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25 May 2017, Volume 37 Issue 3 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory and Criticism

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Literary Theory: Nationality in an Age of Globalization Nan Fan 2017, 37 (3):  6-16.  Abstract ( 289 )   PDF (4355KB) ( 151 )   The maintenance of nationality of Chinese literary theory in an age of globalization is part of the issue of the relationship between culture and nationality. Many factors are herein involved, including nationality and the globalization of Chinese literary theory, the relationship between the discourse of modernity and traditional culture, and the treatment of Localization, the modern constructive transformation of ancient Chinese literary theory, etc. A thorough study of these factors is needed to draw a reasonable conclusion. There is an important principle for introducing into China Western literary theories: the significance of the theory is to represent and interpret China's experience and its meaning rather than tailoring China's experience as insignificant footnotes to Western theories. China's Experience is an unalterable key word and a commanding point in the theoretical field.   References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Pen Names in the "Seventeen Years Period" and the Ecology of Contemporary Chinese Literary Criticism Kou Pengcheng 2017, 37 (3):  17-28.  Abstract ( 324 )   PDF (1435KB) ( 166 )   It is a common phenomenon to use a pen name when a writer publishes his critical works in China's "seventeen years period". There are several causes: 1. the author worries that his work is not mature; 2. the author is not confident of his reputation; 3. the author intends to express particular ideas. Underneath these apparent causes are deeper psychological motivations: 1. to express opposite ideas to someone else’s; 2. to criticize a friend or a teacher; 3. to publish politically alternative works; 4. to reinforce the validity of criticism with another name; 5. to express special aims. Because of politics, ideology and individual personalities, some authors choose pen names on their own, and some others are forced to do so. The psychology of using a pen name in the seventeen years periods reveals a complicated ecology of Chinese literary criticism. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A Critique of Studies of the Cultural Identity of Hong Kong Literature since the 1990s: the Case of Inherent Contradiction between Nativeness and Chineseness Xu Shiying 2017, 37 (3):  29-36.  Abstract ( 379 )   PDF (1404KB) ( 261 )   Since the 1990s, Hong Kong and overseas scholars have borrowed the idea of the "third space" to investigate the issue of cultural identity in Hong Kong literature, which has brought about three typical views: "the margin theory", "the crevice theory" and "the theory of imagining Hong Kong moving North", all based on the inherent contradiction between the Hong Kong nativeness and Chineseness. In order to transcend the framework of "Hong Kong and China", Zhu Yaowei shifts his vision to the framework of "East and West, local and global, orientalism/postcoloniality and global capitalism". The above discussion shows that political factors play a significant role in restraining the long-term discussion of the relationship between Hong Kong literature and Chinese literature. In the process of interpretation those discussions have displayed academic flaws and ideological biases, which, in theory and in reality, can hardly be convincing. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Bai Xianyong's New Aesthetics of Kunqu Opera Ding Sheng 2017, 37 (3):  37-43.  Abstract ( 381 )   PDF (1802KB) ( 369 )   Bai Xianyong proposed the concept of New Aesthetics of Kunqu Opera after the youth version of The Peony Pavilion and the new version of The Story of Jade Hairpin. The goal of the New Aesthetics of Kunqu is to integrate the classical aesthetics of Kunqu and modern theatrical aesthetics, and the integration is characterized by the centrality of classicality aided by modernity. The works which come as a result of the New Aesthetics of Kunqu Opera have received praises scholars and some criticism from senior fans at the same time. This paper expounds on Bai Xianyong's theory and practice, and analyses the different viewpoints involved, and argues that his New Aesthetics of Kunqu Opera is a concept of writing, not simply new Kunqu aesthetics, which can be regarded as a kind of stage aesthetics, and therefore applies to Kunqu Opera and other operas as well. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Classical Literary Theory and Criticism

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The Perfect Trinity of Poetry, Calligraphy and Painting as a Neo-Classicist Paradigm in Zhao Mengfu: the Three Aspects of Zhao Meng-Fu's Thought on Literature and Art  Zhang Yi 2017, 37 (3):  44-52.  Abstract ( 256 )   PDF (1820KB) ( 139 )   In the formation of the neoclassicism integrating the Yuan's and Southern and Northern Dynasties' retro ethos, Zhao Mengfu, known for his literary and artistic talents, played a pivotal role because of his opportunities to travel between South China and Dadu, the then capital, and to mix with his contemporary literati and artists, thus becoming an archetype of an artist featuring the trinity of poetry, calligraphy and painting. His "conception of antiquity", his understanding of the "Tang approach and Jin rhyme" and his high-brow, superbly skilled painting contains his valuation of classicality, naturalness, tradition, and innovativeness, informing the trend of the trinity of poetry, calligraphy and painting in the Yuan Dynasty. If "conception of antiquity" represents an integration of traditional Confucian spirit and norms, which makes possible innovation, then his exaltation of the "Tang approach and Jin thyme", which regards poetic refined taste and artistic discrimination, points to the literary concept that blends culture, techniques and aesthetic experience. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory and Criticism

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The Origin of the Title "the Four Dreams of Linchuan" and the Deep Significance of The Peony Pavilion Kang Baocheng, Chen Yanfang 2017, 37 (3):  53-65.  Abstract ( 477 )   PDF (1896KB) ( 243 )   The title "the Four Dream of Linchuan" is not in accordance with the facts of the four Chuanqi plays written by Tang Xianzu, for "The Purple Hairpin", one of the "four dreams" has little to do with "dream" of any kind. Inspired by "the Four Dreams" written by Che Renyuan and the folk song "4 dreams 8 voids" in The Plum in the Golden Vase, Tang Xianzu himself began to use the title of "the Four Dreams of Linchuan". The title was rarely recognized till the late Ming Dynasty, but it became popular during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. Both "the Four Dreams" by Che Renyuan and "4 dreams 8 voids" in The Plum in the Golden Vase strongly show the void of the world of senses on the philosophical level, as is manifested in the Chuanqi works of Tang Xianzu in his old age as well. However, the similar thoughts and feelings do not appear clearly in the play The Peony Pavilion, the primary aim which is not to eulogize love, but to praise the natural instinct of human beings and the freedom to give vent to them. In this play, the gap between the dreams and the realities, the words "The ghosts can express their affections directly, but human beings have to follow social etiquettes" Du Liniang said show the author's discontent with the reality and the start of his meditative mind. Tang's writing influenced later works such as The Palace of Eternal Life and A Dream of Red Mansions in a detestable way. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Classical Literary Theory and Criticism

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The Literary Concepts through Novel Titles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties Cheng Guofu 2017, 37 (3):  66-77.  Abstract ( 265 )   PDF (3444KB) ( 60 )   Titles are special insight into the Ming and Qing novel writing. Through an examination of the texts, prefaces and epilogues, the records of book production, guidelines for book use, book reviews, notes etc. the paper explores the literary concepts reflected by the Ming and Qing novels. Specifically, novel titles can be interpreted in four respects, namely, the novel as a supplement to history, the novel as admonishment, the novel as entertainment, and the novel as true feelings. Through these concepts we may have a better understanding of the significance and the evolution of the literary concepts of the Ming and Qing novels. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Construction and Review of the Wujiang School and Linchuan School: A Study of the History Research Books of Traditional Chinese Drama in the Republic of China Cheng Huaping 2017, 37 (3):  78-87.  Abstract ( 314 )   PDF (1833KB) ( 264 )   The naming of Wujiang Group and Linchuan School in the history of drama was established by drama historians of the Republic of China. Because these drama historians had neither defined the concept of School, nor had they reached a consensus and guidelines that should be followed in the division of the School. These drama history research books differed in the classification and number of dramatists. In interpreting the theory of the two factions, there is also a tendency to exaggerate the opposition between the two groups. Since the Republic of China, some drama historians had denied the existence of Linchuan School, largely because they used modern school theory to measure the ancient literary groups. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a theory which is in line with the actual development of ancient drama. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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From "Poetry Critique" to "Drama Critique": Lü Tiancheng and Qi Biaojia's Critique of Drama Wang Chao 2017, 37 (3):  88-94.  Abstract ( 306 )   PDF (1374KB) ( 149 )   "Drama critique", an important form of critical studies of drama in the Ming dynasty, benefits more or less from the critical paradigms of poetry and prose in terms of the consciousness of different schools, the awareness of comparison and the image- and analogy-based aesthetical mindset. Meanwhile, Lü Tiancheng and Qi Biaojia, starting from the "nature and naturalness" theory in poetry criticism, pursue an aesthetical taste characterized by "ideo-mood-imagery" and "feel". By modifying the various indexes of "calligraphic critique" and "painting critique", including the "spirit, exquisiteness, potential and embodiment", they successfully refresh the essence of "drama critique", which reflects the evolution of concepts on drama in the Ming dynasty: the shift of focuses from wording and metrics to overall aesthetic style and to the "skill" versus "subject" debate, etc., and highlights the unique value of "drama critique" as a critical approach. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Origination of "Zhong Zhuo Da" from Calligraphy Critique: the Cultural and Literary Historical Background of the Turn of Ci-poetry Criticism in the late Qing Dynasty Jiang Ronggang 2017, 37 (3):  95-108.  Abstract ( 415 )   PDF (1878KB) ( 143 )   "Zhong Zhuo Da" (Strength, Refined Antiquity, and Grandiosity) is an important theory of ci-poetry in the late Qing Dynasty, since its theoretical origin remains unknown, there are so various interpretations of the theory that there is still no consensus on its origin. Through a comprehensive study of the related cultural changes in the late Qing Dynasty, the paper argues that it is almost certain that the aesthetic paradigm should originate from the theory of tablet calligraphy critique. Given the shared problem with the development of ci-poetry and calligraphy in the late Qing Dynasty, critics introduced tablet calligraphy critique into ci-poetry criticism, which is type of ana. To clarify its direct theoretical sources, we can make a more accurate interpretation of its connotation. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Western Literary Theory and Criticism

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The Invention of "Japanese" Literature in Colonial Korea, or How Shameless Literary Engagement Could Be under Colonial Conditions Yoshiaki Mihara 2017, 37 (3):  108-129.  Abstract ( 355 )   PDF (2014KB) ( 93 )   This is the full-paper version of the 338th Si-Mian Lecture delivered at ECNU on March 17, 2017, which focuses on the "shameless" act of intellectual collaboration committed by Ch'oe Chaes ô (崔載瑞), an eminent scholar of English literature and criticism as well as a prominent "pro-Japanese" intellectual in Colonial Korea, who encouraged Korean writers to contribute to Japanese "kokumin bungaku" [national literature] by writing in the Japanese language. Rather than simply denouncing him as a "shameless" traitor, however, the author of this article tries to salvage the potentially postcolonial problematics he has posed in his theoretical struggle as regards possible literary engagement under colonial conditions while, at the same time, critically analyzing how his universalistic, Order-obsessed Theory logically reaches the wrongheaded conclusion that "esistance" to the Imperial Order is futile whereas "assimilation" promises a fertile ground for colonial literature to survive and even thrive. In the course of analysis, particular attention is drawn to Ch'oe Chaes ô's rather uncanny employment of Scottish analogy and T. S. Eliot's idea of "Tradition" in order to theoretically justify his call for necessary collaboration, so that it be suggested that this particular case of a failed colonial intellectual is not exceptional but indeed exemplary of the predicaments that intellectuals must face in their public life under colonial conditions (hence, by extension, Modernity in general). Finally, brief and scattered speculations are offered on the concepts of "shame of being human" and "gray zone" (Primo Levi) as fundamental to the human condition regulated by Empire / Modernity. Related Articles | Metrics

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Lubomir Dolezel's Literature Fiction and Possible Worlds Theory Zhang Yu 2017, 37 (3):  130-140.  Abstract ( 428 )   PDF (1402KB) ( 509 )   Lubomir Dolezel is one of the most important literary theorists of the so-called fiction and possible worlds theory in the English world. In Dolezel's Heterocomica: Fiction and Possible Worlds, the author provides a conceptual framework of possible worlds against the one-world frame in traditional fiction study, arguing that fiction worlds are a special kind of possible worlds. Focusing on the fictional universe projected by literary texts and the discursive means of achieving fictional effects, he offers a new approach to narrative and fiction study. This paper is a complete review of the entire system of Dolezel's possible worlds theory, and argues that it is significantly illuminating to the development of China’s contemporary literary theory. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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"What Are Poets for" and Ecological Ethics Zhao Kuiying 2017, 37 (3):  141-148.  Abstract ( 333 )   PDF (1805KB) ( 95 )   Martin Heidegger's essential question of "what are poets for" is used to explore the relationship between the poet and nature, being, beings as a whole, the thing, and language in the "world's night" of "destitute time". In Heidegger's view, human beings' venture that follows their manufactural willing has led to the vanishing of the thing, the shrink of beings as a whole, destruction of the foundation of all beings, and deprived things and human beings of their homes of being. Then poet's mission is to reflect on the control of technology, to participate in the rescue of the thing, to create the "sphere" of being, to return to the soul of inner space, and to poetically dwell in the "full nature" by venturing in language. And it is the objective of Heidegger's original ecological ethics that concerns how to co-dwell poetically on the earth along with other beings. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Transcending the "Word-Image" Debate: the Writing Experiment of T. J. Clark's The Sight of Death Zhuge Yi 2017, 37 (3):  149-155.  Abstract ( 300 )   PDF (2256KB) ( 107 )   The "word-image" relationship is an important subject of modern Western aesthetics. It represents the division between the writing of art history and that of art criticism. The bone of contention between the two writing camps is whether the art work can be reducible to words. Art writings vibrate between this dualism, and some try to transcend the "word-image" division in theory. In his The Sight of Death: An Experiment in Art Writing, T. J. Clark, by adopting the diary style without a strong style of language, recorded his daily viewing of Poussin's paintings and his deep contemplations. He stresses the materiality of painting, which the viewers should pay attention to. The writing experiment makes possible a peaceable settlement of the "word-image" disputes, and the resonance between art and language. Basically, such an experiment criticizes the present situation of art writing, which is divorced from social realities, neglecting image quality and visual analysis, and flaunting new theory, and is reduced to the "alienation" caused by capitalist totality and cultural industry. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Empiricism, Sense and Modernity of Aesthetics: Edmund Burke's The Sublime and Beautiful from the Viewpoint of Medieval Aesthetics Chen Chen 2017, 37 (3):  156-163.  Abstract ( 436 )   PDF (2715KB) ( 223 )   Edmund Burke's The Sublime and Beautiful is familiar to Chinese scholars, the studies of which nevertheless are inadequate, as many studies confine themselves to Burke's exposition of the sublime. But in fact Burke implies a critique of the tradition of the medieval doctrine of beauty, which is particularly evident in the first section of the third part of this book. As central concepts in the Scholastic doctrine of beauty in the Middle Ages, proportion, fitness, and perfection are transmitted to Burke's times. Burke, employing John Locke's empiricism, criticizes traditional qualities of the beautiful on the side of the object, and traditional intellectual powers required to the apprehension of beauty on the side of the subject, thus establishing an aesthetic based on the pleasure of five corporeal senses. This kind of aesthetics, in its intimate relation to politics and the masses, implies some characteristics of modernity. According to Burke, the word "aesthetica", or "logic of taste", which is put forward in the eighteenth century, not only aims for the wholeness of the scientific system, as Baumgarten claims, but has its own secret historical and political purpose. Related Articles | Metrics

Aesthetics and Culture Studies

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The Naming of Bronze Bells in the Shang dynasty;The Concept System of Yuexuan; Bronze Bells' Definition:Three Issues about the Bronze Bell Zhang Fa 2017, 37 (3):  164-171.  Abstract ( 287 )   PDF (1380KB) ( 96 )   The bronze bell in the Shang Dynasty had no name, which was why it has been called Rao  (铙)  by many scholars and Rong (庸) by others. From the viewpoint of the evolution of bronze bells, Rao was related more to Ling (铃) in the Xia Dynasty, and later Rao became Rong in the Shang Dynasty and finally Bianzhong (编钟) in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Thus seen, Rong was more akin to the nature of bronze bells. The concept system of Yuexuan (乐悬)  consisted of three aspects: sunju (簨虡), sidu (肆堵) and gong-xuan-pante (宫-轩-判-特). The three groups of concepts were not only mutually inclusive but also revealed the evolution from the Xia to the Shang and to the Zhou Dynasty. When the bronze bell was a part of the musical instrument system dominated by Zhong and Qing (钟磬), it represented Yin (阴)  in the Yin-Yang system. When it became dominant later, it possessed both qualities of Yin (阴)  and Yang (阳). References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Tactile Culture or Auditory Culture: A Different Future of the Post-Visual Culture Liu Lianjie 2017, 37 (3):  172-181.  Abstract ( 257 )   PDF (1926KB) ( 247 )   With the continuous expansion of the hegemonic visual culture, post-visual culture has become an academic topic. Represented by Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer, phenomenology and hermeneutics turn to listening and advocate the auditory culture, but some postmodernists like Marshall Mcluhan and Jacques Derrida turn to touching and advocate tactile culture. The replacement of visual culture with auditory culture is still confined by traditional Western mindset, which is in fact a move from one extreme (despotic culture) to another extreme (submissive culture). Compared with visual culture and auditory culture, tactile culture is more self-reflexive, and less likely to become despotic, which also echoes the corporeal turn in contemporary culture. Therefore it is significant and promising. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Aesthetic Regime of Art and the Construction of Its Politics: on Jacques Rancière's Aesthetic Thoughts Zheng Haiting 2017, 37 (3):  182-186.  Abstract ( 313 )   PDF (1770KB) ( 100 )   Jacques Rancière is not satisfied with the two modes of modernism, namely turning art into mere life or into pure art. He endeavors to reveal the hidden tension between this binary opposition, maintaining that art should play freely within this binary tension space and make the tension space a dissensus theatre of the part of no part. The essential of aesthetic revolution of modernism lies in recognizing and receiving the previous excluded parts of literature, such as details drifted away from the integrated story, characters detached from the writer's arrangement, which challenge the given distribution of the sensible with its solid existences. The politics of literature thus occurs. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Highlight:Deleuze and Literary Theory

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Becoming, Intensity and Transversal Communication: the Cross-cultural Dialogue between Deleuze's Thoughts and Taoist Thoughts Jiang Dandan 2017, 37 (3):  187-198.  Abstract ( 258 )   PDF (1445KB) ( 175 )   This paper explores the paradoxical thought in the works of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995), including his writings in collaboration with Félix Guattari, around the question of "becoming". It examines the connotation of certain notions and their internal connection in Deleuze’s works, and, by drawing on the reinterpretations of Deleuzian philosophy by the contemporary Italian philosopher Agamben, discusses becoming and intensity, immanence and Transcendental empiricism, body without organs and transversal, etc. It also explores some possibilities of cross-cultural dialogue between Deleuze's thoughts on becoming and the works of the Taoist thinker Zhuangzi in ancient China. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Thinking is Folding: Deleuze's Problematique of the Baroque Yang Kailin 2017, 37 (3):  199-208.  Abstract ( 405 )   PDF (1824KB) ( 194 )   According to Deleuze, the importance of the Baroque is not the history of art, but what counts is to force us to think about "the possibility of the fold to infinity". The fold, as "point of view", is the distinct expression of the universe, while each fold is inseparable from becoming. The Baroque has no essence. It is just a mannerism pushed to infinity. Through the Monad of Leibniz, Deleuze creates the concept of the fold. Between the Monad and the universe, there is a non-relative who built the "milieu" or "common Limit". Through the conception of the fold, Deleuze answers the critical question of "what is thought". Related Articles | Metrics

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A Probe into the Theory of Event Literature: Reflections on the Reconstruction of Literary Studies "after Theory" Yin Jing 2017, 37 (3):  209-216.  Abstract ( 355 )   PDF (1401KB) ( 106 )   Terry Eagleton criticized different kinds of post theories which were once in fashion in his After Theory, and proposed that literary theory should return to literature itself and reflect on such grand issues as morality and ethics in a constructive way. Based on the "literary ethics" put forward by Terry Eagleton and the concept of "event" highlighted by his theoretical reflection, this paper tries to combine Gilles Deleuze's and Alain Badiou's concepts of "event" in order to carry forward Eagleton's reflection on theory and develop an effective theory of event literature, which focuses on writers who, as the faithful subjects of events, describe life events — different becomings — through language events, and on readers who, also as the faithful subjects of events, make those events subvert the rules, conventions, customs, standards, etc. in their daily life by virtue of their becomings. Therefore, we can say this theory of event literature is the "literary ethics" expected by Eagleton. References | Related Articles | Metrics