a great contribution to postmodernist Marxist aesthetics, and is valuable for both theory and practicum in the era of contemporary socialism and late capitalism or postmodern human condition. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Gender as Cultural Production: The Cultural Critique in Contemporary Western Marxist Feminism Ma Rui 2014, 34 (2):  130-138.  Abstract ( 933 )   PDF (6823KB) ( 212 )   The uncovering of the sociality of gender and the reshaping of the consciousness of women are fundamental cultural appeals of feminism, and these appeals may rely on theoretical support from both classical Marxist dialectical analysis of the relationship between society and consciousness and Western Marxist illuminations of the subjectivity and cultural materialism, although the latter may take on more weight for feminist criticism. Since 1970s, Marxist feminism has absorbed the theory of cultural production, developed on Althusser's theory of ideology and British cultural studies, in its analysis of patriarchy, capitalism and gender system, and gender is thus disclosed as the result of patriarchal cultural production and a social institution rather than a pure biological fact or subjective identity. Through "the politics of discourse" as developed from the theory of cultural production, contemporary materialism feminism may try to revise the philosophy of consciousness in the post-Marxist theory of discourse. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Issue in Focus: Traditional Studies of Qu

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The "Central Land Prosody" and the Rise and Fall of the Musical Verse from the North and the South Li Shunhua 2014, 34 (2):  139-150.  Abstract ( 984 )   PDF (8816KB) ( 212 )   Since the Yuan Dynasty when China became a united sovereignty, there appeared various new prosodic systems. Zhou Deqing (1277-1365) made great efforts to dismiss The Broad Rimes (guangyun, compiled from 1007 to 1008 under the auspices of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty) and to construct a new prosodic system based on the musical verse from the northern part of China so as to promote it into the system of "the Central Land Elegant Prosody (zhongyun yayun)." He claimed that the orthodox prosody should be in the Music Bureau verse from the North while the verse from the South was merely a verse of conquered nations. This debate over the Southern and the Northern verse reflected various debates in literary thoughts, history studies and neo-Confucian philosophy and eventually influenced the making of the ritual music in the Ming Dynasty. As a result, the string-based official tonal scheme (xiansuo guanqiang), which was primarily based on the verse from the North with reference to the verse from the South, became dominant and prevailed in the Yongle-Xuande Reigns (1403-1435). However, Yang Weizhen (1296-1370) objected to taking the music bureau verse as the orthodox sound scheme and promoted his idea of natural disposition, while Liu Ji (1311-1375) and his circle began to use the verse from the South as a gesture of reprimanding the politics. Their efforts had already been an initiative in constructing a new prosodic system and an indication of the overall revival of the verse from the South. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Evolution of the Verse of Irregular Lines from the Unregulated to the Regulated Verse with Irregular Lines Xie Yufeng 2014, 34 (2):  151-162.  Abstract ( 785 )   PDF (7554KB) ( 108 )   The lyrics for singing in the ancient Chinese literature, in terms of stylistic form, falls into two types: qiyan (lines of regular lengths) and zayan (lines of irregular lengths). In the early Tang period, Shen Quanqi and Song Zhiwen established the versification of qiyan poetry, while the regulating course of zayan poetry began in the Middle and Late Tang Dynasty. If the unregulated zayan poetry can be defined as Qu (the later opera verse) and the regulated zayan poetry as Ci (fixed rhythm lyrics), the evolution of zayan (the verse with irregular lines) in the past thousand-odd years was following a trajectory from Qu to Ci. While it was generally accepted in the study of Chinese poetry that the regulated poetry evolved into fixed rhythm lyrics and then into the opera verse, the paper proposes that "the established view" in the past several hundred years should be regarded with respect but not accepted without reservation. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Ming-Dynasty Restorative Trend of the Study of Qu and the Canonization of the Yuan-Dynasty-Style Qu Cheng Yun 2014, 34 (2):  163-170.  Abstract ( 854 )   PDF (5734KB) ( 211 )   This paper sorts out the restorative trend in the Ming Dynasty in terms of the respect for, elaboration on and the creation of the style (zun ti, bian ti and chuang ti) and re-interprets its claims such as promoting the orthodox prosody, appreciating the original tonal quality, and emulating the Yuan-Dynasty style. The respect for the style promoted the reception of the Yuan-Dynasty style of Qu (opera) to the mainstream ideology and literary orthodoxies. The elaboration on the style focuses on establishing uniform aesthetic norms for Qu as a literary genre. The creation of a genre as the "new legend" drama corresponded with the adoption of the Northern Qu which had more strict schemes for tones and rhymes. The paper argues that the trend to restore the ancient standards in the Ming Dynasty was crucial for the canonization of the Yuan-Dynasty dramas, and it not only revealed the inherent aesthetic qualities but also laid the ways for later theoretical elaborations on Chinese dramas. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Studies in Western Literary Theory

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Periodizing Postmodernism Brian McHale 2014, 34 (2):  171-181.  Abstract ( 921 )   PDF (6727KB) ( 113 )   Looking back over the postmodern decades from the perspective of the twenty-first century, we are now in a position to begin distinguishing internal breaks and discontinuities, as well as continuities, within the period itself. The present paper undertakes to sketch out three phases internal to the postmodern period: first, an onset phase in the Euro-American sphere in the mid-sixties; next, the major phase of "peak postmodernism" in the seventies and eighties; finally, a late-postmodernist or transitional period in the nineties, widely experienced as a pause or lull, a kind of interregnum between postmodernism and whatever comes next. The consensus view is that the onset of postmodernism in the industrialized West can be dated to the "long sixties," spanning the years from the late fifties to the early seventies, but the present paper conducts the thought-experiment of dating postmodernism's onset to a specific year, 1966. Nineteen seventy-three, another year that has often been proposed as the onset year, is here reinterpreted as the moment when postmodernism re-brands itself and acquires its name, inaugurating postmodernism's peak phase. When we think of postmodernism, we mainly think of the cultural forms and practices of its peak decades, from the emergence of the term itself in the mid-seventies through the end of the eighties. The epochal world-historical events of 1989-90 usher in the final period of postmodernism, the "long nineties," which was experienced as a kind of lull or interregnum, a "place between two deaths" as Philip Wegner calls it, no longer as fully postmodern as the peak decades had been, but not yet "post-postmodern" either. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Inaesthetics and Art as Procedure of Truth: An Introduction to Badiou's Art Thought Lan Jiang 2014, 34 (2):  182-189.  Abstract ( 1082 )   PDF (5785KB) ( 178 )   For Alain Badiou, art and its creation do not need a preconceived idea to direct or guide, as art itself is one of conditions for philosophy. In light of this, Badiou replaces the aesthetics that subordinates art to the will of philosophy with an inaesthetics that induces truth out of art. Inaesthetics no longer tries to pursue the idea or notion that governs the works of art, but focuses on how artistic creations penetrate the consistent presentations of everyday discourse and tease out truth from the smoothed discourse. This way to artistic creations is like a journey through darkness, with no light or any visible landmark. The art, therefore, is a beast forcing its way through the dark to reach truth, and this way of art is the procedure of truth. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Voyage of Gremais' Matrix Qian Han, Huang Xiuduan 2014, 34 (2):  190-199.  Abstract ( 1761 )   PDF (6218KB) ( 167 )   Gremas' semiotic matrix has been very popular among Chinese critics through the introduction of Jameson. Jameson has revised the semiotic matrix, and made it deviated from semanteme analyses and structuralism calculation. The revised version depends more on intuition, which oversimplifies the conflict between value and the view of value. The paper argues that a more objective and thorough analyses of value and significance may be conducted by returning to the original version of the semiotic matrix. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Life, Art and Potentialities: Agamben's Concept of Poetics-Politics Wang Xingkun 2014, 34 (2):  200-208.  Abstract ( 1346 )   PDF (5981KB) ( 146 )   Human life in the context of modernity, according to Giorgio Agamben, has become a "bare life" and human being is reduced to homo sacer, while the political paradigm has transformed from public space to camp. When taking this into consideration, however, it may not be said that humanism should be resorted as the source for humanist thought. Agamben, following Heidegger, believes that humanism is a degradation of human dignity instead of emancipating and upgrading of the human being. The paper tries to answer how human being's integrity can be recovered to open up new space of politics. This paper focuses on Agamben's early writings on art and politics to interpret Agamben's idea of happy life and politics of potentiality. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Looking Through Endgame: On Adorno's Conceptions of Modernist Theatre Lu Cheng 2014, 34 (2):  209-216.  Abstract ( 1468 )   PDF (5830KB) ( 158 )   Beckett's theatre of absurd was regarded by Adorno as the most quintessential modernist artworks. In Notes to Literature, Adorno interpreted Beckett's Endgame against the background of the post-WWII historical and psychological crisis. Firstly, the meaningless living of the characters in Endgame leads to Adorno's delineation of a declining subject in a rational age. Secondly, Adorno found in Endgame some anti-existentialist literary elements, which prompted him to re-interpret the relations between subject and situation and endow Beckettian absurdity with novel theoretical significance. Thirdly, Adorno considered Endgame as a parody of traditional drama, which was, for Adorno, a deviation from the rational identity and also the very characteristic of autonomous art. Adorno's interpretation of Beckett reflects his conceptions of modernist theatre: in the post-war era with the decadence of subjectivity, dramatic figures are characterized through fragmentary images, and the plot and language appear to be contingent and absurd. Modernist theatre, such as Beckett's works, may not have the intention to intervene the social reality, but it responds negatively to the reality through its autonomous form. Therefore, the modernist theatre could maintain a critical force and redeem life and society in a serious and even a martyrly way. References | Related Articles | Metrics