On The Modern Transformation Of Ancient Literary Theory,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
On The Modern Transformation Of Ancient Literary Theory, Yun Wang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Focusing on the contemporary research of the modern transformation of ancient literary theory in China, the paper intends to expose the implied cultural orientation behind the different ideas of and approaches to the modernization of ancient literary theory. This paper points out that, on the one hand, the approach to the modern transformation take the route from construction in the 1980s to deconstruction in 1990s and that, one the other hand, in terms of methodology, the need for an open system is widely accepted and the discursive power of closed conceptual system is undermined and dissolved. As a result, pluralist …
On Wang Youpu's Criticism On The Ancient-Style Prose And Its Value,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
On Wang Youpu's Criticism On The Ancient-Style Prose And Its Value, Zukun Yu
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Critical practice on the ancient-style prose is an important part of the literary activity of Tongcheng School in the Qing Dynasty, and due research attention should be paid for understanding their prose theory. Wang You-pu (1681-1760) was one key figure in developing the school's prose theory. As a disciple of Fang Bao, the founder of the school, Wang developed Fang's notion of yifa (meaning-method) by expanding on the relationship between meaning (yi) and method (fa). Wang You-pu had also combined Fang's notion of meaning-method with Jin Shengtan's (1608-61) literary critical practice and vision, which not only sharpened his perceptive and …
Postcolonial Ecocriticism: Greening Studies Of Postcolonialism,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Postcolonial Ecocriticism: Greening Studies Of Postcolonialism, Fuguang Miao
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Postcolonial ecocriticism develops in the ecocrtitical turn of postcolonialism, and as the new development of postcolonialism, it is grounded on postcolonialism and ecocriticism, starting with and ending in the study of postcolonialism. This paper starts with a retrospective analysis of postcolonialism and then it examines postcolonial ecocriticism's theoretical sources in terms of ecological thoughts, history of colonialization, ecological imperialism and postcolonialism. The paper proceeds to summarize three main tasks of postcolonial ecocriticism, namely, tracing the historical connection between racism and speciesism, exposing the paradox between development and conservation of environment, and interpreting animal and environment writings in literary discourses, so …
Re-Evaluating "Foregrounding": The Prague School's Contributions To Aesthetics,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Re-Evaluating "Foregrounding": The Prague School's Contributions To Aesthetics, Lei Yang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
"Foregrounding" is a key term of the Prague School, and due to its similarity with "defamiliarization," "foregrounding" has caused some misreading, which further leads to the misunderstanding of the relationship between the Prague School and the Russian Formalism. Starting with this term, the Prague School constructed a sophisticated system of structuralist aesthetics and literary theory, which surpassed the Russian Formalism. The concept of "foregrounding" foretells a contextualist aesthetics, which pointed to the contextualist turn of aesthetics in the 20th century.
Representation, Working And Imagination Of Power: A Study On "The Young Newcomer To The Department Of Organization" And Other "Against-Current Novels",
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Representation, Working And Imagination Of Power: A Study On "The Young Newcomer To The Department Of Organization" And Other "Against-Current Novels", Qinghua Cao
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
One important aspect of Wang Meng's novel The Young Newcomer to the Department of Organization and other so-called "Against-Current (Niliu) Novels" is the questioning, exposing and challenging of the way power is represented and worked and the way power is related to its representation and working in these novels, but this has been overlooked for quite a long time in the research scholarship. The paper argues that these novels call into interpellation the representation and working of power in reality while the imagination of power permeated in these novels performs the function of interpellation similar to the in-practice power interplay. …
Schapiro, Semiotics And Iconography,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Schapiro, Semiotics And Iconography, Xin Gao
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
During the 20th century, a theory transformation brought about by semiotics has inserted profound impact on almost all the disciplines of humanities, including anthropology, literary theory and art history. Starting with the aim at theorizing these studies, the movement has evolved into a capitalized Theory during its development that shifts its focuses to the ethical and political functions of literature and art and sacrifices the aesthetic values of literary texts. When Meyer Schapiro introduced semiotic methods into his art history studies, he could avoid the hazard. His introduction of semiotics into art history study, by bypassing the essentialist or metaphysical …
Terry Eagleton's Borrowing From Aristotle's Metaphysics Thought,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Terry Eagleton's Borrowing From Aristotle's Metaphysics Thought, Zhike Yin
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Terry Eagleton's attention to theology and metaphysical issues is not a theology turn, for his thoughts on theology is not fully explicable in religious sense. God, for him, is a substitution for "essence." He insists that the postmodernists who deny the essence are actually essentialists with masks. Eagleton believes that the ultimate reason for human being is man itself, that is, the essence of mall. Essence, for him, is not common feature but the nature, and the nature is the form. The paper therefore argues that Aristotle's teleology has greatly influenced Eagleton.
The Category, Complexity, Starting Points And Methodology Of Image Studies,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The Category, Complexity, Starting Points And Methodology Of Image Studies, Jirong Chen
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The development of imagology can be traced back to the study of literary imagery, comparative studies and iconology, which covers early research on literature and society, the study of image and illusion, and contemporary study of image and discourse. Imagology has developed through the three stages develop from literary history, poetics and power discourse, while the focus of its content balances between holistic analysis and textual studies, and its methodology makes use of the models of culture studies and also tries to highlight the relation between image construction and power discourse. Therefore, the remarkable aspect to be noted in image …
The Concept Of Image In Chinese, Western And Japanese Cultures,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The Concept Of Image In Chinese, Western And Japanese Cultures, Haohui Xi
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Global multicultural interaction accommodates the conflict between monism and pluralism. The paper examines the three different forms of beauty as reflected in the different concepts of image in Chinese, Western and Japanese cultures as art symbols of expressing feelings and ideas. The concept of image as a Western concept finds its counterparts in Chinese phrase of "xingxiang" (形象 form-image) and Japanese "sugata" (姿 idea-image). "Image" in the ancient Greece referred mainly to the exterior form, which in turn pointed to the "body" and highlighted in the geometrical "form." The concept of "form-image" in Chinese emphasizes the image over the form, …
The Ethical Responsibility Of Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenological Theory Of Literature: On The Promoting Agency Of Literary Language To The Formation Of The Individual,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The Ethical Responsibility Of Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenological Theory Of Literature: On The Promoting Agency Of Literary Language To The Formation Of The Individual, Wei Jia
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Merleau-Ponty had revised Husserl's phenomenology of speech and Saussure's structuralist linguistics and developed his own phenomenology of speech, gaining insight into the intersubjectivity between speech and individual. His phenomenological research also shows that literary speech as a deviant form of everyday speech can not only boost the historical formation of the individual but also inherit something profound from the history.
Traumatic Memory: Psychic Reality And Cultural Representation,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Traumatic Memory: Psychic Reality And Cultural Representation, Jingrong Zhao
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Traumatic memory exhibits three fundamental features, namely, the individualistic nature, personal experience, and emotional nature, among which personal experience is the most important because the subject of traumatic memory has a pre-privilege of emotion and ethics. The ultimate goal of the subject with traumatic memory is to get through the negative effects of trauma on the subject and make him cope with the real life. Traumatic memory can be studied from the perspective of its origin in the reality and its cultural representation. Trauma in the form of individual suffering could become collective crisis only when it is studied in …
Towards A Pluralistic Open System Of Literary Theory Studies: A Survey Of British And American Literature Theory Textbooks In Recent 30 Years,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Towards A Pluralistic Open System Of Literary Theory Studies: A Survey Of British And American Literature Theory Textbooks In Recent 30 Years, Hongbo Li
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
In the past 30 years, the drastic changes in literary theories led to corresponding changes in British and American literature theory textbooks. Their textbooks focus on the study of the theories, closely related to literary texts, and exhibit the features such as the diversity of perspectives, openness of concepts, attention to the contemporary, and emphasis on practice. In comparison with them, Chinese course books of literary theories need to get rid of the constraints of essentialism in terms of literary concept and knowledge construction, and construct a student-centered system of literary theory studies that can tackle with the contemporary literary …
The Influence Of Hu Yinglin's Shi Sou On Emura Hokkai's History Of Japanese Poetry,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The Influence Of Hu Yinglin's Shi Sou On Emura Hokkai's History Of Japanese Poetry, Xin Hu, Ming Yan
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
When writing The History of Japanese Poetry, the Mid-Edo Japanese scholar Emura Hokkai (1707-1782) was deeply influenced by Shi Sou (An Anthology of Poetry) compiled by Chinese Ming-Dynasty scholar Hu Yingling's (1551-1602). In compiling method, Emura's History of Japanese Poetry was written in the way that integrated narration of history through poetry commentaries with biographical history. In thematic treatment, Emura developed Hu's concept of "qi yun" (spirit-mores) and proposed the concept of "shi dao" (generation-way), claiming that Hu's concept of "qi yun" was inherited by the Japanese and became the fundamental reason for the Japanese to develop its own poetics …
The Zen Buddhism's Thoughts Of No Difference Between Form And Empty In Dream Of The Red Chamber,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The Zen Buddhism's Thoughts Of No Difference Between Form And Empty In Dream Of The Red Chamber, Ranran Wang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Zen Buddhism's idea of form-emptiness has often been viewed as "nothing," although form-emptiness means "no distinction between form and emptiness." The great wisdom in this notion is that on the one hand Zen Buddhism views things as dreams so man can't and shouldn't attach to any of things and on the other hand Zen Buddhism realizes that although the insight may help man cleanse of vain and evil thoughts it can remove the good in thoughts such as vitality and creativity, resulting in poverty of the good provided by things. Therefore, Zen Buddhism emphasizes that man should understand meaning of …
A Last Blow? T. J. Clark On Pollock And Abstract Expressionism,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
A Last Blow? T. J. Clark On Pollock And Abstract Expressionism, Geyi Zhu
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
T. J. Clark carries forward the logic of social history of art which he developed and operated in his study of Courbet and Manet into his analysis of Pollock and Abstract Expressionism. Clark argues that Pollock continued the radical tradition of modern art by resisting similarity and metaphor while Abstract Expressionism continued it with its 'vulgarity' quality. However, their resistances were devoured by the totality of capitalist culture. Clark's pessimistic conclusion is that the modernist tradition of 'negativity' can't continue.
A Study Of The Prototypes Of Romance,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
A Study Of The Prototypes Of Romance, Limin Li
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
As a genre, romance lasts for thousands of years, and it has fixed narrative modes, characters and situations. However, the genre cannot be long-lasting by its stable structure, characters and situations alone. By re-examining the definition, history, classification and stylistic evolution of the genre, and by way of the theories of structuralist narratology, the paper summarizes three romance prototypes, namely, structure prototype, character prototype, and situation prototype, and it proceeds to demonstrate that the changing of "satellites" which breaks the readers' expectation on romance provides the readers with reading pleasure. This explains the high popularity of romance since 12th century. …
Changing Authorship: The Evolution On Literary Practices And Theory,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Changing Authorship: The Evolution On Literary Practices And Theory, Miaomiao Xu
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Focusing on the changing concept of author, this paper tries to investigate the new demands posed to literary theory from the new media by contextualizing its argument in the combined development of literary theory, literary history and new media. The paper claims that literary theory, due to its development in the context of print culture, increasingly shows its deficiencies in the current media. In terms of the authorship, individual authors may not have been essential for literary creation, and the concept of determined authors is established in written system and the print culture and re-enforced with the regulations of intellectual …
Contemporary Chinese Art And Western Theory: The Question Of Hospitality,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Contemporary Chinese Art And Western Theory: The Question Of Hospitality, Kenaan Hagi
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The paper takes a philosophical instead of a historical perspective to look at contemporary Chinese art, concerned with the relationship between contemporary Chinese art and "Western" theory. In the attempt to articulate the relationship between contemporary Chinese art and "Western" theory, the paper proposes "the question of hospitality" as its approach to the issue, asking who exactly the host and the guest are and what kind of dynamics is suggests by a relationship of hospitality. It begins by proposing a brief sketch of a philosophical theme or dilemma that is supposed to be crucial for the development of "theory" in …
How To Understand The Interdisciplinary Of Cultural Studies: Taking Hoggart's Uses Of Literacy As An Example,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
How To Understand The Interdisciplinary Of Cultural Studies: Taking Hoggart's Uses Of Literacy As An Example, Jia Yan
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Richard Hoggart's Uses of Literacy established the basic paradigm for the interdisciplinary nature of the cultural studies, and its essential principle is to start from the "living culture" of social life, to study literary texts, especially the texts of popular culture rather than to study the texts of "classic literary works" determined by some experts and scholars, and to find how the texts influence and shape the everyday life of people (especially the working class). This purpose of cultural studies has entailed its genetic relationship with literature, popular culture and sociology, and in essence constituted a new way of literary …
Image And The Intrusion Of Antinarrative: Rosalind Krauss' Structuralist Criticism,
2015
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Image And The Intrusion Of Antinarrative: Rosalind Krauss' Structuralist Criticism, Yubing Shen, Zheng Tao
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
During the late 70's to 80's in the last century, Rosalind Krauss had a structuralist turn of mind which had brought image into "structural" system, and she emphasized the difference and the synchronicity within formal system of images. Her discussions were quite distinct from the modernist narratives of Clement Greenberg, extending to the field of postmodernism. Krauss tried to detach image from the concepts such as "intention", "origin" and "authorship" so as to promote the status of structuralism criticism. If Krauss' research is viewed not from the essentialist perspective that views antinarrative to be a kind of narrative, Krauss' approach …
