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Visual Media, Digital Art, And The Development Of Contemporary Aesthetics: An Interview With Professor Dominic Mciver Lopes, Caishu Zhou, Dominic Mclver Lopes Sep 2026

Visual Media, Digital Art, And The Development Of Contemporary Aesthetics: An Interview With Professor Dominic Mciver Lopes, Caishu Zhou, Dominic Mclver Lopes

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In this interview, Professor Dominic Lopes provides in-depth philosophical and historical insights on a range of topics, including aesthetics, the philosophy of art, media and digital art, the cross-cultural dialogue between Eastern and Western aesthetics, as well as the relationship between an academic career and social transformation. First, Lopes introduces contemporary Western aesthetics as a discipline. Drawing on his monographs Aesthetic Life and Why It Matters and Beyond Art, he discusses the role of aesthetics in social practice, the buck passing theory, and the new definition of a “work of art”. Second, in response to the development of new …


“Transnational Literature” And “Transgression” In Literature, Shihua Chen, Buwen Wei Sep 2026

“Transnational Literature” And “Transgression” In Literature, Shihua Chen, Buwen Wei

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

As a genre of literature, “transnational literature” has begun to attract global attention since the 1990s. Narrowly defined, “transnational literature” refers to works created by “transnational writers” in a non-native language. In a broader sense, it encompasses works produced by “transnational writers” that draw on their own experiences of “transgression”, exhibiting distinct “transgressivity” shaped by unique contexts of creation. This characteristic is reflected in the two aspects of “linguistic transgression” and “cultural transgression”. “Linguistic transgression” not only encompasses the fundamental form of creating works entirely in a non-native language, but also involves various forms such as mixing different languages within …


Writing Worthies: The Naming And Generic Formation Of “Records Of Shrine Halls” In The Song Dynasty, Hongxiang Zhao Sep 2026

Writing Worthies: The Naming And Generic Formation Of “Records Of Shrine Halls” In The Song Dynasty, Hongxiang Zhao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The evolution of titles in traditional Chinese prose often reflects the functional differentiation and generic formation of literary forms. In the Song dynasty, “records of shrine halls (citang ji)”, which had appeared only sporadically as titles in Tang inscriptions, developed into a commemorative prose genre with relatively stable naming convention and a clearly defined orientation. This transformation was not merely a change in nomenclature, but a shift from stele inscription to written record, shaped by both changes in the Tang-Song systems of sacrifice to former worthies and the growing genre consciousness of literati writers. As local sacrificial practices …


The Nature Aesthetics Of “Changeable States” And Its Poetic Practice Among The Song-Dynasty Poets, Xiaoyi Wang Sep 2026

The Nature Aesthetics Of “Changeable States” And Its Poetic Practice Among The Song-Dynasty Poets, Xiaoyi Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The term “changeable states” refers to anomalous states arising from transformation. The Song-dynasty poets cultivated a distinctive aesthetic and literary interest in natural objects, their processes of change, and their philosophical implications. Building on the experience of pre-Song literati, they integrated Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist approaches to observing nature with the method of perceiving things through change and “exploring principles in living beings.” In doing so, they reconstructed logic and generated meaning by explaining the “changeable states” of nature as the normal manifestation of heavenly principle. Through diverse perspectives and creative strategies, the Song poets broke through classical paradigms …


The Polyphonic Rural World: A Study Of The Acoustic Space Of Shanyin In Lu You's Poetry, Hua Yao Sep 2026

The Polyphonic Rural World: A Study Of The Acoustic Space Of Shanyin In Lu You's Poetry, Hua Yao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

A substantial part of Lu You's poetry, composed in the rural setting of Shanyin, features rich soundscapes that offer insight into the poet's spatial imagination and local identity from an auditory perspective. The presence or absence of specific sounds, such as urban clamor or bells and drums, marks the distinction between rural and urban space. Through evocations of “the sounds of rivers and lakes” and “the sounds of peace and prosperity,” Shanyin is portrayed as an idealized space of reclusion and pastoral vision. Moreover, by incorporating auditory imagery associated with borderlands and imbuing natural sounds such as wind and rain …


The Translingual Writing Of Rickshaws Since The Modern Era, Ruoze Huang Sep 2026

The Translingual Writing Of Rickshaws Since The Modern Era, Ruoze Huang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Rickshaws originated in Meiji Japan, spread across Asian countries, and became especially popular in modern China. They were not only a classic theme in Chinese literary history but also had a great impact on lifestyles and social transformations since the modern era. As an industrial product, an occupational identity and a way of life, the rickshaw constitutes a key entry point for re-examining transnational experiences. Its emergence was shaped by unequal and incompatible conceptual frameworks between East and West. This invention was mediated through conceptual translations, travel writings and literary works, showing observers' admiration for power and assuagement of suffering, …


Beyond Transitional Justice: Han Kang's Literature And The Politics Of Mourning, Weixuan Xi, Sijin He Sep 2026

Beyond Transitional Justice: Han Kang's Literature And The Politics Of Mourning, Weixuan Xi, Sijin He

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Beginning with Human Acts, South Korean author Han Kang underwent what could be described as a “mid-career transformation” in her literary practice, as “mourning” has become one of the central concerns in her recent works. The novel We Do Not Part can be regarded as the culmination of Han Kang's poetics of mourning. Taking the Jeju April 3 Incident as its subject, the novel not only engages with the intertextual relationship between literature and South Korea's discourse of transitional justice since the 1990s, but also attempts to transcend the principle of segregated mourning in contemporary political practice, as well …


An Analysis Of Denotation And Connotation: Contribution Of Lu Xun's Old Stories Retold, Qinghua Cao Sep 2026

An Analysis Of Denotation And Connotation: Contribution Of Lu Xun's Old Stories Retold, Qinghua Cao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Existing research on Lu Xun's Old Stories Retold has mainly focused on two aspects: what is written and how it is written. Little attention has been paid to the analysis of the denotation and connotation of linguistic representation, which is the medium of narrative, in Lu Xun's writing in Old Stories Retold. “Gathering Ferns” portrays Boyi and Shuqi as two “stupid ox” figures who believe in and practice the denotative meanings of ancient Chinese books, and are thus caught in a double dilemma of language and body. Old Stories Retold also seeks to reveal the formalized features of the …


Reaffirming “Sensibility”: F. R. Leavis And The Critical Community, Weihua He Sep 2026

Reaffirming “Sensibility”: F. R. Leavis And The Critical Community, Weihua He

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

With his militant stance towards industrial civilization and mass culture, as well as his adherence to and promotion of elite culture, F. R. Leavis has become a pivotal figure in the tradition of British cultural criticism. However, as the editor-in-chief of the literary journal Scrutiny, Leavis wrote a large number of influential literary critical articles, many of which remain illuminating for contemporary literary criticism, yet they have not received sufficient attention in Chinese academia. In terms of literary criticism, Leavis opposed the application of theories in a rigid manner, emphasizing the critic's “sensibility” and unique gifts, as well as …


Aufheben: The Theoretical Approach Of Early Chinese Marxist Literary Theory, Rui Lai Sep 2026

Aufheben: The Theoretical Approach Of Early Chinese Marxist Literary Theory, Rui Lai

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Aofuhebian (Aufheben), now commonly rendered in Chinese as yangqi, is a core category of dialectics. In 1928, the Creation Society introduced this concept into the “debate on revolutionary literature,” which served as a major approach of Marxist literary theory and drove the paradigm shift of Chinese literary discourse. From the perspective of literary history, its dialectical logic of negation broke from the stereotype of linear evolutionism, providing a philosophical basis for revolutionary writers to sublate May Fourth New Literature. In terms of class consciousness, it functioned as a theoretical weapon against bourgeois literary views and anchored the proletarian …


A Field Of Cultural Practice Shaped By The Interaction Of Multiple Forces: A Study Of Guangzhou Music Teahouses In The Early Reform And Opening-Up Period, Dongfeng Tao, Yunxia Fan Sep 2026

A Field Of Cultural Practice Shaped By The Interaction Of Multiple Forces: A Study Of Guangzhou Music Teahouses In The Early Reform And Opening-Up Period, Dongfeng Tao, Yunxia Fan

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In the late 1970s to early 1980s, with the advent of reform and opening up, popular music, which had remained dormant for three decades, began to revive and became a pioneer in the first wave of popular culture in mainland China. Guangdong played the role of a forerunner and pathfinder in this process. As a form of mass entertainment culture with distinctive local features in Guangdong, music teahouses offer an exemplary case for exploring the relationships among administrators, the market, performers, and audiences/listeners as consumers in the construction of the field of popular culture during the transitional period. Drawing on …


Cultural Memory And The Formation Of The “Chinese Paradigm” Of Contemporary Literary Hermeneutics, Pengfei Gu Sep 2026

Cultural Memory And The Formation Of The “Chinese Paradigm” Of Contemporary Literary Hermeneutics, Pengfei Gu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Cultural memory, as a stratified construction of memory place, memory time, memory identity and memory classics, provides the basic impetus for the formation of a “Chinese paradigm” in contemporary literary hermeneutics. For over a century, contemporary Chinese literary hermeneutics, in the process of drawing on cultural memory to construct itself, has successively formed three interpretive paradigms, that is, the “aesthetic interpretation” paradigm, which formed during the identity shift of ancient Chinese literary hermeneutics from nationality to modernity; the “public interpretation” paradigm, which formed through the identity transformation of Western literary hermeneutics from Westernness to Chineseness; and the “practical interpretation” paradigm, …


On The Implication Of The Revival Of Parallel Prose In The Qing Dynasty, Jinsong Li Sep 2026

On The Implication Of The Revival Of Parallel Prose In The Qing Dynasty, Jinsong Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The revival of parallel prose in the Qing dynasty is a judgment in literary historiography that represents the mainstream scholarly view of parallel prose during this period. Through an analysis of various discourses on parallel prose in the Qing dynasty, this study finds that the implications of such assessment extend beyond the large number of parallel-prose works and their authors. They also encompass the elevation of stylistic standards, the expansion of the aesthetic scope of parallel prose, and the incorporation of diverse literary forms. Consequently, an examination of the significance of the revival of parallel prose in the Qing dynasty …


Conference Report On The 13th Youth Forum Ofthe China Association For Theory Ofliterary And Art On “Literary And Arttheory Research In The Age Of Ai”, Yuan Song Sep 2026

Conference Report On The 13th Youth Forum Ofthe China Association For Theory Ofliterary And Art On “Literary And Arttheory Research In The Age Of Ai”, Yuan Song

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

No abstract provided.


A Brief Discussion On Three Newly Discovered Commentary Editions Of The Water Margin: On The Value Of Unpublished Commentary Edition Of Novels, Lei Deng Sep 2026

A Brief Discussion On Three Newly Discovered Commentary Editions Of The Water Margin: On The Value Of Unpublished Commentary Edition Of Novels, Lei Deng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Unlike previously known versions of The Water Margin, which consist exclusively of published volumes, three newly discovered commentary editions remain in their unpublished, manuscript form. These three editions reflect the diverse engagement of readers at distinct levels of proficiency. For novice readers who are new to the work, the practice of excerpting original text alongside existing critiques serves as a mnemonic and interpretive aid. Intermediate readers demonstrate greater familiarity with the text and its commentarial tradition, yet their annotations remain spontaneous and primarily serve as emotional outlets. In contrast, advanced readers—characterized by superior literary erudition—produce serious commentaries that exhibit …


How To Understand Chinese Narratology: On The Construction Of Andrew H. Plaks's Chinese Narrative Theory, Wei Feng Sep 2026

How To Understand Chinese Narratology: On The Construction Of Andrew H. Plaks's Chinese Narrative Theory, Wei Feng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The study of Andrew H. Plaks's Chinese narrative theory mainly centered on The Four Master Works of the Ming Novel and Chinese Narrative. Most scholars often tend to discuss these two works separately, thereby underestimating both the similarity in their core viewpoints and the differences in their theoretical frameworks. By examining Plaks's two works on Dream of the Red Chamber, researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the process by which he constructed his narrative theory. Furthermore, Chinese Narrative: Critical and Theoretical Essays makes it clear that Plaks's exploration of Chinese narrative literature is directed toward reshaping …


Huang Tingjian's Poetic Practice Of Learning From Tao Yuanming, Shangyun Cheng Sep 2026

Huang Tingjian's Poetic Practice Of Learning From Tao Yuanming, Shangyun Cheng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Huang Tingjian engaged in a spiritual dialogue with Tao Yuanming on themes such as praising Tao's loyalty, contentment in poverty, and self-cultivation of the mind and character. His profound experience of reading Tao Yuanming's poetry left a deep imprint on both his poetic theory and his creative compositions. Huang Tingjian's criticism of Tao Yuanming's poetry emphasized the poet's inner subjective realm and the reader's responses. This impressionistic criticism crystallized into the poetics of qingxing (emotion-nature) in his later years. The core of this theory lies in poetry's fenghua (transformative) function: the poet alleviates sorrow and manifests his temperament through verse, …


The Late Style Of Song Poetry Beyond The “Jianghu” Poetic Style: Syntactic Innovation In Liu Kezhuang's Poetry, Jinbang Wu Sep 2026

The Late Style Of Song Poetry Beyond The “Jianghu” Poetic Style: Syntactic Innovation In Liu Kezhuang's Poetry, Jinbang Wu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Liu Kezhuang (1187—1269)'s poetry exhibits notable syntactic innovation through its transgression of conventional poetic boundaries, generating distinctive rhythmic effects. Such unconventional structures are most prominent in his later works, especially in the central couplets of regulated verse, where they are often combined with classical allusions and sophisticated parallelism. Unlike typical jianghu and jiangxi poetry modes, these syntactic experiments display a strong affinity with parallel prose and its compositional techniques. Liu's fellow Fujian literati like Lin Xiyi also exhibited similar tendencies, suggesting the influence of regional literary practices on the broader poetic establishment. While striking to balance intellectual depth and compositional …


Gadamer's Interpretation And Reconstruction Of The Theory Of Imagination In Kant's Aesthetics, Wencong Nong Sep 2026

Gadamer's Interpretation And Reconstruction Of The Theory Of Imagination In Kant's Aesthetics, Wencong Nong

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Gadamer repeatedly reflected on the concept of imagination in Kant's aesthetics from a critical perspective. His discussions on this subject constitute an important theoretical dimension of the hermeneutical conception of imagination. In Truth and Method, Gadamer grounds imagination in the play space wherein Dasein engages with beings, and, through ontological thinking, dissolves the subjectivization of the free play of imagination as well as the principle of the priority of understanding. In “Intuition and Vividness,” Gadamer liberates artistic intuition from mere receptivity under stimulative conditions through the original nature of imagination. At the same time, he interprets Kant's theory of …


Biases And Paradoxes: The Politics Of New Aestheticism's Depoliticization, Fang Yuan Sep 2026

Biases And Paradoxes: The Politics Of New Aestheticism's Depoliticization, Fang Yuan

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

New aestheticism is a school of literary criticism that emerged in the early twenty-first century. Rather than simply returning to traditional aestheticism, it incorporates insights from multiple theoretical traditions. It critiques social-historical criticism and cultural studies in an effort to downplay the political dimension of literary criticism, instead emphasizing individualized experience and aesthetic pleasure. However, new aestheticism reveals significant theoretical biases and inherent paradoxes. It overlooks the sustained attention that social-historical criticism and cultural studies have devoted to aesthetic questions; it attributes the perceived decline of English studies to the utilitarian tendencies of criticism; and it seeks to free itself …


Pretext, Hypertext, And Potential Text: An Analysis Of Paul Valéry's Poetics Of Translation, Lu Gan Sep 2026

Pretext, Hypertext, And Potential Text: An Analysis Of Paul Valéry's Poetics Of Translation, Lu Gan

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

As one of the founders of modern French criticism, Paul Valéry's poetics not only inspired major intellectual movements within the French academic system but also transformed the landscape of literary studies. Central to his poetics is a sustained engagement with translation—both as a personal practice and as a theoretical pursuit. This engagement positioned translation as an embodiment of his poetics and gave rise to a distinctive poetics of translation. Focusing on Valéry's perspectives on language and literature, this article examines three dimensions of his poetics of translation: 1. treating the original text as a “pretext” and translation as both a …


Deleuze, Freud And A Reinterpretation Of The Three Syntheses, Shubao Dong Sep 2026

Deleuze, Freud And A Reinterpretation Of The Three Syntheses, Shubao Dong

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In his Difference and Repetition, Deleuze offers a creative interpretation of Freud's late text “Beyond the Pleasure Principle”, proposing a novel structure of three syntheses at the level of repetition and the unconscious. This interpretation exemplifies Deleuze's productive engagement with Freud and psychoanalytic theory. Although Freud links the superego to the death drive, he remains confined to the perspective of material repetition. Deleuze, by contrast, reconceptualizes the death drive from the standpoint of spiritual repetition, ultimately revealing an impersonal death characterized by the coexistence of life and death and the dissolution of the subject. Deleuze sequentially integrate his three …


Three Approaches To The Study Of Contemporary Western Political Aesthetics: A Re-Examination From The Perspective Of Historical Materialism, Xi Wang Sep 2026

Three Approaches To The Study Of Contemporary Western Political Aesthetics: A Re-Examination From The Perspective Of Historical Materialism, Xi Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

For a long time, studies on aesthetics and politics in the Western tradition have been situated in the framework of metaphysical philosophy. From Rousseau to Schiller, and further to the writings of European Romanticism represented by the Jena Romantics, scholars have sought to reconstruct the connection between aesthetic ideal and modern politics within the realm of speculative thought. Having undergone the theoretical refinement from Marx to the Frankfurt School, contemporary Western research on political aesthetics has “descended” from the metaphysical domain to the practical domain of social history, consciously distinguishing between the ideological practice of “aestheticized politics” and the critical-theoretical …


The Middle Path To Materiality: Exploring The Origins Of Semiotic Materiality Theory, Xudong Guo Sep 2026

The Middle Path To Materiality: Exploring The Origins Of Semiotic Materiality Theory, Xudong Guo

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Media materiality studies seek to identify a middle path that accommodates both materiality and meaning, and semiotic materiality theory offers important theoretical resources for this endeavor from a semiotic perspective. Semiotic materiality theory originated in the work of Charles Sanders Peirce and in the Bakhtin circle's emphasis on the material properties of signs. It was later further developed within Marxist semiotics and social semiotics, through which it acquired a theoretical orientation grounded in Marxist materialism and social critique. The correspondence between semiotic materiality theory and media materiality studies lies in their comprehensive understanding of the relationship among signs, materiality and …


From Acceleration And Resonance To Social Energy: An Interview With Hartmut Rosa, Siyu Yao, Hartmut Rosa Sep 2026

From Acceleration And Resonance To Social Energy: An Interview With Hartmut Rosa, Siyu Yao, Hartmut Rosa

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Building upon his theories of “acceleration” and “resonance”, Hartmut Rosa is currently advancing his thoughts on “social energy”. In this interview, Rosa first explains his emphasis on the “first-person perspective”, connecting his idea of socio-cultural energy with traditional Chinese thought. After addressing the influence of hometown on his “identity” and overall intellectual path, he underscores how the theory of “resonance” transcends previous conceptions of “identity”, highlighting the importance of transformation and of uncontrollability. In the discussion of the Frankfurt School, Rosa acknowledges the significant theoretical and methodological influences of Karl Marx and Max Weber, positioning himself closer to the first …


Roland Barthes's Biographical Writing, Qiong Wu Sep 2026

Roland Barthes's Biographical Writing, Qiong Wu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Roland Barthes is regarded as one of the most influential theorists of the “text” in the second half of the 20th century. He not only developed a series of theoretical reflections on the concept of the “text,” but also transformed these reflections into a distinctive writing practice. Within this practice, biography as a literary genre became a central site for the refinement and testing of his text theory. Biographical writing and text theory can be understood as symbiotic in Roland Barthes's work. On the one hand, he employs text theory to rethink and reconfigure the fundamental generic assumptions of biography; …


“Imagining For Delight” And “Gazetteer Of Dialects And Local Customs”: Zhou Zuoren's Conceptualization Of Aesthetic Education Through Nursery Rhymes, Chengzhu Cao Sep 2026

“Imagining For Delight” And “Gazetteer Of Dialects And Local Customs”: Zhou Zuoren's Conceptualization Of Aesthetic Education Through Nursery Rhymes, Chengzhu Cao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In response to the mysterious associations and political interpretations attached to nursery rhymes in ancient China, Zhou Zuoren explained the emergence of children's songs through anthropological theories that engage with human auditory development, the instinct of imitation, and the singing practice of early humans. He opposes the didactic and moralizing functions assigned to children's songs and advocates a view of pleasure that emphasizes “finding delight through imaginative association” and personal enjoyment. He evaluates the aesthetic value of children's songs from the child's perspective a, regarding them as “poetry for children.” He particularly focuses on their experiential recording of dialects, customs, …


The Early Modern Literary Purport Of “Brain Transformation” And Its Enlightenment For Modern Fiction, Yishan Ye Sep 2026

The Early Modern Literary Purport Of “Brain Transformation” And Its Enlightenment For Modern Fiction, Yishan Ye

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the imperative to “enlightening the people” positioned “brain transformation” as a central concern among writers. In cross-cultural practice, the integration of “qi theory” and the reinterpretation of neural theory provided an ideological foundation and discursive resources for constructing the literary concept of “power” in the “new fiction”. Utilizing tropes such as medicine, magic, and universal electricity, novelists employed concepts of mechanical force and vitality to explore the human. Through aesthetic composites, they reconciled internal contradictions within science discourse and evoked the intrinsic beauty of science. Liang Qichao's aesthetic integration of “power” …


A Discussion Of The Critical Creative Practice Of Lu Xun's Literary Philosophy, Xuan Wu Sep 2026

A Discussion Of The Critical Creative Practice Of Lu Xun's Literary Philosophy, Xuan Wu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Critical creative philosophical thinking internally transforms the concrete understandings of the world articulated in Confucian and Taoist philosophy. This mode of thinking constitutes the philosophical condition that makes Chinese literary classics possible, yet it also revels a blind spot in Chinese philosophical studies, which have often remained confined to cognitive interpretations of pre-Qin philosophy. Lu Xun consciously aligned himself with a tradition of literary-philosophical thinking represented by figures such as Zhuang Zi, Sima Qian, Su Shi, and Cao Xueqin. Taking The Classic of Mountains and Seas as a foundational text for understanding life, he undertook a critical reexamination of both …


The Theoretical Connotations Of Modern Chinese Literary Historiography, Xiangxi Fu Sep 2026

The Theoretical Connotations Of Modern Chinese Literary Historiography, Xiangxi Fu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The study of historical materials in modern Chinese literature explores the theories and methods regarding the formal characteristics, genesis and evolution, and the organization and utilization of literary materials. The fundamental principles of this field the pursuit of truth, the pursuit of completeness, and the maintenance of appropriateness. The “pursuit of truth” concerns the fundamental objective of the study of modern Chinese literary historical materials. The “pursuit of completeness” pertains to its scope and focus. The “maintenance of appropriateness” relates to its mechanism of balance. These three principles act as preconditions for one another, and they collectively constitute the theoretical …