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25 May 2015, Volume 35 Issue 3 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory and Criticism

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The Thinking Mode and the Literature Originated from Chinese Characters: The Value-Added Intersection between Comparative Literature Studies and Cultural Linguistics Studies Yang Naiqiao 2015, 35 (3):  6-15.  Abstract ( 1369 )   PDF (372KB) ( 88 )   Scholars posit that thinking mode originated from Chinese characters and the formation principles of Chinese characters show cultural psychology of Chinese. The formation principles of Chinese characters may take on the nature a cultural meta-code, and morphological features of Chinese language as a symbol system define Chinese literature as s literature grounded in Chinese characters. Comparative literary studies need to investigate how Western comparatists and sinologists grasp Chinese thinking mode that is encoded by Chinese characters as different languages will shape different ideas of literary writing. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Playthings of History Andrew F. Jones, Wang Dun, Zheng Yiren 2015, 35 (3):  16-24.  Abstract ( 1605 )   PDF (633KB) ( 49 )   The 1930s Republican China exhibited a historically determinate and pervasive cultural logic in which children and commodities were consistently linked together as part of a larger narrative of national development. This is attested by the visual and narrative logic of Sun Yu's film Playthings. Often lauded as a classic of Shanghai cinema, Sun Yu's film narrates China's national salvation by way of a seemingly unlikely figure: toys. Released on National Day in 1933 and promoted in the popular press as a call to arms, this particular "toy story" — which focuses on a Chinese toy maker's struggle for survival in the face of imperialist economic encroachment and Japanese military invasion — ingeniously plays on the metonymic relation between toys and the things they represent in order to treat two sociopolitical questions persistently and passionately debated in the popular culture and public discourse of the 1930s: the making of modernized Chinese children, and the evolution of industrial China. Related Articles | Metrics

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Modern Myth and Its Types of Presence Yan Xianglin 2015, 35 (3):  25-33.  Abstract ( 1031 )   PDF (371KB) ( 71 )   Myth is still alive in modern society and even in post-modern society, but its mode of existence, constructed as contemporary myth, is different from that of the traditional myths. Contemporary society also has its mythical thinking and mythological patterns. Contemporary myth is the contemporary creation responding to the creator' purpose and motivation, and it embodies the aesthetic characteristics of industrial society and cultural industry. The existence types of contemporary myth include the myth of science, myth of nation, myth of ethnic group, myth of heroes, myth of politics, and myth of consumption. To some extent, social ideology and literary production are also influenced by contemporary mythology. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Human-Nature Relationship in the Pre-Cultural-Revolution 17-Year Literature Wang Yu, Hong Liu 2015, 35 (3):  34-41.  Abstract ( 865 )   PDF (320KB) ( 114 )   The paper argues that the human-nature relationship in the literature of 17 pre-Cultural-Revolution years cannot be interpreted from the sole perspective of ecological ethics, but it should be examined together with the way and the knowledge background under which the relationship was represented. The relationship shows to be two-folded. On the one hand, man regards nature as "the other," when the consciousness of war culture is introduced in the field of man-nature relationship, taking nature as the target to be conquered through in spiritual and technological levels. One the other hand, nature becomes part of the constructive process of the two collectivist concepts of the motherland and the people, in which natural scenery becomes a symbol for the national image and functions to evoke the collective identification the people with the nation-state. The paper concludes that there is little reflection over the man-nature relationship in the process of modernity in the literature of the 17 pre-Cultural-Revolution years and little space is left for the independent value of nature with little representation of nature-in-itself. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Differentiation Aesthetics in the Representations of the Clothing, Food, Residence and Traveling of Migrant Peasant Workers Feng Bo, Xu Deming 2015, 35 (3):  42-50.  Abstract ( 1264 )   PDF (347KB) ( 90 )   Clothing, food, residence and traveling make up the daily life of people, and the first three are the basic needs of life while traveling becomes the condition for the three. The different preferences in clothing, food, residence and traveling means of the migrant peasant workers reflect the politics based on the distinction between the urban and the countryside. In the novels about the migrant peasant workers, the representations of their daily life in terms of clothing, food, residence and means of traveling highlight the aesthetics of differentiation. The pursuit of the lifestyle of the citizens is shown as the motivation of the migrant peasant worker, while the gap between their countryside life and the urban life engulfs them from the hoped-for life of modernity. The struggle for material and lifestyle change harbors the clashes and confrontations between the existence of these people and the political system, moral and cultural configurations. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Modernist Imagination of Space and the Hardship of Returning Home: An Investigation Centered on the Literature of Minority Nationalities in Contemporary China Li Changzhong 2015, 35 (3):  51-60.  Abstract ( 1469 )   PDF (426KB) ( 97 )   The capacity of cultural bearing of the minority nationalities in China is relatively weak, their ecological environment relatively fragile, and vehicles of cultural heritage relative scarce, which contributes to the two-sided problem comprising of existential and cultural spaces. These spaces are gradually invaded in the process of modernization by the foreigners who, as the cultural Other, have not only contaminated the aboriginal space of existence with their physical presence but also undermined the indigenous cultural tradition through their representation. The imagination of the Other's space helps confirm the construction of selfhood, but the question "where is home" becomes the modernist anxiety for the minority nationalities communities. In the dual anxiety consisting of the modernist imagination of the Other's space and the search of homeland, the literatures of these nationalities display their local aesthetics and cultural spirit, and they have also enriched Chinese literature as a multi-national entity in the current context of de-territorialization and homogeneity. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Moé: Soft Politics in Contemporary Visual Culture Wu Ming 2015, 35 (3):  61-68.  Abstract ( 1354 )   PDF (317KB) ( 121 )   Moé is a word frequently appearing in Chinese pop culture vocabulary in recent years, but its semantics and usage require clarification. Moé, which was borrowed from Japan, has broken the boundary of anime subculture and become a buzzword in mass media. The visuality of moé pertains some typical postmodern traits such like entertainment and flattening. Faux-moé has an extensive popularity that accelerates the confusion between the right and the wrong, the good and the evil. A moé object, constructed by a faux-moé player, could impose soft control and systematic violence to the persons who patronizes it. In this sense, moé can be considered to a display of deceptive visual politics in contemporary society. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Symposium: Chinese Discourse in Literary Theory of the Last Hundred Years

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The Construction of Literary Theory Centered on Literary Criticism You Xilin 2015, 35 (3):  69-74.  Abstract ( 1037 )   PDF (261KB) ( 170 )   The crisis of contemporary literary theory does not lie in literary theory itself or in its logic; instead, it is a structural crisis rooted in the divorce between theory and literary experience. Compared with the effort to re-establish the fundamental link between literary theory, criticism and experience, the debate over the theories between Chinese and the Western and between the classical and the contemporary does not hold much significance. Literary criticism connects literary theory and experience as it is not only the hinge between them but also the essential measurement to evaluate the crisis of literary theory. The construction of literary theory centered on literary criticism means that literary theory should change its closed self-reproduction and stop its one-dimensional regulation of literary criticism and experience, doing away with the scientific logic of deduction which takes literary experience and literary criticism as evidences. In the meantime, literary criticism must avert from the pre-modern moral doctrines and promote its theoretical reaches to explore the theoretical practice. When the knowledge system of theory is vitalized through literary criticism, a hermeneutic field of the humanities may thus be formed, in which literary experience and literary concepts are well integrated. This formation may become both a new phase of literary theory development and allow for a new mode of literary theory teaching and research. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Social Conventions: The Structural Elements of Literature Ma Dakang 2015, 35 (3):  75-83.  Abstract ( 1076 )   PDF (346KB) ( 104 )   In literary activities, social conventions are not only a more important and fundamental structural element in the narrative structure of discourse but also the fundamental premise for the comprehensibility, creditability, authenticity and criticalness of literary works. The universality of literature originates from the universal validity of social conventions. Social conventions are constructed in the process of social history, and invariably ideologically grounded with embedded power relations. The paper concludes that one major critical function lies in its exposure of the working of power hidden in the social conventions. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory and Criticism

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A Study on the Framework of "Literary Research Methodology" in 1904 Educational System Reform Chen Xuehu 2015, 35 (3):  84-94.  Abstract ( 1240 )   PDF (412KB) ( 102 )   This paper attempts to discuss the framework of "Wenxue Yanju Fa" (Literary Research Methodology) in the 1904 educational system reform and tries to describe and understand the space which this reform carved out for the coming knowledge production and theory formation. During the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic of China period, the institutionalization efforts to construct the discipline of literary studies kept much of Chinese traditional culture and its literature. As a specific device, the envisaged course of "Literary Research Methodology" was constructed mainly on traditional learning and local imagination, and it was marked with the characteristics of a general course, while its undefined and undetermined boundaries allowed much space for the knowledge production in the subsequent generations. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Symposium: Chinese Discourse in Literary Theory of the Last Hundred Years

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In Defense of Hu Shih's Revision of the 81st Trial in A Journey to the West Zhu Hongbo 2015, 35 (3):  95-101.  Abstract ( 1077 )   PDF (296KB) ( 337 )   There has been no agreement in evaluating Hu Shih's revision of the 81st trial in A Journey in the academic circle. This paper takes the perspective of reception aesthetics and hermeneutics to approach the issue and claims the reasonability of Hu's revision. In the reader response in the process of reading, the agency of the reader's subjecthood should be fully acknowledged to be legitimate, while the merits or demerits of the revision may be subjected to individual evaluation. Hu's revision of A Journey to the West, even if breaking up the novel's unity as perceived by many readers, implicates creative insight behind the interpretive misreading which should be given credit. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A Dialogue of Literary and Art Theory by the Public Table: Sidelights on the 12th Annual Meeting of Chinese Association of Literary and Art Theory Wang Yichuan 2015, 35 (3):  102-104.  Abstract ( 899 )   PDF (162KB) ( 100 )   The 12th annual meeting of Chinese Association of Literary and Art Theory is the best thanksgiving and blessing to the centennial birthday of its founder, Mr. Xu Zhongyu. Compared with the first National College Literary and Art Theory Conference held in 28 years ago, this annual meeting presents many differences, such as venue, time consumption, modes of academic exchanges, objectives, and the age of the presenters and participants, in a reasonable and harmonious way. Focused on core issue of "Chinese discourse in literary theory of the last century," the meeting explores multiple academic levels, including classical theories alive in today, foreign theories serving China, ancient theories in contemporary interpretation, new theories, new centenary discourse, and so on. The further discussion on literary theory can be expected to depart from the last centenary to the new centenary, and on to the way Chinese spirit could lead the literary theory studies, and it can believed that the power of thought will continue to be a leading role during the discussions by the public table. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Reflection and Prospect: How to Construct Chinese Literary Theory Discourse — A Synopsis of Chinese Literary Theory 12th Annual Academic Symposium on "The Chinese Discourse of Literary Theory Research in the Past Hundred Years" Yu Ali 2015, 35 (3):  105-107.  Abstract ( 808 )   PDF (158KB) ( 81 )   Related Articles | Metrics

Studies in Western Literary Theory and Aesthetics

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Apocalypse Now: Walter Benjamin and the Legacy of Political Messianism Richard Wolin 2015, 35 (3):  108-123.  Abstract ( 1679 )   PDF (606KB) ( 98 )   Walter Benjamin's essay on the "Kritik der Gewalt" (Critique of Violence) has had a curious afterlife. When it first appeared in 1921, it passed almost unnoticed. However, following the collapse of communism, among proponents of the Cultural Left it acquired a canonical salience, in large measure owing to Jacques Derrida’s systematic reliance on it in "The Force of Law: the Mystical Foundation of Political Authority" (1994). However, many of these later interpretations have overlooked the pivotal role that Benjamin's justification of "divine violence" played in his early attempts to revivify political theology, in "Kritik der Gewalt" and related texts. Finally, what does it tell us about the impasses and confusions of the political present that Benjamin's 1921 text has become, in certain quarters, a major ethico-political point of reference? Many of these issues revolve around the question of what role political theology might play in contemporary "post-secular" societies. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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On the System Theory Tendencies of Contemporary World Literary Theory Hao Lan 2015, 35 (3):  124-130.  Abstract ( 1472 )   PDF (294KB) ( 115 )   Since the turn of the century, explorations into world literary theories have taken on the nature of general systems theory, which has been particularly benefited from the impact Immanuel Wallerstein's world system theory. This trend in the study of literary theories represents an attempt to simultaneously transcend the modern and post-modern paradigm. For this trend, world literature system is constructed with the assumption that literature can be holistically approached, which may foreshow an ambition of a systematic macro-reconstruction after post-modern fragmentation, but this trend may be distinguished from the unity of modernism as it rejects unicentrism. The paper argues that the research along this trend, although largely Western-centred, could provide a starting point to break the inequality of world literature system in the future and that the trend could be understood as a call for the historical awareness which has been suspended by the skepticism of postmodernism and a continuation of the humanism in comparative literary studies and world literature. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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On the Interrelated Dimensions of Materiality in Literary Criticism Zhang Jin 2015, 35 (3):  131-138.  Abstract ( 930 )   PDF (312KB) ( 103 )   Since the end of 20th century, the worldwide literary criticism has turned to the study of materiality and manifested the four interrelated dimensions of literary materiality, namely, the materiality of the signifier of literary language and the material properties of texts, the materiality of literary context concerned with the limitations imposed by the social world of economics and politics, the materiality of the perceiving subject and the body through which an aesthetic experience occurs, and the materiality of the represented objects in response to which the experience takes place. The interaction of these dimensions shifts the focus in literary research from intertextuality to inter-objectivity, and in literary conception from representation of humanity to embodiment of thingness. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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New Changes and Redemption: On the Russian Formalism's Genre Theory Chen Jun 2015, 35 (3):  139-145.  Abstract ( 1417 )   PDF (288KB) ( 88 )   Russian Formalism has two key features of defamiliarization and scientification, and with these features, Russian Formalism is certain to oppose the classical principles of genre classification. Through the mediation of historic procedural poetics, Russian Formalism is linked with literary genre. Genre can be understood as an aggregated system of characteristic procedure, and the nature of its development can be seen in procedure renovation, the replacement of elegant genre with vulgar ones, and genre subversion. The relationships of different schools of normative poetics are not opposite to each other but continual and successive. Historic procedural poetics enables Russian Formalism to play an important role at the onset of modern genre theory, and Russian Formalism stops the nihilistic phase and starts the constructive phrase in the development of modern genre theory. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Sound and Listening as a Figurative Narration Jiang Yuhui 2015, 35 (3):  146-155.  Abstract ( 1709 )   PDF (389KB) ( 132 )   The study of pictorial images could follow two different approaches. One is the Panofskian iconology, which intends to bring the visual images to the higher modes of meaning. The other is the downward approach, which tries to return to the image itself. Deleuze and Focillon are the two advocates of the latter one. The sound metaphor Kandinsky introduced in his explanation of visual elements provides another important path for us to trace the potential motivation of deformation of images. With these crucial clues, the sound and listening as a kind of figural narration could be explained, especially within the reference to the convention of Chinese poetic lotus ink paintings. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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On Visual Representation and Richard Wollheim's Concept of Spectators' Seeing Yin Manting 2015, 35 (3):  156-162.  Abstract ( 1477 )   PDF (323KB) ( 102 )   The term "representation" has been translated into two Chinese phrases "zaixian” and "biaozheng." The former refers to the direct and intuitive visual perception, while the latter focuses on the social factors which deconstruct the knowledge systems, social institutions and meaning systems. Under this context, this paper discusses the value of visual representation. The paper observes that the contemporary studies on visual perception per se accept both the validity of intuitive perceptual experience and the predetermination of visual experience by cultural systems. First put forward by Ernst Gombrich, this question was advanced by Richard Wollheim through his discourses on the spectators' seeing which provided the possibility of visual communication based on visual experiences in postmodern period. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Reflections on Gombrich's Art Theory in the Postmodern Context Mu Baoqing, Zou Guangsheng 2015, 35 (3):  163-169.  Abstract ( 1316 )   PDF (278KB) ( 139 )   The fundamental principle of Gombrich's art criticism lies in his adherence to the "golden mean" between innovation and tradition. The sensible art criticism relies on the impartial evaluation of the expressiveness of artistic works and artists' contribution to the establishment of paradigms and norms. However, some contemporary art theorists and critics argue that Gombrich's "golden mean" has actually been out of balance, due to his overemphasis on tradition and his critical attitude towards modern art. Accordingly, a critical survey of Gombrich's rational principle in the postmodern context, with a reflection on the tension and dialogue between traditional thoughts and modern concepts, is urgently required in contemporary art research field. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Classical Literary Theory and Criticism

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The Landscape Sentiments as the Chinese Symbol and Expression of an Ecological Art Yin Guoming 2015, 35 (3):  170-179.  Abstract ( 1025 )   PDF (376KB) ( 56 )   In Chinese literature and arts, the sentimens in "shanshui" (mountains and waters, landscape) not only embody an aesthetic pursuit but also form a traditional cultural symbol. The sentiments display the artists’ consciousness of life and manifest the ecological connotation of "man in nature." The preposition of the landscape sentiments as a theoretical categorization may be helpful for the discovery of the universal value and new meaning of Chinese litearay theory in the context of comparative and cross-cultural studies. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Motivation and Practice of the Rise of Classical Aesthetics Research in the 20th Century's China Han Wei 2015, 35 (3):  180-188.  Abstract ( 1019 )   PDF (346KB) ( 90 )   Chinese classical aesthetics research began in the 1980s, in an effort to establish the discipline of Chinese aesthetics under the complicated historical context. It was spurred by both the trend of cultural root-seeking against the background of enlightenment modernity and the pursuit of discourse power. In practice, studies on Wang Guowei and Zong Baihua formed the earliest mode of research, which in turn displayed the charm of ancient Chinese aesthetics. The studies had also constituted a potential model for and established a foundation stone for the classical aesthetics research in the years that followed. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Concept of Witty Humor in the Poetry in the Qianlong-Jiaqing Reign of the Qing Dynasty Liang Jieling 2015, 35 (3):  189-199.  Abstract ( 1160 )   PDF (403KB) ( 83 )   In the period of Qianlong and Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty with the relative social stability, the leading poets pursued a style with witty humor, which led to the social fashion in poetry. Though Yuan Mei's taste was looked upon as poetic objective, it would be an interpretation to theoretically generalize it into the doctrine of a poetry school. The connotation of witty humor was the author's poetic sentiments toward social phenomena, which showed the poet's artistic craft. The denotation of the concept was relative to the poetics emphasizing moral function of literature. While the concept of witty humor did not exclude patriotism, daily leisure was its main pursuit. The trend of poetry in the period of Qianlong and Jiaqing reign was linked with the rise of popular literature, the era of academic thought and the development of the internal principle of poetry. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Implication of History-in-Poetry and the Reception of Li Shangyin in the Late Qing-Dynasty Poetry Circle Ma Weizhong, Li Chen 2015, 35 (3):  200-208.  Abstract ( 1146 )   PDF (358KB) ( 119 )   The debate over emulating the Tang or the Song Dynasty poetry was an important link in the evolution of the Qing-Dynasty poetry, in which the reception of Li Shangyin both pointed a direction for the retro poetics and became in most areas a continuation of territory poetics. The three acceptance models culminated the multi-perspective study of Li Shangyin's poetry. Taking into consideration of the complex social context, the paper claims that the concept of history-in-poetry could become the starting point to investigate the theoretical value of the reception of Li Shangyin in the late Qing-Dynasty poetry circle. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Revolution and Transcendence: The Aesthetic Transformation in the "New Novel" in the late Qing Dynasty Zhu Jun 2015, 35 (3):  209-216.  Abstract ( 1236 )   PDF (325KB) ( 111 )   The rise of the "New Novel" started the "revolution in the circle of fiction writing" in the late Qing Dynasty. In literary history, the New Novels have not been done justice for the traditional ethics shown in these works were in contradictory with the modern political system. However, it is undeniable that these works had left rather deep influence on Chinese ideology, politics and culture in the 20th century. From Kang Youwei to Liang Qichao, Chinese literature had witnessed a historical process from external transcendence (triggered by the import of exotic political and scientific culture) to immanent transcendence (aroused by the conscience of the Chinese and directed by their traditional view of the human world). Chinese literati in the late Qing Dynasty attempted to construct a culture beyond the boundaries of the East and West, which highlighted benevolent domination and pointed to conservative salvation for successors. References | Related Articles | Metrics