Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Select

Research on the Discourse System of Literary Discourse with Chinese Characteristics

The Progressive Logic of Contemporary Literary Theory and Its Theoretical Reflection

Lai Daren

2020, 40(6): 1-9.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

From the perspective of history of scholarship, contemporary literary theory does not transform or develop in a simple linear fashion, but rather evolves in a more complex spiral cycle, which specifically constitutes three rounds of transformation and development, namely, the three reciprocal stages of breaking established traditions, introducing foreign theoretical resources, and constructing new critical ideas and forms. The external track of development and internal logic of progress of contemporary literary theory are, on the surface, related to the social and cultural structure in the context of grand historical changes, and echoes the developments of modern Chinese literary theory in the past century. Viewed from its core, the development of contemporary literary theory reveals the dialectical relationship and progressive logic of the internal and the external in literary studies. First, it foregrounds the relational dimension of "literary theory," which involves the understanding of literary characteristics and functions, as well as the understanding of the internal and external laws of literature. Second, such development highlights the relational dimension of internal and external literary theory resources, that is, the relation between the inheritance of internal traditions and the reception of external resources. Theoretical reflections upon the reform and development of contemporary literary theory engage studies of the goals and major inquiries during the three stages, the experience and lessons of which are worth exploring.

Select

Research on the Discourse System of Literary Discourse with Chinese Characteristics

The Achievements of and Inspirations from The Psychology of Tragedy

Ding Ersu

2020, 40(6): 10-25.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

The Psychology of Tragedy (1933) by Zhu Guangqian is a monumental work in the history of Chinese theories of tragedy. Written from the unique perspective of a Chinese scholar and moving with ease among major Western theories of tragedy, its author had raised therein a good number of great insights that are still valid today. Zhu Guangqian's greatest contribution to the theory of tragedy lies in his modification of Aristotle's theories of "catharsis" and "hamartia", legitimating the plot of innocent suffering and introducing into the mix of tragic feelings such important concepts as love and regret. Probably due to his over-emphasis on the Kantian notion of the sublime, Zhu seemed to have neglected those tragic works that depict the passive suffering of ordinary men and women. As to the three classic German philosophers, Zhu Guangqian rejected both Hegel's theory of universal justice for being too optimistic and Schopenhauer's theory of resignation for being too pessimistic. Zhu's overall outlook on life and his aesthetic theory in particular find a close ally in Nietzsche who combined the ideas of his two German predecessors. Nietzsche, of course, erred miserably in his pronouncement on the death of tragedy in ancient Greece, and this had a negative impact on Zhu Guangqian in his own elaborations of the subject. Nevertheless, their similar effort to connect tragic art with cultural values constituted a great inspiration to later scholars.

Select

Research on the Discourse System of Literary Discourse with Chinese Characteristics

The Essence of Qian Gurong's Aesthetic Personality

Wu Jun

2020, 40(6): 26-33.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

Focusing on the editorial arrangement of Qian Gurong's collection of self-selected works, this article explores Qian's theoretical system of "literature as a study of humanity" and the characteristics of his literary criticism. It also investigates the features of his critical theories and examines, based on the stylistic analyses of his essays, the aesthetic personality of Qian. In terms of intellectual experience and cultural taste, Qian is an academic, who blends the ancient and the modern, the foreign and the domestic in his studies. He emphasizes, in particular, the personalization of classic aesthetics, and views the continuation of traditional culture as his professional dedication. In terms of his professional identity and theoretical practice, Qian is a contemporary model for Chinese scholars, by developing the personality of a critic who upholds his own literary and artistic conceptions and values. Finally, in terms of virtue, Qian is a man of wisdom, who keeps his mind and body in harmony. The century-long life of Qian demonstrates the sublimation of his spiritual temperament from a talented scholar, a celebrity, to a Chinese gentlemen.

Select

Research on the Discourse System of Literary Discourse with Chinese Characteristics

The Way of Life, "The Third Sex", and the Method of Reconstructing "Literary Native Soil": Centering on Yan Lianke's They, the Women

Ye Zhudi, Wang Leiguang

2020, 40(6): 34-43.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

There are three key points for the understanding Yan Lianke's non-fictive work They, the Women: the way of life, the study of women centering on "the third sex" and the imagination of native-soil China with non-fiction as the method. They respectively correspond to three dimensions of the work: the content, the author's thought, and the creation of literary style. These three dimensions are closely intertwined and focus on one issue: how to understand and imagine contemporary native-soil China. The numerous characters and their stories in They, the Women are woven together by the author's language and thought with strong subjectivity, and the writing style switches between history and fiction, which constructs a set of "relationship network". From the perspective of pursuing the originality of literary style, the focus of They, the Women goes beyond recording women and representing the time; the work, instead, guides us to think with contemporary native-soil women and to empathize with native-soil society through a set of "structures" imagined by the author.

Select

Issue in Focus：Seventy Years of Classical Literature Research in Shanghai

Reflection and Development: A Review of 70-Year Study on Ci-Poetry in Shanghai

Peng Guozhong, Liu Zehhua

2020, 40(6): 44-54.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

The study of ci-poetry in Shanghai since the founding of the People's Republic of China can be divided into three stages: transition, prosperity, and development. In the transitional period, the study of ci-poetry in Shanghai focused more on ideological content than on artistic characteristics, and more on the style of "haofang" (the bold and unrestrained) than "wanyue" (the graceful and restrained). During its prosperous period, the study of ci-poetry in Shanghai began to reflect on the previous research. Driven by the fever for aesthetics and methodology, Shanghai has witnessed fruitful production of scholarly works on ci-poetry. After entering the stage of development, lexicologists often conduct research with a reference to such ideas as returning to the historical context and nationalist discourses, with an attempt to get rid of "imposed interpretation" that is justified by its internal logic. In the meantime, the "view of medium" study becomes popular. Ci-poetry of the Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republic of China has gradually become the focus of academic research. Accomplishments have been made in areas such as literature collation, poet studies, and musicology. The scholarly community of ci-poetry studies in Shanghai is marked by diversity and continuity, which has formed its own academic tradition passed down from generation to generation.

Select

Issue in Focus：Seventy Years of Classical Literature Research in Shanghai

Development, Pragmatism, and Innovation: Classical Xiqu Studies in Shanghai in the Past 70 Years

Huang Jingfeng

2020, 40(6): 55-67.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

Since 1949, five generations of scholars on classical xiqu studies have emerged continuously in Shanghai. Scholarship in the three major fields of research, namely, ancient theories and criticism of xiqu, chronological research of ancient xiqu writers and works, and interdisciplinary research, has engaged scholars of all generations and exerted great influence. The research on ancient theories and criticism of xiqu has witnessed a process of pioneering the filed, expanding purviews, integrating studies as a whole, reinvestigating the entire scholarship, and exploring the core inquiries. Such interlacing process of horizontal expansion and longitudinal excavation is typical of the historical path of academic development. The chronological research of xiqu writers and works of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, marked by abundance of materials, systemization, and rigor, has made great contributions to the academic community. Moreover, numerous scholars have been exploring, with an interdisciplinary view, the development of xiqu history. Engaging theories of other related disciplines, "turning inward" and "looking outward," these scholars have made breakthroughs in terms of research methodology. During these seventy years, the five generations of scholars in Shanghai have produced fruitful studies on xiqu history, by discovering abundant historical materials, clarifying fundamental facts, improving narratives on the development of ancient xiqu, and presenting to readers a more comprehensive picture of xiqu history.

Select

Issue in Focus: Studies on Benjamin

"A Close Affinity with the Concept of the Dao": Toward Walter Benjamin's Idea of Revolution

Peter Fenves

2020, 40(6): 75-84.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

This paper takes its point of departure from an enigmatic concept Benjamin briefly discusses in one of the fragments he wrote in the early 1920s in conjunction with his search for an appropriate topic for a qualifying dissertation — the concept of action — or agent-determinative knowing, which, he suggests, may be comparable to the concept of the Dao." After analyzing the fragment in question, the paper seeks to demonstrate that in the early 1930s Benjamin develops this Dao-like concept under the rubric of two terms drawn from the vocabulary of ancient Greek thought: "mimesis" is the name under which he develops the concept of agent-determinative knowing, while the "second technology" is his revised designation for action-determinative knowing. Taken together, these concepts lead him toward something like a Daoist-Marxist idea of revolution.

Select

Issue in Focus: Studies on Benjamin

The Poverty of Experience and Its Wayout in the Information Age: An Exammination from the Perspective of Walter Benjamin

Sun Bin, Zhang Yanfen

2020, 40(6): 85-95.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

Experience generates from memory. However, if memory only serves as an accurate recollection of the past, it is destined to be replaced by modern technology, which can provide information instantly. Therefore, memory is presented in the form of story, which makes it possible to pass on experience across generations. But the art of storytelling is reaching its end due to the challenge of information, a new form of communication. The essence of information is instant verifiability. This even cancels the distinction between impression and idea since instant information renders all perceptions forceful and lively impressions. Yet, it is its force and liveliness that enable impression to break through the protection mechanism of consciousness and act on the unconscious level as a shock effect. As a result, the shock impression becomes integral to the powerful and enduring mémoire involontaire. Nevertheless, mémoire involontaire, as an attempt to conceptualize an intimate and intriguing experience, belongs to the art of storytelling. As this art is drawing to its end, we should consider another form of the shock impression — film. Although films cannot prevent the experience from falling into poverty, they complicate the process.

Select

Issue in Focus: Studies on Benjamin

What Is "die reine Sprache" about: A Discussion on Walter Benjamin's Early Philosophy of Language

Wan Fanke

2020, 40(6): 85-95.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

Walter Benjamin's philosophy of language centering on "pure language" (die reine Sprache) is considered as the primary motive power of all his further theories. It is not only related to many themes in Benjamin's philosophical landscape, but also shows a writing style, the philosophical background of which is known as "Irrkünste". However, in the scholarly discussions on Walter Benjamin in China, this critical stage was either marginalized or reduced to be the adjuvant of some grand theories, overshadowing its theoretical potential and connotation. This article analyzes the key term of Benjamin's early philosophy of language, "pure language", specifically by looking at the explanatory essay in 1916 ("Über Sprache überhaupt und über die Sprache des Menschen") and "The Task of Translator" (Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers), in order to further examine the connotation and significance of his philosophy of language.

Select

Issue in Focus: Studies on Benjamin

Reinterpreting the Aesthetics of "Zerstreuung": From Walter Benjamin to Jonathan Crary

Zhang Peng

2020, 40(6): 96-104.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

Walter Benjamin's and Jonathan Crary's respective understanding of the concept of "Zerstreuung" is in sharp contrast to each other. Benjamin detects not only a connection between "Zerstreuung" and the bourgeoisie in the capitalist entertainment industry, but also an unconscious collusion between "Zerstreuung" and the public in the early film technology. Such collusion has created a state of "Jetztzeit" for the audience by using the technique of montage in film, so that the audience could reconstruct their historical consciousness, which is transformed into a collective experience from that of the individual, thus assigning early cinema with the potential of politicizing aesthetics. In contrast, Crary's understanding of the concept of "Zerstreuung" falls into a type of judgment with presupposed values of linearity, which historicizes the concept of "attention", whereas refers to "Zerstreuung" as only a part of modern production integral to the concept of "attention".

Select

Western Literary Theory

Classic Literary Criticism as the Embryo of Productional Literary Criticism

Yao Wenfang

2020, 40(6): 105-114.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

A significant development of Euro-American literary criticism in the 20th century is its progress regarding the issue of "art production," which, by including into it the practice of literary reading and literary criticism, breaks through the previous theoretical assumption that "art production" is limited to literary creation. Classic critics such as Albert Thibaudet, T.S. Eliot, Ivor Armstrong Richards, and Northrop Frye have, through practical experiences of literary criticism, discovered and confirmed the production of literary criticism. They have not only embarked on verifying such production through scientific experiments, but also conceptualized the ways in which productional criticism can be conducted through conceptualization. The endeavors of classic literary critics have become the embryo of productional literary criticism, with their focus on Marx's theory of "art production" being the highlight in its development and maturation.

Select

Western Literary Theory

Transformational-generation: Dynamic Mechanism of Literary Speech (On the Language Poetics of the "Yale School," Part Ⅱ)

Dai Dengyun

2020, 40(6): 127-135.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

The linguistic thought of the "Yale School" mainly includes three aspects: (1) the intuition about three dimensions of language (the signified dimension, the inter-dimension, and the self-reflective and referred dimension), (2) the revelation of the transformational-generative mechanism of literary speech, and (3) the new verdict on the primal paradox of the unspeakable. The contents of these three aspects form an organic whole, which cannot be discussed separately. In general, the transformational-generation of the three dimensions of language refers to a mysterious mechanism: from the establishment of the signifier-signified relationship to the loss of reference, from the establishment of the inter-subjective dimension to its dismantlement and reconstruction, and from the linguistic play of self-reflection to the return of the signifier-signified relationship. The transformational-generative theory of the "Yale School" not only reveals the inner mystery of (literary) speech, but also possesses the significance in the history of thought as follows: Firstly, it offers a more primary theoretical basis for the "transformation-generation" of modern rhetoric. Secondly, it provides a direct theoretic foundation for the generative mechanism of difference and dislocation in literary history or even history at large. Finally, it supplies a concealed scheme and approach to give verdict on the ancient metaphysical aporia of "the gap between the universal and perpetual world of truth and the ever-changing world of reality."

Select

Western Literary Theory

Indexicality Strikes Back: From the Photographical Past to the Digital Present

Peng Jia

2020, 40(6): 136-148.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

Indexicality as a logic category of signs anchors semiotic cognition and reality. As photographs record the existence of objects, indexicality is considered as the evidence of the "objectivity" of photographic signs. With the development of digital technology, indexicality seems to decline and even disappear, since the objects of images no longer necessarily exist. Yet, in Peircean semiotics, the relationship between indices and objects could be either "existential" or "empty", and the latter is further interpreted by Roman Jakobson with the concept of "shifters", a term re-visited in contemporary semiotics of art and image. In the semiotic production of digital images, embodied cognition and mind construction enable indexicality to strike back in the present tense: filling of "empty" indices has become an important feature of semiotic communication in the era of digital technology.

Select

Classical Literary Theory and Cultural Studies

On the "Portrait Paintings" in the Late-Ming Fictions and Xiqu

Cai Yaping, Cheng Guofu

2020, 40(6): 149-159.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

Portrait paintings were prominent in ancient Chinese fictions and xiqu (traditional Chinese opera), and the close relationships between them have not been duly explored. In late Ming-Dynasty fictions and xiqu, portrait paintings have been used in eighteen fictions and xiqu to construct the plots. These paintings usually gave a frontal image of the characters, with occasional glamorization for a unified representation of both the appearance and the spirit to achieve the integration of the character with the scenery. Three developments in the late-Ming Dynasty may explain why portrait paintings were prominent in the fictions and xiqu: the revival of figure paintings, the development of narrative literature, and the rise of life consciousness and self-consciousness in the literary field. The main functions of portrait paintings in late-Ming fictions and xiqu were reflected in the development of story, the characterization, and the portrayal of characters.

Select

Classical Literary Theory and Cultural Studies

The History, Region and Cultural Community around the Paintings of Ten-Thousand-Mile Yangtze River during the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties

Yue Jin

2020, 40(6): 149-159.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

During the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, there emerged in large numbers of paintings under the title of Ten-Thousand-Mile Yangtze River. On the one hand, these paintings with inscribed poems and essays by elite literati collectively shaped the image of the Yangtze River, and established a cultural community with regional and historical identity centering on the Yangtze River. This greatly strengthened the sense of national identity and its presence. On the other hand, these paintings were collected into classified books as encyclopedic references during the late Ming dynasty, and became cultural products for mass consumption. Through copying, reproduction and dissemination of engravings, the paintings entitled Ten-Thousand-Mile Yangtze River expanded their influence in the field of public communication, and became a widely accepted cultural image and national symbol.

Select

Classical Literary Theory and Cultural Studies

Letters on Literature and the Internalized Drive for Literary Debates in the Ming Dynasty

Ye Hua, Du Huan

2020, 40(6): 160-171.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

As one of the traditional forms of literary criticism since the Han and Wei dynasties, letters on literature played an important role in the establishment of Chinese literary criticism framework. Based on the writers' identities and attitudes, these letters can be grouped into "the presenting type", "the replying type" and "the dialogue type". The theoretical nature of the epistolary style and the contextual constraints resulted from its reciprocal relationship, promoted in-depth scholarly dialogue and avoided the possibility of forcible reinterpretation of the text by later generations. Primary contents in the literary correspondences shifted from summaries of writing experience, reviews of literary history and commentaries on the current state of the literary world, to analyses of literary principles and concepts, and also shifted from self-referential monologues about literature to debates over different characteristics of particular literary genre, and the shifts gradually turned into a practice of literary criticism based on literary community. This intra-community critical consciousness originated from the "Ancient Essay Movement" in the mid-Tang dynasty and reached its peak during the debates over literary schools in the Ming dynasty. Specifically, "Letter to a Friend on Literature" had generalized the object, and this can be better understood when put into the perspective of the internally driven history of literary criticism.

Select

Classical Literary Theory and Cultural Studies

A Study of the Phenomenon of the Quasi-Peach Blossom Spring and the Poetry in the Late-Qing Dynasty

Sun Qihua, Luo Shijin

2020, 40(6): 172-183.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

The image of "The Peach Blossom Spring" created by Tao Yuanming (365?-427) became a motif since the Liang dynasty in Chinese ancient literature. The reception of the Peach Blossom Spring had shown two dimensions of the nothingness and the concreteness during the Tang and Song dynasties. However, toward the late Qing dynasty, the gradual appearance of quasi-Peach Blossom Springs and the poeticization of them, perhaps due to the social turmoil, especially brought by the Taiping Civil War. The understanding of the unrealistic vision of the Peach Blossom Spring and the wish for it during the turmoil constructed the mindset of late Qing-dynasty poets by which they wavered between withdrawal from the society and stand-up to serve the society. The poetical writing of the Peach Blossom Spring in the late Qing dynasty shows the vitality of Tao Yuanming's the image, which, when resorted to during social turmoil, also displays as the traditional Confucian scholars' psychological adjustment and worldly wisdom to cope with the chaos.

Select

Youth Forum

Reflections on Post-Human Discourse: Centering on Slavoj Žižek

Liu Xinting

2020, 40(6): 184-191.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

There has been a joint effort seen in 21st-century philosophy and cultural theories to understand and respond to the impact of current technological revolution on social culture and the existence of subjecthood. Slavoj Žižek has always placed his elaboration on and questioning of the two post-human schools and tendencies in his ideological criticism of digital capitalism. The common tendency between post-human thought of the Cultural Left and the singularity theory of trans-human theory is shown in the "Promethean shame" and the new myth of the human-machine hybridity. Žižek's works over the decades have always focused on the development of cutting-edge science and technology. Based on his criticism of the post-modern pluralistic subject, the post-human mixture of subject and object, and the digital "other", Žižek proposes the concepts of "inhuman" and "post-subjectivity". This shows the efforts of humanistic theories to intervene in the discourse of science and technology in the post-Sokal era.

Select

Youth Forum

Shame, Queer Theory, and the Affective Turn: A Study Centering on the Scholarship in the United States

Yang Ling

2020, 40(6): 192-203.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

Starting with Eve Sedgwick's shame theory, this paper examines queer theory scholars' explorations into shame in the United States and their continuing dialogue on the political potential of this particular form of affect. The paper argues that the theorization of shame has left a distinct mark on affect theory. The notion of shame has provided impetus for reflecting on queer politics, ethics, historiography and aesthetics, and its intersections with categories such as gender, sexuality, disability and race also offer new points of depature for social and political analyses.

Select

Youth Forum

On Jean-Luc Nancy's Reinterpretation of the Sublime

Wang Qi

2020, 40(6): 204-211.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

Different from Jean-François Lyotard and Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Nancy's reinterpretation of the concept of the sublime highlights its functions of combatting metaphysical totality, defending difference and witnessing the un-presentable. What Nancy does is not only to rethink the "presentation" and "limit" of the sublime, but also to reflect on the end of art, the relationship between imagination and the sublime, the sublime offering and so on. Nancy divides Immanuel Kant's aesthetic schema into two paradigms — "aesthetics sublates philosophy" and "philosophy sublates aesthetics" — and believes that neither accurately demonstrates the essential state of being in the postmodern condition. Nancy incorporates Lyotard's time with Derrida's espacement and synthesizes his own thought of "exposition", "de-limitation" and "offering" into the concept of the sublime. He emphasizes more on the sublime and the generativity, dynamics, transcendence and imperfectability of the sublime sense and moves it outside the frame of aesthetic form to become a fundamental issue with more existential concern. Nancy's reinterpretation of the sublime is not only a deconstruction of traditional metaphysics, but also the re-examination of German idealism, as well as the continuation and development of the postmodern sublime, and thus of great significance for the reflection on the existential status of human in the postmodern condition.

Select

Youth Forum

Synopsis of The 9th Youth Forum of Chinese Association for Theory of Literature and Art

Lu Xin

2020, 40(6): 212-213.

Download PDF ( )

Knowledge map

Save

Select

The Complete List of Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, Vol. 1-6, 2020

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

2020, 40(6): 214-218.