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25 July 2016, Volume 36 Issue 4 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Conference Highlights: Reflections on Literary Theory: Retrospect and Prospect

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Body, Life-world, and the Reconstruction of Literary Theory Wang Xiaohua 2016, 36 (4):  6-14.  Abstract ( 230 )   PDF (1780KB) ( 116 )   Since the end of the 20th century, literary studies have gradually become conventionalized and entered into the so-called "post theory" period. What caused this situation? An easily acceptable answer is that there is a "stoppage" in the connection between literature and the life-world. In our view, the underlying cause is the oblivion of man's embodied being. In order to investigate the cause, this article reviews the primitive linkage of the life-world and the body in Husserl's phenomenology, analyzes the "ancient quarrel between poetry and philosophy", demonstrates the symptom of "poetics of amnesia" which separates the body and the life-world, and tries to find a way of "returning" to literary studies. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Origin and Evolvement of Aesthetic Poetics from the Perspective of Genealogy Xing Jianchang, Zhang Hao 2016, 36 (4):  15-26.  Abstract ( 221 )   PDF (1802KB) ( 74 )   This article is a genealogical investigation of the origin and evolvement of aesthetic poetics in China since the 1980s. Its prelude originated from the "imagistic thinking Debate" in the 1950s and 1960s, which was revived at the end of the 1970s. The outcome of this debate was a common recognition that the image, rather than concepts, features literature and art. The evolvement from image epistemology to affectionism paved the way to an aestheticism-based theory. However, the emphasis on the functions of aestheticism to appeal, to educate, to save, and to liberate indicates that the aesthetic poetics was a utilitarian literary paradigm. Out of key with the time in the 1990s, the value system of aestheticism fell short of addressing the new cultural reality. The origin, development, and evolvement of this aesthetic poetics have proved that any essentialist poetics is just an interpretation of literature under certain circumstances. Though dominant in one period, it will be replaced and surpassed. The purpose of literary study is to comprehend literature's richness, intricacy, and significance to life, rather than attaching to it an essence. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A Study of the Name and Connotation of "Literature" in Early Modern China: from Zhu Xizu to the Zhou Brothers Chen Xuehu 2016, 36 (4):  38-38.  Abstract ( 239 )   PDF (1829KB) ( 73 )   The paper tries to analyze the modern name and connotation of "literature" and its emergence and evolution in early modern China. The establishment of literature in China bearing the Western name and connotation was marked by Zhu Xizu's paper On Literature, when professors of literature at institutions of higher learning at that time tried to define literature and its boundaries through academic papers whose influence reached out to the entire social community. Zhu's literary concepts mainly came from the Zhou brothers, who studied in Japan in the early 1900s. The Zhou brothers were among the first advocates for literature in the Western sense of the word with overflowing passion for modern aesthetics at a time of the prolonged oppression of social institutions and volatility. Their effort yielded tangible results in the form of literary revolution during the May Fourth Movement period.   Related Articles | Metrics

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English Scholarship on Modern Chinese Literature in the Past Fifty Years Yingjin Zhang 2016, 36 (4):  39-60.  Abstract ( 280 )   PDF (1523KB) ( 108 )   This article is a condensed version of the general introduction to A Companion to Modern Chinese Literature and covers three agendas. First, it delineates the parameters of modern Chinese literature by discussing its three composite terms. Second, it reviews the academic institutionalization of modern Chinese literature, especially its development in North America. Third, it provides a framework of "history and geography" for A Companion to Modern Chinese Literature. The first section on "history and geography" tracks the historical development of modern Chinese literature in different geopolitical areas. The second section on "genres and types" reviews key major genres (poetry, fiction, drama, and prose) and other types (translated literature, women's writing, popular fiction, and literature of ethnic minorities). The third section on "culture and media" examines the impact on literature from aesthetics, language, regions, cities as well as visual arts, print and internet technologies. The fourth section on "issues and debates" focuses on literary trends, sexuality, the body, memory and trauma as well as the separate developments of Chinese scholarship and English scholarship. The conclusion covers key issues, author studies, and literary debates of the recent decades. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory and Criticism

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Literature Ecology in the 1980s and the Publication of Anthologies Xu Yong 2016, 36 (4):  61-68.  Abstract ( 194 )   PDF (1760KB) ( 80 )   This paper explores the dialectical relationship between the publication of anthologies and the literature ecology in the 1980s. Anthology publication is linked to editors, writers and readers, and reflects literary environment of a particular era. The significance of anthology publication to literature ecology in the 1980s lies in two aspects, the first being the reflectivity and reactions almost all the literary periods and the second being the  construction of the anthologies to literature ecology in the 1980s. The roles of various anthologies such as annual literary anthology, anthologies of controversial works, and anthologies of different literary schools present different ways of literary representation in the transformation of literature ecology in the 1980s.   References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Toward the Future: A New Interpretation to Liang Qichao's The Future of New China Jia Liyuan 2016, 36 (4):  69-75.  Abstract ( 612 )   PDF (1762KB) ( 95 )   Through a close reading of The Future of New China by Liang Qichao's (1873-1929), an important novel published in 1902, the paper analyzes the way Liang narrates time, which is revealed in the dialogue relationship between the text and its annotations. It argues that the novel is neither a pure narration of the future, nor a mere review of the present, but a constant movement between the two. This fundamental narrative feature of the novel explains why the author made many mistakes, unnoticed in existing scholarship, when dealing with the conversion between the Gregorian calendar and the Chinese calendar, as well as with the transition between the present and the future. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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On Narrative of Literary Folklore Mei Dongwei 2016, 36 (4):  76-83.  Abstract ( 218 )   PDF (1320KB) ( 71 )   As an interdisciplinary study of folklore and narratology, folk narrative is an indispensible component in the construction of Chinese narratology and an important dimension in the study of literary folkloristics. However, due to the ambiguity of the term and the lack of consensus of its academic parlance, "folklore narrative" has incurred much inconvenience to relevant studies. From the perspective of literary folkloristics, when the folk culture as a phenomenon in narratological text of fictions is to be defined, it is more appropriate to replace folklore narrative with the narrative of literary folklore. Narrative of literary folklore focuses on the narrative as a story, aiming to provide a grounded folk and narratological interpretation for various types of narratives of literature folklore. The paper concludes that research into the narrative of literary folklore will open a new dimension in Chinese narratology and holds unique importance to the study of the history of novels and cultural history and the history of novels. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Issue in Focus:Studies in Postmodernism and Literature

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Knowledge Reconstruction and Academic Reorientation in Postmodernist Context: A Genealogical Study and the Expansion of its Horizon of the Historicization of Contemporary Literary Studies Wu Xiuming 2016, 36 (4):  84-93.  Abstract ( 201 )   PDF (1356KB) ( 76 )   Since the 1990s, in the context of globalization and postmodernism, a reorientation is emerging in contemporary literary studies from intellectual interpretation to knowledge reconstruction. The reorientation both promotes contemporary literary studies as a discipline and helps to contextualize and theoretically endorse the historicization of the studies. The reorientation is an emerging phenomenon, which is further complicated by the ambiguity of the concept of "historicization." Unlike the earlier endeavor of "rewriting of literary history," this reorientation, in terms of its scope of research and its conceptual evolution, is both influenced externally by Western Marxist theories through such theorists as Fredric Jameson and internally stimulated by the interpretive systems of the textual study developed in the Han dynasty and the neo-Confucianism developed in the Song Dynasty. Given the historical context of the Greater China, the reorientation is also complicated by the issue of "Literary China," and the interaction between the internal stimulation and the issue of Literary China in the process of the "historicization" deserves more attention than the current neglect. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Aesthetics of the Sublime and Its Connotations and Properties in Postmodern Literature Chen Qi, Hu Quansheng 2016, 36 (4):  94-102.  Abstract ( 473 )   PDF (1790KB) ( 208 )   This paper explores Kant's classification of aesthetics as the beautiful and the sublime, and with an interpretation of Lyotard's proposition that postmodern aesthetics is the aesthetics of the sublime, it suggests that postmodern sublimity lies mainly in viewing postmodern literature as an art for protest, highlighting how to tell a story instead of what a story is, and regarding the indeterminacy as the primary aesthetic principle as in the slogan of "Vive la difference," and it then achieves strangeness through radical experiment and eclecticism, and derives pleasure by adjusting expectations. The paper argues that postmodern literature, if judged by traditional or Pythagorean aesthetics, shows no beauty as it knows not how to talk about its beauties. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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How to Study Literature with "After Theory": Focusing on Eagleton's Event of Literature Sun Yan 2016, 36 (4):  103-110.  Abstract ( 292 )   PDF (1334KB) ( 70 )   In The Event of Literature, Terry Eagleton tries to elucidate on the literary philosophical questions pertaining to the decline of theory, and calls for a return to literature itself by breaking through the delimitations of politico-cultural studies as in post-colonialist and post-modernist criticism. However, Eagleton does not revert to pure formal research in the "after theory" period as he does not believe formalism can save literary studies. For Eagleton who has a Catholic background, the authority of new religion lies in ethical rather than aesthetic claims. What Eagleton tries to bypass the fruitless debate over essentialism and revive Aristotelian ethnical ideas so as to promote literary studies with virtue ethics and to open a way to reconstruct literary theory that is connected with critical theory and analytical philosophy. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Classical Literary Theory and Criticism

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The "Drama-embedded Mode" of Popular Novels of the Ming and the Qing Dynasties Li Pengfei 2016, 36 (4):  111-121.  Abstract ( 262 )   PDF (4339KB) ( 164 )   The "drama-inserted mode" of the novel refers to the insertion of drama stories, diction, and other elements into the plot or the narration of the novel. In this way, these dramatic elements can be connected with the plot, the narration, or the theme of the novel, thus creating a unique aesthetic effect. The "drama-inserted mode", which can be seen as one of the "layer structures", is not only the narrative method of the novel, just like analogy, intermingled plots and repeated relation, but also the narrative structure of the novel. This skill has been frequently usedin the the world history of the novel. In ancient Chinese novels, it was generally used in the popular fiction of the Ming and the Qing dynasties, which is a vital phenomenon in the history of the novel and deserves more research. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A New Exposition of Su Ting's Comments on Li Bai with a Comment on Li Bai's Early Literary Explorations Liu Qinghai 2016, 36 (4):  122-132.  Abstract ( 274 )   PDF (1816KB) ( 56 )   The meeting with Su Ting in Chengdu proved to be an important event in Li Bai's early literary life when Li Bai was encouraged and directed. Before the meeting, Li Bai's writing was more of a local literature than of a literary master starting a new literature. Su Ting was then lauded as "Master Pen" (Da Shoubi), and his appreciation of Li Bai's literary talent, to the extent that he compared Li Bai to Sima Xiangru, was influential on Li Bai's late writing. Especially, Su Ting's comments on the relationship between rhetoric (Ci-cai 辞采) and vigor of style (Feng-gu 风骨) and the relationship between talent (Cai 才) and learning (Xue 学) were instrumental to Li Bai's creative practice. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Polar Opposites in the Criticism of Li Yu over Three Centuries Zhong Mingqi 2016, 36 (4):  133-141.  Abstract ( 290 )   PDF (1346KB) ( 156 )   Since his lifetime, Li Yu has been receiving both positive and negative critical judgements. The primary reason for this was Li Yu's extremely complicated personality that had multi-layered polar opposites. It was also closely related to critical approaches and attitude. To avoid polar opposites in the criticism of Li Yu, we should avoid bias and emotional judgements, and adhere to the principle of prioritizing historical examination over moral evaluation. We should also comprehensively examine Li Yu's profile in the light of the development of his personality. It is necessary to distinguish and investigate Li Yu's behavior, thoughts and writing in an unbiased way, without too much praise for his works or attack on his personal life, so as to push forward the study of Li Yu.   References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Chuanqi & Zaju by Scholar Writers during the Republic of China Period and Their Significance in Drama History Yao Dahuai 2016, 36 (4):  142-151.  Abstract ( 208 )   PDF (2690KB) ( 139 )   Before the New Culture Movement, the development of chuanqi & zaju was directed by reporter writers and adherent writers. Hereafter, they were gradually replaced by scholar writers. Influenced by such factors as national crises and individual plights, scholar writers wrote plays to call upon the struggling spirit, or express their own melancholy. As they had the most profound attainment on traditional drama during the Republic of China, scholar writers respected the essence of drama, and especially devoted more in melody, phraseology and structure. They had the highest achievement in the creation of chuanqi & zaju since the late Qing Dynasty by creating a series of good plays that were both readable and performable. The emergence of scholar writers not only solved the problem of the lack of xiqu writers after the New Culture Movement and prolonged the lives of chuanqi & zaju, but also laid a solid foundation for their return to the xiqu stage. Furthermore, their endeavor could point out a right direction for survival and development of various contemporary xiqu genres or drama styles. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Studies in Aethetics and Culture

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Cosmopolitanism and Cultural Translation Xie Shaobo 2016, 36 (4):  152-162.  Abstract ( 218 )   PDF (1359KB) ( 41 )   The global present remains saturated with various forms of xenophobia, hostility towards cultural and ethnic others, us-versus-them feelings, and ethnocentric arrogance. It is in response to such an exigency, to which one cannot respond, that cosmopolitanism and cultural translation are being globally debated and embraced at various intellectual forums, academic conferences, and in various journal special issues. This paper explores the issue of cosmopolitan cultural translation through the lens of two world-famous novels: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Ngugi wa Thiong'o's The River Between. It illustrates how the cosmopolitan reader, by way of cultural translation, perceives or recognizes culture-specific articulations of the universal staged in literature. Such encounters between the cosmopolitan reader and the literary text, the paper argues, are an essential part of aesthetic education in the humanities when the world continues to be the theatre of various forms of ethnocentrism and imperialism. The paper concludes that, if cosmopolitanism as a set of values and idea(l)s and cultural translation as a productive method of decolonizing the concept of universality are a central concern of literary and aesthetic studies, then every act of reading and every site of representation will contribute to cultivating intercultural tolerance, respect, and acceptance. Related Articles | Metrics

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On the Sublime Visual Image of Chinese "Mountain-like Altars": A Response to Professor Wu Hung's Theory Peng Zhaorong 2016, 36 (4):  163-170.  Abstract ( 231 )   PDF (1793KB) ( 81 )   Like the ideas of "monad" or "oneness" which speak to the mutual presence of the "physical", "mental", and "spiritual" in the Western hermetic sense, China has developed the idea of "tian ren he yi" (the unity of Heaven and man). The definition of this idea is rather complicated, because "tian" means not only "nature" but also imperial power. Firstly, this idea refers to the harmony between nature and human beings. Secondly, it reveals ancient shamanic belief of the king being the axle between the heaven, human beings, and the earth, who possessed the rightful imperial power. In comparison with monad theory, "tian ren he yi" is not merely the Chinese cosmology, but the metaphor for hereditary transfer of imperial power, justification for the legitimacy to rule, the philosophy that the king must govern subjects according to the universal order as well as ancestral worship. The most striking example of using architectural elements to make a philosophical statement is the Chinese altars named "qiu", "xu", "tai", and "tan". Most Chinese altars were designed to resemble mountains because legend had it that these mountains upheld the sky. The mountain-like visual image has become one of the most important characteristics of many Chinese altars. Unlike European countries, the majority of Chinese buildings were made of wood instead of rocks, thus lacking monuments to record victories, conquests, and heroes. Consequently, the so-called monumentality cannot be found in China. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Space: A Keyword for Art History Research Mao Juan 2016, 36 (4):  170-174.  Abstract ( 268 )   PDF (1273KB) ( 73 )   A key concept in the discussion of postmodernism and globalization, the idea of "space" has a profound impact on many fields, such as urban research, urban planning, philosophy, literature and culture. Like "Time", "space" is fundamental to people's understanding of the world. As a product of history and cultural activities, it is also a keyword for studies of art history. Therefore, it is necessary to understand and interpret the idea of "space", which may offer a new way to construct the history of contemporary art. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A Techno-Political Poetics Built on the Body: On Brian Massumi's Parables of the Virtual Yao Yunfan 2016, 36 (4):  175-184.  Abstract ( 455 )   PDF (2006KB) ( 215 )   Centered round his elucidation of the concepts of "body" and "the virtual," Massumi proposes a critique toward the understanding of the process of subjectivization dominated by the symbolic operations in his work Parables of the Virtual: Movement, Affections and Sensations. He assumes that contemporary capitalist power mechanism does not abide by the logic of subjectivization that is mediated by the symbolic order; instead, with help of technology, the capitalist power can control the human-beings by intervening the intensity and direction of human affections. The hope of escaping the control relies on the objectification of human beings during the evolution of technology. Through his examination of the control-escape logic, Massumi claims that contemporary cultural theory becomes both a poetics of technology and a kind of political resistance. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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On "Shi" in Chinese Calligraphy: Time, the Body, and Origin Qiu Xinqiao 2016, 36 (4):  185-193.  Abstract ( 313 )   PDF (1789KB) ( 177 )   The tradition of Chinese art has a tendency toward musicalization and hence toward time. Chinese calligraphy is the most typical art form that replaces music to shape our sense of time, as embodied by "shi", a concept of temporality in calligraphy. In Chinese calligraphy, "shi" is presented through the body, and thus temporality is embodied. The origin of the discourse of "shi" about Chinese characters can be traced back to Shuo Wen Jie Zi and Zhouyi in their discussions of creating Chinese characters, which have produced a great influence on the theory of calligraphy. As "shi" is a key concept to a deeper understanding of calligraphy, we can view Chinese calligraphy as an "art of gestures". References | Related Articles | Metrics

Issue in Focus: Indian Literary Theory and Criticism

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Some Theoretical Categories in Sanskrit Poetics Yin Xi-nan 2016, 36 (4):  194-202.  Abstract ( 217 )   PDF (1327KB) ( 60 )   Sanskrit poetics contain many unique theoretical categories like rasa, dhvani, vakrokti, poetic atman, camatkara and guna. These categories are of a long history with genuine Indian nature and they are still holding implications for contemporary poetics and comparative studies. The paper singles out seven categories to demonstrate how connotative and unique ancient Indian literary theory, i.e. Alankarasastra or Sanskrit poetics could be. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Ruminating on Garbage: Exemplified by Kunal Vohra's Film The Plastic Cow Chia-ju Chang 2016, 36 (4):  203-213.  Abstract ( 271 )   PDF (3142KB) ( 85 )   This paper examines the way in which non-human animals are constructed as unwanted object through human language, culture and economic system, and how such construction in return affects the lives of the animals. The paper aims to think through the entangled interconnected relationship among animals, humans and environment on both the conceptual and material levels. It argues that animals are deeply enmeshed in capitalist system while the animal-garbage connection can be traced in etymological, cultural, and economic and ecological systems. In order to reflect on our culture, globalization, and modernity, an Indian documentary film, The Plastic Cow, by Kunal Vohra, is raised as an example to discuss the theme of "garbage/animal," and the film also provides a case for exploring cinematic representational strategies. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A Summary of the Fifth Youth Forum Academic Conference Held by the Chinese Association of Literary and Art Theory Xing Yan, Na Wenjie 2016, 36 (4):  214-215.  Abstract ( 238 )   PDF (1235KB) ( 70 )   Related Articles | Metrics

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A Review of the Academic Conference on "Hearing and Culture" Yang Zhiping 2016, 36 (4):  216-216.  Abstract ( 173 )   PDF (1223KB) ( 106 )   Related Articles | Metrics