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25 November 2014, Volume 34 Issue 6 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Issue in Focus: Studies in Kant's Aesthetics

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A Supplement to Kant's Antinomy of Appreciative Judgment Cao Junfeng 2014, 34 (6):  6-13.  Abstract ( 857 )   PDF (670KB) ( 112 )   The antinomy of appreciative judgment proposed in Kant's Critique of Judgment is a unique way of representing the inherent contradiction in aesthetic experience, and it embodies Kant's dialectics in its developmental form. After an elongated process of complex reasoning, Kant believed that he had elaborated clearly the antinomy but actually his solution did not achieve the desired purpose. The present paper starts with Kant's standpoint and way of thinking, and tries to supplement his elaboration of the antinomy of appreciative judgment. The re-examination of Kant's antinomy of appreciative judgment may cast some light for contemporary aesthetics. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Three Dimensions of Kant's Laws of Nature Hu Youfeng 2014, 34 (6):  14-23.  Abstract ( 1135 )   PDF (554KB) ( 442 )   In his critical philosophy, Kant defined the duality of nature and held nature to be a thing-in-itself that was unknowable in the metaphysical sense. From the perspective of epistemology, however, Kant confined nature into the phenomenal field, claiming the priority of man over nature through the artificial legislation for nature. The inconsistence between nature in phenomenal sense and in the thing-in-itself sense was obvious. In his Critique of Judgment, Kant reconsidered the interconnection between the two different concepts of nature through his re-explanation of nature from the teleological perspective, and he eventually put forward the proposition that nature generates itself into life. Therefore, Kant's laws of Nature can be understood in three dimensions: nature as thing-in-itself, nature as a phenomenon, and nature as teleology. The paper concludes that the proposition of nature as teleology is crucial for Kant's system of critical philosophy. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Contributions of Kantian Aesthetics to the World and Its Significances to China Lin Jishan 2014, 34 (6):  24-29.  Abstract ( 902 )   PDF (620KB) ( 135 )   For quite a long time, Chinese aesthetics circle approaches Kant's aesthetics with a strong ideological political stance, which has led to gross misunderstanding and distortion of Kant's aesthetics and resultant failure in evaluating Kant's contributions to the world and the significances to China. The most significant contribution of Kant's aesthetics is that it starts with the modern aesthetic dilemma of empiricism and rationalism aesthetics and departs from there to break through the subjecthood-centred thinking in the aesthetic history. Kant's aesthetics reaches the solution to the focal aesthetic problem of "how pleasant feeling can share the nature of the ration," which has great significance to contemporary Chinese aesthetics long confined to the subject-object dichotomy. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Studies in Western Literary Theory

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Earl Miner, Comparative Poetics and the Construction of World Poetics Wang Ning 2014, 34 (6):  30-37.  Abstract ( 1498 )   PDF (602KB) ( 93 )   In the international circles of comparative literature and literary theory, comparative poetics dealing with literary theory still occupies a position although elite literature and its theory are impacted by cultural studies. In this aspect, American comparatist Earl Miner's pioneering contribution should not be neglected. Although Miner was not the first to shift scholarly attention to the study of Eastern comparative literature and literary theory, it may be argued that his intercultural explorations into comparative poetics have surpassed his precursors or contemporaries like René étiemble, Douwe Fokkema and James Liu, entering the field of general literary and theoretical studies. Miner's contribution not merely lies in expanding the domain of comparative poetics, but also anticipates the construction of world poetics. His unfortunate early death denies him further endeavor into the ambitious project. In the light of Miner's preliminary exploration, the present author tries to offer his own construction of a world poetics. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Capitalism and Freedom as Text/Antitext: Deconstructing and Decentering Friedman’s Neoliberal Canon Josef Gregory Mahoney 2014, 34 (6):  38-59.  Abstract ( 799 )   PDF (1277KB) ( 111 )   An odd symmetry appears when reading Milton Friedman's canonical neoliberalism in tandem with Jacques Derrida's deconstructive techniques: both authors, it can be argued, are ensconced in a Heideggerian, capitalist hermeneutic. Both offer reactionary discourses for "justice" per their respective paradigms of a radical freedom of choice. This congruence marks a special opening — not just the standard invitation to deconstructive relativism — to re-read Friedman in a manner consistent with Derridean, subjective freedoms that Friedman would otherwise ascribe us in the marketplace. More importantly, this re-reading takes place following a ten-year period that saw global neoliberalism reach absurd heights of popularity among policymakers and in turn, spark a global financial crisis in 2008. Today, incredibly, we continue to hear calls from some corners to return to Friedman as we move forward and try to rebuild economically. Our purpose here, therefore, is to deconstruct Friedman's primary texts, and to do so in a manner that pushes back against the sort of destructive thinking he helped popularize worldwide.In doing so, we will reveal the inconsistencies one should expect from a still celebrated bourgeois economist who fancied himself a philosopher and Karl Marx's antithesis. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Ecological Sensibility in Contemporary Western Cinema and the Theory of Ecocinema Sun Shaoyi 2014, 34 (6):  60-70.  Abstract ( 1039 )   PDF (767KB) ( 172 )   This paper aims at introducing and analyzing the theory and practice of ecocinema inspired by literary ecocriticism at the turn of the new century. Based on an examination of the main concepts and lines of thought of some prominent ecocinema theorists and thinkers in the West, the paper argues that ecocinema has acquired its own terminology and become independent of its literary predecessor. This is mainly demonstrated in four aspects. First, from the perspective of cinema as a visual medium, debates about ecocinema have centered on issues of cinematic representations, film genres, and visual languages. Secondly, from the perspective of ecocinema practice, ecological sensibility has emerged from behind the narrative and become an integral part of storytelling in film production, with ecocinema theory and practice establishing a mutually informed and beneficial relationship. Thirdly, from the perspective of film studies, early critical literature on ecocinema tends to draw a self-imposed boundary, limiting its scope of investigation to documentaries and experimental films, but this limit has soon been transgressed to include mainstream/commercial films, even including animations. Perhaps most importantly, in re-reading and reevaluating film classics, ecocinema theory is redefining or has already redefined what is cinema. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Pragmatic Path of the Somatic Turn in the Western Aesthetics Wang Xiaohua 2014, 34 (6):  71-78.  Abstract ( 851 )   PDF (671KB) ( 101 )   Since the early 20th century, a somatic turn has presented itself as increasingly influential in the Western aesthetics. As the science of sensory recognition, it initiates a return to the body-subject and life-world. In this process, the contribution of pragmatism is prominent. Since Charles Peirce proposed the principle of practice, the perspective which values the body has been introduced. The endeavors of scholars like William James, John Dewey and Charles William Morris have all constructed the artistic-esthetic paradigm on the basis of body experience. From the 1980s onwards, scholars such as Richard Shusterman and Mark Johnson put forward and define the concept of somaesthetics. While pragmatism has not fully transcended dualism, its seminal paradigm has influenced the aesthetic studies in the world. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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On the Abstraction of Modern Art and the End of Art Peng Xiuyin, Wu Zhendong 2014, 34 (6):  79-84.  Abstract ( 816 )   PDF (610KB) ( 54 )   This paper aims at analyzing the abstraction as a method in the creative process of modern art. The paper argues that the reasons for abstraction may be attributed to two aspects. One aspect is the heteronomy from social modernity, and the other is the autonomy of the development of art itself. Since the birth of modern art, the meta-narrative of abstraction has been overdrawn through repeated transformations, which results in the claim of "the end of art." However, from a perspective not limited to the idea of progressiveness of art, art has not reached its end yet. Instead, art is being created to be the cultural symbol of the age and realize the cultural significance. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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What Kind of Game It Is? A Comparison between Bourdieu’s Literary Field and Becker's Art World Lu Wenchao 2014, 34 (6):  85-94.  Abstract ( 1036 )   PDF (783KB) ( 123 )   Pierre Bourdieu's literary field and Howard S. Becker's art world are influential in the sociological study of art. Some claims that both the literary field and the art world are essentially consistent and some claims that Bourdieu focuses on conflict while Becker on cooperation. This paper, however, argues that neither claim has grasped the essential difference between them. To compare the two concepts, this paper uses the metaphor "game" as a framework and concludes that Bourdieu's literary field is a zero sum game while Becker's art world is a game. The participants in the literary field are a caricature role, and the relationship between them is struggle. The field is historical, macroscopic and abstract, which is linked to the structuralism. The participants in the art world are living people, and the relationship between them is interaction. The art world is formalistic, microscopic and concrete, which belongs to the interactionism. Either of them has its advantage and disadvantage, and they should be interconnected in the study of literature and art. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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American Contemporary Literary Studies and Natural Science Qi Yongfang 2014, 34 (6):  95-103.  Abstract ( 669 )   PDF (901KB) ( 112 )   This paper aims at delineating how the American literary research has adopted the methods traditionally applied in natural sciences and analyzing its achievements. The paper claims that the adoption of natural science methods in literary studies has the following main achievements. When the dichotomy between fiction and reality is undermined, the mutual influence between them can be realized, and the concept of literature and the scope of literary studies can be re-defined. The unique nature of literature has been highlighted to explore all possible dimensions of the world for the seeking the evolutionary direction for human being, while literary studies take on a future-oriented dimension of practice. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Classical Literary Theory and Criticism

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Chinese Drama Writing and the Evolution of the Drama Genre Li Changji 2014, 34 (6):  104-129.  Abstract ( 953 )   PDF (1247KB) ( 209 )   The researches on Chinese drama style and the drama writing have much to be desired in the scholarship on ancient Chinese drama studies. This paper approaches the genre of Chinese drama from the perspectives of genetic and typological relationships, and it proposes that Chinese ancient drama form matures as the result of literati's integrating folk arts into the drama writing. In terms of narrative methods and structure, the paper analyzes the essential features of drama-prose style (xiwen) from the Southern Song to Yuan Dynasties, the plot-content style (guanmu) in the variety drama (zaju) and the legend style (chuanqi) in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The different styles of drama texts are divided into two genres. One is the legend genre which is written as a legend, while the other genre is poetic drama which is written with a poetic thinking. Chinese ancient drama texts are a combination of dramatic plot with poetry, which gradually mature through the collaboration between literati's writing and the performance practice. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Qi Rushan and Mei Lanfang's Chinese Montage: Modernizing Peking Opera Through Recomposition Zhao Tingting 2014, 34 (6):  130-137.  Abstract ( 1841 )   PDF (978KB) ( 148 )   This paper examines the efforts of Qi Rushang and Mei Lanfang to transform the traditional Beijing opera into a new art form for the modern audience during the 1930s. The method of Chinese montage they used, which they named as "recomposition," is essentially a technique that deconstructs and reassembles the elements of traditional opera, such as gestures and mise-en-scene, while keeping intact its traditional essence. This paper hopes to interpret the connections between Eisenstein, Brecht, and Peking Opera, so as to explore the strong correlations between artistic forms and montage across borders in the 1930s. It highlights the fact that while the concept of recomposition was noted in the West by such figures as Eisenstein, the form of Chinese montage was not derived from the European or Eisensteinian montage. Instead, it served the purpose of tackling local issues and specific aesthetic problems. This paper concludes that Mei Lanfang and Qi Rushan's legacy lies not so much in preserving the traditional repertoire, as in transforming Peking opera into an art form that is simultaneously the most modern and the most traditional. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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An Exploration into Cao Xueqin's Notion of Novel Writing through the Titles of His Dream of the Red Chamber Li Qingyu 2014, 34 (6):  138-145.  Abstract ( 790 )   PDF (787KB) ( 284 )   Cao Xueqin’s novel Dream of the Red Chamber had five different titles. These titles reflect the author’s different notions of novel writing. The title A Precious Mirror to Love Affair implies an allegorical discipline, the titles The Story of the Stone and Emotional Monk’s Record indicates authentic record of the real things, the title Twelve Beauties of Jinling tries to be a legend to question the world, and the final title A Dream of the Red Chamber expresses the notion of "a dream being the same as a play." The change of titles reflected the evolution of Cao Xueqin's notion of novel writing in different stages of creative writing. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Narration of Desire in the Late Qing Dynasty Novels and Modernity Fang Weiwei 2014, 34 (6):  146-150.  Abstract ( 1147 )   PDF (687KB) ( 101 )   The Late Qing Dynasty was a period of rapid transition from the traditional to the modern society, and the novels produced during the period took on a special character due to society background and scholars' mentality. Not only does the unique narration of desire in the novels exhibit as "the excess of economy" that subverts the tradition, but also the imagination of the feminine and the urban writing took on strong atmosphere of the modern. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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On the Reference of Directional Positioning in the Han-Dynasty Stone Carvings Wang Qing 2014, 34 (6):  151-155.  Abstract ( 804 )   PDF (693KB) ( 75 )   In the Han-Dynasty stone carvings, the objects positioned at the centre of the planar graph are designated as the reference of directions, with the left on the surface standing for the east and the right for the west. This is the opposite to the direction positioning practice in modern graphics or cartography. This principle of direction positioning was not confined to the stone carvings alone, but was a general rule applied in almost all of the Han rituals such as the sword-wearing ritual of kings, the formation of marching armies, the ceremonial formation of vehicles and horses, and even the custom of walking males and females in groups. In all these practices, the objects or people at the center were designated as the reference. In terms of the direction positioning, Han-Dynasty stone carvings were in line with modern cartography in defining the two axis of the east-west and the south-north, but its position of the east-west was opposite to modern cartography. This is due to the fact that modern cartography regards the observer of map as the reference, while the Han carved stones took the objects or persons in the real space as the reference, with the observer positioned in face to the subject in the planar surface. The paper concludes that the right-left in the Han carved stones should be expressed within the Han cultural symbolic system, rather than in modern cartographical direction positioning principle. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory and Criticism

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A Revolutionist's Loyalty Crisis and Its Dissolution: A Re-Reading of Wang Meng's Bu Li Tao Dongfeng 2014, 34 (6):  156-163.  Abstract ( 2619 )   PDF (948KB) ( 298 )   Wang Meng's novel Bu Li ("Bolshevistic Salute") is about the loyalty crisis of the protagonist Zhong Yicheng, a Chinese revolutionist. The terror of the loyalty crisis lies in that Zhong can never be an independent being but is totally attached to revolution itself. The faith of a revolutionist and the loyalty to Chinese Communist Party serve as the foundation of Zhong's identity, and his relation with revolution becomes the sole reason and meaning for his life as well as the guarantee for him to be a "human." The only thing he can be is a revolutionist and a son of the Party, otherwise he is nothing. When he is faced with his loyalty crisis, Zhong resorts to the repeated recollection of his revolutionary experience, especially his participation of the first plenary session of the Party during the founding of New China, to reconfirm his cognate relation with revolution. He rebuilds his connection with the laboring people and the labor when he accepts reformation in the countryside, where the people’s support and trust constitute another pivot for his loyalty. This paper tries to argue that his loyalty crisis has never been actually resolved but rather transplaced and the seeming resolution is by far the final. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Practical Orientation and Hasty Theorization in the Expansion of Literary Theory: An Unfinished Case on Literature and Literariness Gao Nan 2014, 34 (6):  164-172.  Abstract ( 914 )   PDF (847KB) ( 71 )   The expansion of literary theory has been accepted by all the related circles. However, the theoretical explorations into it appear haste and leave much to be clarified. Central to the expansion is the argument over the relationship between literariness and literature, whereas literariness becomes crucial for social life to be included into literary theory. In fact, the concept of literariness itself is not sufficient to support the theory. The leading role of literariness in the expansion arises from the so-called marginalization of literature, which reflects a strong sense of loss among the elitist thinking of literature and literary theory. However, the so-called marginalization is the emotional imagination of the literary trend in the increasing popularization of literature in the popular culture. The theoretical base for the expansion of literary theory, the paper concludes, lies in the commensurability, the coterminous nature and the identifiable subjecthood between literature and reality. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Formation of Chinese New Poetry as Translated Modernity Chen Liming 2014, 34 (6):  173-183.  Abstract ( 1269 )   PDF (963KB) ( 122 )   This paper approaches the modern construction of Chinese "new poetry" from the perspective of translingual practice, and argues that the production of the new poetry is a combined result of the pursuit of cultural transformation and the influence from the Western modernity while translation functions as the medium. Chinese literary modernity presents itself first in the Europeanized baihua (vernacular mandarin). The vernacular mandarin baihua was not originated in as late as the late Qing dynasty or the early Republic of China, as commonly believed, but as early as the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, for its close relation with the translations of those Western missionaries. During those times, the missionaries had managed to use modern Baihua to translate Christian texts, with the assistance of Chinese collaborators. The modernity thus ushered in the Chinese literature, however, has long been repressed and concealed. The May Fourth Movement saw the literary pioneers such as Hu Shi, Xu Zhimo, Wen Yiduo, etc. creatively transform and localize the Western modernity, and establish a new tradition of Chinese modern poetics. In this sense, the modernity of Chinese new poetry can be argued to be translated modernity. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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"Organic Entity" and the Evolution of Zhu Guangqian's Early Thought Zhou Hongbing 2014, 34 (6):  184-190.  Abstract ( 878 )   PDF (806KB) ( 48 )   The concept of "organic entity" is the foundation of Zhu Guangqian's early intellectual thoughts since 1927. This concept was repeatedly used from 1927 to 1944 in Zhu's work to observe, describe and interpret life and art, and it was also used as a dominant concept to re-examine the evolution of Western philosophy and science in the 19th and 20th centuries, and re-examine the Kantian-Crocian influence upon him for the construction of his own aesthetic theory of "artification of life." The researches on Zhu's concept of "organic entity" are generally superficial for their focus on his organic knowledge, which has not done full justice to Zhu's two-fold effort in applying the concept for his final breakthrough of the Kantian-Crocian influence to construct his aesthetic theory system. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Review

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Is Modernity a Mirror or a "Flower"?: On the "Vision" of Rojas's The Naked Gaze: Reflections on Chinese Modernity Lin Wei 2014, 34 (6):  191-200.  Abstract ( 1191 )   PDF (902KB) ( 162 )   The essential issue of visual culture is to position the self and the world through vision. Rojas's subject of research is the literature and arts in the late Qing Dynasty to modern period, and he attempts a visual interpretation of Chinese modernity through constructing a three-dimensional visual system, in which the self-mirroring subjects, audience and object co-exist. He maintains that the body, as a visual object, is both a mirror-like screen, and the unreal image in the mirror, which provides the subject of visual desire as the other with a concrete channel of presentation. Through the interrelationship between time and space, vision as an individual desire can enter sociocultural context. It can be concluded that modernity in the field of visual culture is essentially the reflection of the experience of "looking" in everyday life. Through "looking," the other can exist and the relative position of the self and the world may become clear. Therefore, visual modernity is both a "mirror" and the "flower" in the mirror, which forms the everyday life itself, while visual culture should be regarded as a life philosophy of ontology. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A Canon of Fantastic Literature Studies: On Tzvetan Todorov's The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre Tan Fang 2014, 34 (6):  201-207.  Abstract ( 2966 )   PDF (788KB) ( 489 )   Fantastic literature is an important part of the world literature, and also one of the long-term concerns of the Western literary criticism, resulting in a large amount of works and studies. In his The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, Tzvetan Todorov defines from the perspective of the structuralist poetics the fantastic novels as a literary genre and tries to reveal the mechanism inherent in the genre. Although this book has been the subject of considerable controversy since its publication, it is still, because of its original and insightful views, a must-read canon for the study of the Western fantastic literature, and it also gives an example of the structuralist criticism. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Symposium Highlights

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A Synopsis of "'TSLA Young Theorists' Forum" Gao Jiguo 2014, 34 (6):  208-209.  Abstract ( 670 )   PDF (640KB) ( 70 )   Related Articles | Metrics

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A Synopsis of International Symposium on "Body Aesthetics and Contemporary Aesthetic Culture" Wang Jiaxing 2014, 34 (6):  210-211.  Abstract ( 659 )   PDF (639KB) ( 185 )   Related Articles | Metrics