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25 May 2019, Volume 39 Issue 3 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Chinese Literary Critical Discourse

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The Research Style and Original Achievements of Xu Zhongyu's Theories on Literature and Art Zhou Xishan 2019, 39 (3):  1.  Abstract ( 214 )   PDF (3604KB) ( 243 )   The 104-year-old Xu Zhongyu, whose academic career of over sixty years has been in tandem with the development of the PRC, has established his distinct style in the theoretical studies of literature and art, namely the combination of theory and practice, of the ancient and the modern, and of inheritance and innovation. His original achievements include initiating the methodology of comprehensively collecting and categorically compiling the materials of ancient Chinese literary theory, raising a series of original and significant academic viewpoints on ancient Chinese literary theory, advocating an interdisciplinary research on the theories of literature and art, envisioning a modern system of literary and art theory in combination of multiple theoretical resources, and developing new theories based on inheriting ancient Chinese literary theory. As an academic master, he not only performed exemplary research but also provided new methodologies in guidance of further in-depth studies. Related Articles | Metrics

Issue in Focus: The Centenary of the May Fourth Movement Literature

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Terminological Transformation of “Literature”: Establishing a New Literature in Modern China Xu Xinjian 2019, 39 (3):  11.  Abstract ( 253 )   PDF (4469KB) ( 217 )   Since the transitional period between the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China, literature has been regarded as an efficient instrument to arouse public awareness, to revitalize citizens, and to remold the country in the context of "Western learning spreading to the East." Back then, various reformists and revolutionaries, as well as pioneers of the New Culture Movement, devoted themselves to the enterprise of literature. As a result, literature became a key concept frequently appearing in the Chinese society, followed by a massive occurrence of literary practice throughout the country. As a conceptual product of "Western learning spreading to the East," the term wenxue, which means literature in Chinese, was coined in response to the zeitgeist and was highly significant to the establishment of Chinese literature afterwards. For over one hundred years, the term wenxue has evolved from a "key word" to a "structural word" and played a categorical role in the structural transformation of the Chinese communicative system. The practitioners of Chinese New Literature, on the one hand, incorporated different genres such as fiction, poetry, and drama into the denotation of literature; on the other hand, they created new concepts, such as "ancient literature," "contemporary literature," "Han literature," "literature of minority ethnic groups," "world literature," "folk literature," and "oral literature," according to the basic meaning of literature. These new concepts constituted the foundation on which further literary reforms came to fruition. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Historical Genesis and Contemporary Development of the Theory "Chinese Artistic Spirit" during the Twentieth Century Tao Shuiping 2019, 39 (3):  35.  Abstract ( 197 )   PDF (3660KB) ( 253 )   The theory "Chinese artistic spirit" in this article is an important aesthetic trend and literary tradition, which has been lasting over the past hundred years in the study of Chinese aesthetics and literary theory. It has become frequently discussed by scholars in recent years. Considering the fact that existing scholarship is always limited to one of the different aspects, this article aims to promote the study of Chinese art and aesthetic spirit through a holistic theoretical description and illustration of the academic genealogy, historical context, philosophical basis, theoretical connotation, characteristics and value, and the contemporary development of the aesthetic trend of thought. This article points out that the theory of "Chinese artistic spirit" is a theoretical construction of modern Chinese life and literary aesthetics, which is presented as the study of Chinese aesthetic and art history. It does not consider art in a purely aesthetic sense, but as a perceptual representation of people's way of life and national cultural spirit. Based on the theory of life ontology of modern Neo-Confucianism, it integrates the traditional and modern learning of China and the West, thus playing an important role in the construction of modern Chinese national cultural spirit, as an important theoretical orientation of Chinese aesthetic modernity. Its theoretical deficiencies also stimulate the theoretical innovation and development by contemporary scholars. Related Articles | Metrics

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Unveiling Aestheticism: Reflections on the Dissemination of Western Aestheticism in China Jiang Chengyong, Ma Xiang 2019, 39 (3):  48.  Abstract ( 307 )   PDF (1373KB) ( 178 )   For over a hundred years, nineteenth-century Aestheticism's dissemination in China has been insufficiently examined, which leaves the intension and extension of Aestheticism still unclarified even to date. The key to defining Aestheticism is the concept's inherent link to aesthetics, that is, the self-awareness of sensibility, which explains why numerous forms of perceptual knowledge can be intuitively grasped from the works of Western Aestheticism. However, under the influence of natural sciences as well as the industrial and commercial civilization, the target of perceptual knowledge shifted from natural to artificial objects. Through manifesting the diverse forms of perceptual knowledge, Aestheticism conveys the artists' personalized "sentiment." Therefore, it can be said that nineteenth-century Aestheticism derives from certain artists' self-conscious attempts, during the transformation of modernization, to explore and express the possibilities of perceptual knowledge out of their paradoxical mentality of being shocked by and curious about the industrial and urban civilizations. Specifically, nineteenth-century Aestheticism can be understood on four levels: Aesthetic poetics, Aesthetic schools of art, Aesthetic works of art, and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Related Articles | Metrics

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From Literary Subjectivity to Intersubjectivity and Aesthetic Ideology: Contemporary Chinese Literary Theory's Reconstruction of the May Fourth Tradition in the Recent Four Decades Wang Que 2019, 39 (3):  59.  Abstract ( 166 )   PDF (3561KB) ( 142 )   The Chinese literary theory in the recent four decades since China's Reform and Opening-up has been focused on literary enlightenment. As an effort to continue the tradition and to fulfil the unfinished task of the May Fourth literary revolution, literary enlightenment is still an important dimension in the subjectivity of literature. The development of literary subjectivity witnessed a transformation from "literature as a study of humanity" to "literary subjectivity" and "literary intersubjectivity". There are two main theoretical orientations within this historical development: one is the intersubjectivity of literature, the other is the theory of aesthetic reflection or aesthetic ideology. The subjectivity theory constructs the intersubjectivity theory against the ideological background of the theory of reflection and ideology, which gives rise to the theories of aesthetic reflection and aesthetic ideology by absorbing the theory of subjectivity. The innovation of the theories of aesthetic reflection and aesthetic ideology lies in their integration of the concept "aesthetics". Recognition and conceptualization of the aesthetic attribute of literature has vitalized Chinese literary theory in the new era and brought it closer to the truth of art and literature. The four decades of history of literary theory from the Reform and Opening-up onwards enlightens the present and the future in three major ways: First, the subjectivity theory should be considered in a rational and historical perspective; second, literary theory is part of the whole social and cultural organism; third, the results of the adjustment theory have realistic rationality in the logic of historical ontology. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Extremely Sensitive Believer of "Love In the Human World": the Discovery and Shaping of Zhu Ziqing's "Sensibility of the Human World" During the Period of "Literature for Men" Zhang Xianfei 2019, 39 (3):  68.  Abstract ( 214 )   PDF (1687KB) ( 141 )   A new wave of exploration and shaping of modern Chinese experience starts with the "Preliminary New Literature" which serves the ideological transformation of modern humanistic society reconstruction during the May Fourth period. As a representative writer during the period of "Preliminary New Literature" (or "Literature for Men"), Zhu Ziqing, with a strong belief in modern humanitarianism, begins to express his genuine and unique life experience and feelings. His sentiments include not only sincere brotherly love but also the keen insight into individual's existence as a living being, and most remarkably, the "New People's" sadness, helplessness and indignation over the disregard of the ideal of "Love in the Human World" during the May Fourth period. Zhu Ziqing's extraordinary sensitivity and extremely intense emotional reaction shown in expressing his life experience, with his characteristic "astonishing susceptibility" in the spirit and style of writing make him the most representative among writers in the period of "literature for men." Related Articles | Metrics

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Theoretical Fiction Notes in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Modern Transformation of Chinese Fiction Criticism Wen Qingxin 2019, 39 (3):  79.  Abstract ( 187 )   PDF (1372KB) ( 172 )   As one of the most important ways of Chinese fiction criticism, the emphasis of theoretical fiction notes during the late Qing Dynasty gradually shifted to the elements of fiction itself, such as textual content, characterization, aesthetic taste, social function and so on. It also attempted to make theoretical reflections on and systematic construction of fiction criticism. Specifically, fiction notes emphasized the relationship between the creation and criticism of fiction and humanities, interaction between fiction and society, expression of human value, and exploration of the connotation of fiction from the perspectives of science and democracy. As a result of these new changes, the theoretical fiction notes during the late Qing period had a strong critical focus and teleological approach, thus making useful explorations of the modern transformation of Chinese fiction criticism. Related Articles | Metrics

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The "Expropriated" Subject: A Case Study of the Negative Character Qian Shouwei in "Model Plays" Chen Yihan 2019, 39 (3):  88.  Abstract ( 227 )   PDF (1316KB) ( 198 )   There are a few scholarly interpretations of negative characters in the eight "model plays". Generally, existing scholarship is mainly dominated by two research methodologies: first, the binary of "literature and art" and "politics", "ideology" and "Utopia", and second, the formation of "subject" from the perspective of modernity. The first methodology leads to the conclusion that due to political constraint, the creative characteristic of literature has not caught due attention; while in terms of the second, "the other" becomes a sign in the subject's self-construction. By introducing Agamben's idea of biopolitics, this article re-examines the situation of Qian Shouwei and restores the complex meanings of negative characters on the level of ontology, thus revisiting the complicated relationship between literature and politics as presented in the text. Related Articles | Metrics

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Conversion and Roaming: Xia Yan in the Vision of "the State Theories" Tian Xing 2019, 39 (3):  96.  Abstract ( 215 )   PDF (1342KB) ( 244 )   Since the founding of P. R. China, "native" Chinese film theory, especially mainstream cinematic theoretical construction, experienced many twists and turns through its historical process. This article seeks to investigate the key points and features of cinematic theoretical construction throughout different historical phases, and theoreticians' simultaneous corrections and adjustments of their theories according to changing social contexts. Under such historical background of academic development, Xia Yan's artistic outlook and development of screenwriting theories against the development of "native" cinematic theory displayed unique value, and thus the detailed and concrete truth of theoretical construction was brought to light from the perspective of individual life history. Related Articles | Metrics

Issue in Focus: Studies of Modern Xiqu

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The Creation and Performance of Traditional Chinese Theatre with Modern Themes: Significance, Problems, and Developmental Trajectory Zhu Hengfu 2019, 39 (3):  105.  Abstract ( 222 )   PDF (1656KB) ( 104 )   Traditional Chinese theatre with modern themes stems not only from the aesthetic change of the new era but also from the development of Chinese theatre arts, given that modern themes may be more popularly accepted. This paper proposes three suggestions to improve the creation and performance of traditional Chinese theatre with modern themes: to broaden the concept of the mainstream work to cover any scripts that reflect contemporary patriotism and traditional value of Chinese nation with modern aesthetic pursuits; to modernize the theatre expression with poetic lines and lyrics, visualized stage performance through body and expressions, and contemporary style of music and singing, and to conduct nationwide experiments in such dimensions from script writing, to music composition, performance training to stage design. The paper also suggests the promotion of successful examples as a way to modernize and develop the traditional theatre in the current context. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Theoretical Misconceptions and Realistic Choices of Modern Xiqu Creation: Additionally on the Historical Significance of Zhang Manjun's New Opera of Song and Dance Li Wei 2019, 39 (3):  116.  Abstract ( 201 )   PDF (1314KB) ( 141 )   There are at least three theoretical misconceptions on the creation of modern xiqu: to consider conventionalization essential to xiqu, to consider typification of roles essential to xiqu, and to consider "xiquness," whose meaning is rather vague, as the creative goal and artistic criterion of xiqu. However, these misconceptions fail to hinder the practical development of modern xiqu creation. Directors like Zhang Manjun have created an innovative genre known as "new opera of song and dance." This maneuver, in fact, signifies a return to the comprehensiveness of traditional xiqu, which, centering on music, features a trinity of poetry, song, and dance. Through this effort, modern xiqu is able to disentangle itself from the contraint such as conventionalization, typification of roles, as well as "xiquness" and strike out a new path for future development. Related Articles | Metrics

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How Traditional Chinese Theatre Reflected Modern Life: Discussions during the Seventeen Years Huang Jingfeng 2019, 39 (3):  124.  Abstract ( 182 )   PDF (1677KB) ( 107 )   During the Seventeen Years (1949 - 1966), three intensive discussions on traditional Chinese theatre's reflection of modern life emerged in correspondence to the three pinnacles of modern xiqu creation and performance. Appearing in 1958 and 1960, the first two were derived from the forum of "xiqu reflecting modern life" and the Ministry of Culture's festival of modern xiqu respectively, while the third one took place in 1964, when cities like Beijing and Shanghai held symposiums and the press started columns in cooperation with the nationwide modern xiqu movement. The achievement of these three discussions constituted a comprehensive supplement to and improvement of the theoretical system of xiqu creation after the Qing dynasty. Among the various topics in the dimensions of text and stage, subjects such as "the core elements of modern xiqu's script" and "to inherit and transform traditional conventions of xiqu in the service of reflecting modern life" received considerable attention. These three discussions, on the practical level, provided theoretical guidance for modern xiqu creation; on the level of history of ideas, they served as an arena where the artistic principle and historical materialism of xiqu further came to light by means of debate. In this process, concepts of xiqu, as both theoretical foundation and aesthetic criterion, exerted an invisible influence and were in turn reexamined and recognized among the Chinese intelligentsia. Related Articles | Metrics

Classical Literary Theory and Criticism

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Reinterpreting the Concept of Human in the Pre-Qin Classics of Literary Theory Li Jianzhong 2019, 39 (3):  134.  Abstract ( 261 )   PDF (3542KB) ( 150 )   In the pre-Qin classics of literary theory, "human" is one of the most important and fundamental concepts. First, the significance of human in the pre-Qin era is diverse. While Confucianism interconnects "human" and "benevolence" and emphasizes the kindhearted dimension of humanity, Taoism, under the slogan that "Man conforms to nature," stresses the unfettered nature of humankind. As an alternative voice, Mohism devalues music and underlines the principle of abstinence. Secondly, the pre-Qin philosophers consider language to be the specialty that distinguishes human beings from other animals. Specifically, Confucians advocate "to achieve glory by writing," "to pass down the classics," and "to be cautious about words," while Chuang Tzu is known for his literary strategies of "dwelling words," "opalescent words," and "goblet words." Among the Confucian classics, Book of Documents mainly contains the kings' instructions and announcements, while Analects of Confucius and Mencius comprise of dialogues and debates respectively. Among the Taoist classics, Lao Tzu features a poetic style, while Chuang Tzu is witty on the linguistic level. Thus, both Confucianism and Taoism recognize the linguistic nature of human existence and manifest it with the dualities such as instructions/announcements and dialogues, debates and monologues, as well as the poetic and the witty. Finally, Book of Changes starts with the trigram of Qian, which centers on human. This anthropocentrism indicates not only the paramount importance but also the transcendental mission of the human being. Given all the three aspects, reinterpreting the concept of human in the pre-Qin classics of literary theory, on the one hand, clarifies the misunderstanding of the word's significance in the Chinese context; on the other hand, it counterbalances the modern Western theory of "the death of Man" pronounced by Nietzsche and Foucault. The aim of this research, however, is to provide new ideas and methods for the reinterpretation of human on the level of Chinese hermeneutics. Related Articles | Metrics

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Natural-object Metaphor and Chinese Literary Criticism Feng Xiaoling 2019, 39 (3):  141.  Abstract ( 250 )   PDF (1335KB) ( 220 )   Natural-object metaphor is included in the metaphor system of Chinese literary criticism, with its historical progress of development and evolvement. Natural-object metaphor has its intrinsic theoretical basis and is connected with the genetic theories of Chinese literature, Chinese aesthetic tradition, and the epistemology and life view of Chinese philosophy. The natural-object metaphor has significance in many aspects of literary criticism. It connects the cultural world and the cosmological world, enriches literary expression and aesthetics, and links literary criticism and art criticism, which reflects the life consciousness and the lyric spirit in Chinese literary criticism and traditional aesthetics. Related Articles | Metrics

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Li Bai's Innovations for Linked Seven-Character Quatrains as Exemplified by "Songs of the Emperor's Excursion to the West" and "Songs of of Prince Yong's Excursion to the East" Xin Xiaojuan 2019, 39 (3):  150.  Abstract ( 317 )   PDF (3878KB) ( 122 )   Li Bai's "Songs of the Emperor's Excursion to the West" and "Songs of Prince Yong's Excursion to the East" present a chronological and structurally complete narrative, and initiate the mode of writing chronicle with linked seven-character quatrains in the Song dynasty (960-1729). These examples, with their rhetoric of allegory and multum in parvo, inherits the spirit of the yuefu poetry and insert their influence on the practice of Palace poetry by such mid-Tang poets as Wang Jian. These two series of poems, as Li Bai's creation of yuefu with new themes, not only exhibit Li Bai's efforts to create a new poetic style, but also reflect his changed opinions about the future of the dynasty and poetry in the face of the unprecedented changes in the society after the "Turmoil of An-Shi in Tang Dynasty" (755-763). Related Articles | Metrics

Issue in Focus: A Series of Theoretical Studies on Reading

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A Close-up: On U, the Reader InOutside Kyoo Lee 2019, 39 (3):  160.  Abstract ( 201 )   PDF (1359KB) ( 103 )   Where, or who, is the "close reader" today in the age of imMEDIAted information overflow? This essay introduces a new figure, the "inoutside reader," focusing on its interstitially interactive ambiguity, its selfie-like sobjectivity (simultaneously subjective and objective). Seen and seeing through the "window," the inoutside reader that often counter-reads as well is called and calling 'you' out there and in here; neither exactly an insider nor definitely an outsider but "openly" invited as one of or those of you (vous) freely generated and liberally generalized as such, "U" in the net-work, this data-point-like transistor-reader, acts like a butterfly on the window. The bookish reader, more classically sedentary, "closely" and "deeply" "responsive" to the text, is not lost in this bidirectional analog-digital migratory process but rather entrenched therein, emerging as a sort of instantly recalibrated, (de-)compressed super(ficial)-reader. Reading (X) goes on. Related Articles | Metrics

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Microreading/Microwriting Marjorie Perloff 2019, 39 (3):  169.  Abstract ( 283 )   PDF (1275KB) ( 84 )   This essay, following upon Kyoo Lee's case for "counterreading", argues for what I call "micropoetics": a close reading that takes into account every phoneme, morpheme, and word of a poetic text and reads that text "verbivocovisually", to use James Joyce's term. I take as my model Marcel Duchamp's concept of the infrathin — the smallest possible distinction, whether temporal or spatial, between A and B. Similarity and analogy, I argue, have been overstressed and produced the problematic political discourse of the present with its clichés and vapid generalizations. Infrathin reading, on the other hand, establishes difference and the uniqueness of a given text, as I show in the case of Gertrude Stein's "Miss Furr and Miss Skeene", where the seeming repetition of phrasing is actually a form of elaborate word play. Related Articles | Metrics

Western Literary Theory and Studies in Aesthetics

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On Issues of Internet Literature as a Research Topic Ouyang Youquan, He Yufei 2019, 39 (3):  174.  Abstract ( 319 )   PDF (1348KB) ( 146 )   Theoretical criticism centering around Internet literature has recently witnessed its growing boom. Issues being popularly addressed include not only the construction of evaluation system for Internet literature, social benefits it brings, legal regulations, but also its cultural heritage, industrialization, categories, reviews, overseas spread, corpus construction, and tendency in research direction. The aim of this article is to review the current situation of Internet literature as an academic hot spot and to reflect on it through a discussion of its dynamics and limitations. Related Articles | Metrics

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"Andersstreben" and Cross-media Narrative Long Diyong 2019, 39 (3):  184.  Abstract ( 341 )   PDF (1689KB) ( 185 )   The term "Andersstreben" means that a type of medium seeks to imitate the features of another type while keeping its own characteristics. In terms of narrative, "Andersstreben" means cross-media narrative. Regarding fiction that features cross-media narratives, we need to understand both its own medium particularities and the other media properties that it pursues. Only in this way can we better appreciate its aesthetics. Cross-media narratives primarily originate from the mutual imitations between temporal arts and spatial arts, and often achieve magical artistic effects and rich artistic connotations that are otherwise unattainable for literature and arts by simply sticking to their own media. "Andersstreben" and its corresponding cross-media narratives constitute the "common factors" and theoretical bases for comparative studies between literature and other forms of art. In fact, spatial narrative in fiction is also a typical cross-media narrative. Related Articles | Metrics

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Poetry and the Generation and Maintenance of National Community: The Core Issue and Line of Thinking in Heidegger's First Lecture on Hölderlin Zhang Zhenhua 2019, 39 (3):  197.  Abstract ( 218 )   PDF (1661KB) ( 109 )   This paper is an interpretation of Heidegger's first lecture on Hölderlin. The lecture centers on how a national community is created and maintained, and Heidegger's belief is that poetry plays as decisive role. Poets are hailed as "demigods" between the sphere of divinity and that of people. Poetry-writing embodies the message of God and passes it to the people, and achieves the connection between them; hence a national community is generated. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Ethics of Memory in Adorno's Aesthetic Utopia and Its Transform Ding Wenjun 2019, 39 (3):  207.  Abstract ( 242 )   PDF (3883KB) ( 276 )   Regarding how art exists after Auschwitz, Adorno argues that the legitimacy of post-war art is based on representing the memory of accumulated intergenerational suffering, which reflects on and criticizes Auschwitz and its roots in modernity with reference to Walter Benjamin's methodology of theological redemption. Memories of sufferings exist in artworks in a constellation-like structure, causing explosive production of meaning and breaking the monopoly of meaning and value by the identity system. With remembrance as the means, art presents the memory of suffering concerning Auschwitz, and offers a new understanding of the development of contemporary capitalism and possibilities for imagining a new social institution. This is an opportunity to construct an aesthetic utopia. From the perspective of negative dialectics, aesthetic utopia transforms the ethical appeal of the memory of suffering, including the accusation against capitalist oppression and the recognition of its own value and status, into a discourse of epistemology without the option of revolution, which contains both ideological criticism and the reconstruction of the subject. In general, Adorno's arguments expand the reflection on Auschwitz from the perspectives of ethics and aesthetic politics. Related Articles | Metrics