Chinese Studies Commons^™

"Writers Should Learn Philology First": The Genesis Of A Common Sense In Literature, Feng Lin

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

"Writer should learn philology first" was first presented by the Tang writer official Han Yu (768-824), and became an influential proposition of literature in the Qing dynasty. Qing textualists' effectively reinterpretation of it enabled the proposition to become a classic statement to demonstrate philology’s importance to literary creation, and the position gradually developed into a common sense recognized by various literary schools in the late Qing period and finally entered the literary history and textbooks during the Republican period. To describe the course of how the proposition emerged, disseminated and developed into a common sense will illuminate the understanding of …

Deleuze's Affect Theory And Becoming-Literature, Yue Ge

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Despite the multi-disciplinary scholarly attention it has drawn, affect theory is subject to various contestations. An in-depth examination of Spinoza's and Deleuze's respective theory of affect reveals that Spinoza's concept of affect is a reflection upon the passive reactions of the body and mind, whereas Deleuze de-contextualizes the concept of affect so as to construct an approach to breaking down the power discipline and restoring the potentials of life. Deleuze opines that symbols are the primary vehicle for power transfer. From the perspective of "affect," he captures multiple effective ways of power disintegration in the field of literature, creatively proposes …

From Commitment To Uselessness: On Georges Bataille's Concept Of Literature, Tianshu Zhao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This article aims to analyze George Bataille's concept of literature by comparing it with Jean-Paul Sartre's opposite view of committed literature. Sartre considered commitment to the world as core of literature, requiring literature to serve society, convey meaning, and advance the progress of society and history. In response to Sartre's view, Bataille argued that literature is useless. He recognized literature as a sovereign activity of expenditure and argued that it should only present the unknown of the world, which sheds light on unemployed negativity as the core of literature. In this sense, Bataille's concept is a reflection on modernity. Literature, …

The Image Of Characters In Twentieth-Century Chinese Fiction, Zidong Xu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Scholars generally believe that the most important characters in modern Chinese literature are intellectuals and peasants, and their relationship is central to the literary theme of "reforming national character". However, in the late Qing Dynasty and contemporary fictions, officials become the third important image of characters. The complicated triangular relationship between intellectuals, peasants and officials in fictions is since formed. If the relationship between intellectuals and peasants can be summarized as "enlightenment and national salvation", the process of "mutual transformation" between intellectuals and officials in twentieth-century Chinese fictions and the historical evolution of the "contradictory and interdependent" relationship between peasants …

Feminist Perspectives On Gender And The Sublime, Rong Chen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The paper reinterprets the conceptual history of sublime theory from a feminist perspective. Besides exposing the deep imprint of patriarchal discourse in the classical version of the sublime, contemporary feminists make great efforts to remold the aesthetical category to incorporate the female experiences, subjectivity and ethics. Therefore, the concept of the sublime enjoys an expansion to include possibilities of transgressing borders, embracing emotion, upholding heterogeneity and advocating intersubjectivity. This is the new dynamic that feminism brings to the theoretical field of sublime aesthetics.

Ideas Of Photography Studies In France: Reflections On Three Contemporary Paradigms, Yichen Lu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The ideas of photography, different from photography, are constituted by a network of concepts that emerges out of its dissemination and reception, and features the regularity of the indicative discourses of photography as a practice and an image. The shift from photography to the concept of photography is not only a change in concepts, but also one in photographic historiography. This shift constantly questions and deconstructs the traditional history of photography, whose models closely follow technical progress or the beautiful images produced by great photographers, emphasizing the spectators/recipients of the photographic image that were marginalized in the mainstream history of …

The Perceptional Foundation Of Impressionism, Haiyan Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

As a revolutionary painting school, impressionists develop a special plane configuration that deserves phenomenological description and critical reflection over the philosophical assumptions behind it. Impressionists claim to represent impressions as they are, so it strictly restricts the object to be represented within the field of the physical world, and in the process of painting, they try to remove all the processing activities that are external to the original impression and to use separate color blocks and rough brushstrokes so that they may represent the instant impression in the picture. By analyzing this plain configuration, this article explores the special concept …

Early Reading Theories Of Louis Althusser And The Misjudgment Of Surface Reading, Jianzeng Zhou

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

There are three reading theories in Louis Althusser's early works: intuitive reading, expressive reading, and symptomatic reading. Intuitive reading puts emphasis on the intuitiveness of the mind towards given content, which tends to make the text transparent and shallow. The second is the theory of expressive reading, which stresses the revelation of a single meaning on the surface of the text through rational thinking, insisting on an exclusive and closed distinction between surface and depth. Symptomatic reading promotes a dialectical thinking that analyzes the dual content hidden beneath the textual surface in pursuit of an open adjoining distinction between surface …

Natural History And The "Scientific Discourse Community" Of The Three Zhou Brothers, Jianrong Liao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

As the mainstream of modern science, natural history has developed from Foucauldian epistemological discourse to the important discourse of "scientific discourse community," which has become the basis of legitimacy for a new culture and new thought that promoted the New Culture Movement. As the scientific discourse of the three Zhou brothers, natural history influenced Lu Xun's (Zhou Shuren) "saving the nation through science" and "biological truth", Zhou Zuoren's "biological reference" and "naturalization of ethics", as well as Zhou Jianren's "national evolution" and related ideas of new culture. Zhou Brothers' scientific discourse of natural history witnessed the unremitting exploration of Chinese …

On Death And Hope In Lu Xun's "Upstairs In The Tavern", Hong Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Lu Xun's short story "Upstairs in the Tavern" brings to a new phase the problematic of soul in the modern man, which is first addressed in his "New Year Sacrifice". Through the reunion between the narrator "I" and his old friend Lü Weifu in the tavern, the problematic of soul in modern intellectuals resurfaces. Lü, a modern rationalist, was exposed to two events of death, which shook the ground of his materialistic view of life, making him feel sinking and bored as love and hopes were shattered. This is also the fundamental theme of Lu Xun's works during the period …

The Literati Identification Of Wang Shizhen And Its Significance, Xiang Xiong

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Wang Shizhen (1526-1590) had a strong reaction to the stigmatic identification of literati. Wang's stance towards literati transformed gradually from a critique on "literati being impractical" to the lament for literati's fate as well as an appeal to sympathy for literati among his peers. . Faced with the claim that literati were not virtuous, he emphasized that literary talent should be the inherent measurement in identifying literati. This idea was distinctive from the view of Tang Shunzhi (1507-1560), and the theory of emotion. Wang Shizhen’s literati identification and consciousness of community were driven by the intertwining but also conflicting constellations …

The Modern Origin Of Animation And The Intermediality Of Animation Art, Xueqin Feng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Giannaberto Bendazzi, an Italian historian of animation, believes that Emile Cohl and his Fantasmagorie are the origins of animation art. Bendazzi's view is problematic as he considered the origins of animation and film share the same genealogy, ignoring the significant differences on media basis. From the perspective of intermediality of art, Emile Reynaud's Luminous Pantomimes presents the media difference between animation and film, representing a heterogeneous origin of animation in the modern era. Analyses of this origin will provide an insight into the ontology of animation, which is a cross-media art.

Triple Dimensions Of The "Temporal Turn": Theories Of "Contemporaneity" In Western Contemporary Art And Their Problems, Lihui Dong

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In recent years, contemporaneity, a term with specific and changing connotations, has stirred up continuing debates in the West, as part of the attempt to theorize contemporary art. Although these theories have different ways of argument focusing on different aspects, discussions on contemporaneity are all based on the Latin word tempor, which means time, with an attempt to escape from the modern concept of time and to launch a contemporary "temporal turn". Among these theories, Giorgio Agamben, Boris Groys and Peter Osborne's arguments exemplify three typical approaches to explore the “temporal turn”, and they claim that contemporaneity lies in its …

Views On Yuefu Among Literati In The Song Dynasty And Volumes Of Yuefu In Their Collected Works: A Case Study Of Wen Tong's Yuefu Zayong, Haiyan Liang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Wen Tong's Yuefu Zayong from Collected Works of Danyuan demonstrated his art of yuefu with old titles. Using the old titles from yuefu poems of the Han, Wei, and Six dynasties, the poet paid special attention to guci (extant lyrics of yuefu before the Song dynasty), benshi (content of yuefu, namely, historical legends and folk tales) and historical situations that gave rise to tunes, which were all his sources of inspiration. Some of his works featured deliberately unpolished simplicity, following the poetic ideal promoted by such intellectual movement as fugu (return to the ancients), while some featured elaborate depiction and …

Cfl Teachers’ Intercultural Communication Competence Through Case Analysis, Shunqin Li, Ting Shu

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

The demand for Chinese learning in the world puts forward higher needs for the competence of a CFL (Chinese as a Foreign Language) teacher. A CFL teacher’s intercultural communication competence (ICC), as a unique and critical part, needs to be concerned more. Inductive and descriptive approaches were used to analyze 86 ICC cases identified from "Cases and Analysis of Cross-cultural Communication" and "Detailed Explanation of Classic Cases of International Chinese Teachers." The cases were categorized into seven cross-cultural communication elements: environmental adaptation, cross-cultural integration, cross-cultural communication, self-regulation, communication, foreign language, and team spirit. Typical cases of each category were selected …

Improving Chinese Language Learning Through Collaborative Kahoot Mode, Hongmin Yu

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

This study used quantitative methods to assess students' Chinese language learning attitudes and learning habits on Kahoot, a game-based learning platform. Kahoot enables teachers to transform bland Chinese vocabulary memorization into exciting, game-like situations. It makes Chinese language learning fun and interactive. The study aims to compare Kahoot team play mode with individual play mode. Sixty-four fifth graders participated. In the experimental group, students grouped by themselves or teacher to compete with one another. They enjoyed working together to share what they knew and learned from each other. Students were tested prior to the course (pretest) and following the course …

The Use Of An Elicited Imitation Test To Measure Global Oral Proficiency Of L2 Chinese At The Postsecondary Classroom, I-Huei Lee

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

With a growing number of foreign language studies on proficiency outcomes, it is imperative to address the challenge of measuring students’ proficiency development in a language program where standardized proficiency testing is not readily available. This article reports administering a Chinese elicited imitation test (EIT) by an instructor to track students’ global oral proficiency development in a small language program in a mid-size U.S. public university. The test results from the EIT of second language (L2) Chinese suggest that this tool can provide the instructor with valuable insights into students’ oral proficiency. This study also discusses the potential practical value …

Producing Podcasts In A Chinese Classroom: A Digital Humanities Project, Dongdong Chen

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

This paper describes an experiment that engages students taking the second part of an Introductory Chinese course with an assignment to create podcasts in the form of an interview. Requiring students to integrate the aural, oral, and textural information via technology so as to carry a conversation with an interlocutor challenges them to convey their thoughts from the language they think in into meaningful ideas using the target language. In this way, students are "pushed" to convert their listening, speaking, and writing from being isolated components into a more dynamic and cohesive mode of communicating. As they explore expressing their …

Table Of Contents, Huiwen Li

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Table of Contents

The People Of The Pla 2.0, Roy Kamphausen Mr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The 27th annual People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Conference—“The People in the PLA” 2.0—revisited a theme first explored at the 2006 conference but understudied since. This volume examines how the structure, education, training, and recruitment of PLA personnel have changed in the last decade and in the Xi Jinping era.

Structural changes in the PLA have centered around two poles: improving the warfighting readiness of the PLA and strengthening Communist Party of China (CPC) control of the PLA. Reforms to the political work system, the evolution of the Second Artillery into the Rocket Force, and expansion of the PLA’s foreign-based force …