Chinese Studies Commons^™

The Theorization Of Rhythm In Modern Chinese Aestheticism, Hongxia Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

As one core concept of aestheticism, "art for art's sake" in modern Chinese literature has a distinctive way of manifestation with localized forms, and the theorization of "rhythm" is the most unique one among its specific concepts. Authors and theorists help to define its trajectory of development throughout the process of modern Chinese literature. Lu Xun approached it at the beginning of 20th century from the perspective of "devilish beauty" as a form of the rhythm of life. Lu Xun's conceptualization echoed among the advocator of pure poetry. Literary theorist Qian Gurong's essay "On Rhythm" can be viewed as a …

Curriculum Development And Students’ Learning Outcomes: A Case Study Of Putonghua Presentation Skills, Danping Wang, Xiao Yan Qiu, Man Lut Chau, King Lam, Jacquelin Choy

Practical Social and Industrial Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Live Confucian: The Newsletter Of The Confucius Institute Of Pace University June 2013, Confucius Institute Pace University

Live Confucian

A newsletter of the Confucius Institute, Pace University.

The Confucius Institute at Pace Universi­ty is dedicated to providing Chinese lan­guage and cultural education, resources,and services to meet the needs of people from all backgrounds.

Rethinking Theatrical Images Of The New Woman In China's Republian Era, Li Guo

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

In her article "Rethinking Theatrical Images of the New Woman in China's Republican Era" Li Guo analyses the multivalent representations of the New Woman and posits that they encompass a broad array of blended feminine identities following the introduction of Western literary and cultural trends into Chinese culture. The tensions between ideological discourses about nation, gender, and politics as revealed in the plays of the republican period reveal the many underlying cultural paradigms and the processes in which dramatists Sinicized foreign models of the New Woman to appeal to their domestic audiences. Guo explores how the playwrights' gendered viewpoints contribute …

Introduction To Asian Culture(S) And Globalization, I-Chun Wang, Li Guo

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Marshall McLuhan coined the term "the global village" associating globalized human experiences in an electronic age (4). Although transnational relations existed for many centuries, McLuhan predicted in the 1960s that new technologies not only facilitate the growth of international interconnectedness, cross-border exchanges, as well as trans-cultural phenomena, but also help foster cultural transactions. Referring to the dramatic and unprecedented break between the past and the present, tradition and modernity, Arjun Appadurai argues that media and migration have been two major forces impelling the circulation of world cultures (3). In the phenomenon of globalization, people from every part of the world …

Generations Apart: Cultural Revolution Memory And China's Post-80'S Generation On The Chinese Internet, Vincent R. Capone

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis examines how the memory of the Cultural Revolution is used on the Chinese internet by China's post-80's generation and the Chinese Communist Party to describe and highlight examples of social instability. These comparisons are representative of the broad historical narrative written by the Party which forms the basis of how China's younger generations learn about and internalize the Cultural Revolution. This study analyzes how the memory of the Cultural Revolution is held by China's post-80's generation as viewed through the lens of the Chinese Internet. Specifically, this research engages with the intended purposes of the post-80's generation for …

"The French Theory" In The United States, Yang Lu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

As the embodiment of the post-modern discourse in the past half century, "the French Theory", in fact, is nothing but a product of Americanization, reflecting its trace in America. Francois Cusset's The French Theory: How Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze & Co. Transformed the Intellectual Life of the United States, a book worthy of reading, outlines the New World’s trail of "the French Theory." In Francois Cusset's viewpoint, Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont's Impostures Intellectuelles is a turning point in the reception of "the French Theory" by the American academic circles. As to why the French theory could only be received in …

A Study On Contemporary Literary Theory: Reflecting, Adjusting And Deepening, Daren Lai

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Recently, the change and development of the contemporary literary theory have started a new cycle of historical movement which interweaves the interaction between breakthroughs, inductions and establishments. To respond to the resultant changes and new issues, it is necessary to adjust the theoretical standpoint and approaches. Further construction, innovation and development of the contemporary literary theory pose new requirements in the form of three returns: a) from pursuing cultural studies to reverting on literary studies, b) from interpreting the phenomena to focusing on practical issues, and c) from the production of knowledge to the reconstruction of theory. Under the present …

Linear Narrative ― Did It Ever Exist?: Traditional Narratives Read As Fragmentary Vs. Fractured Post-Colonial Ones Read As Linear, Hajdu Péter

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The ground hypothesis of this paper is that narratives are not per se linear or fractured: linearity and fragmentariness are interpretive achievements. Readers interested in the experience of coherence tend to find linearity in every narrative, while those who like the representation of a fractured human condition will hardly experience linearity anywhere. The hypothesis is tested through four examples. The first one could be regarded as the most obvious example of linear narratives The Three Musketeers. A careful reading of its "Introduction" suggests that this text tends to advertise its fictionality, continuously plays with the focalization, undermines the identity of …

Benevolent Neighborhood Is Beauty: The Meta-Problem Of The Aesthetic Thought In Pre-Qin Confucianism, Haozhe Tan

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The idea that "benevolent neighborhood is beauty" in The Analects highlights the human aspect of Confucian aesthetics, and the theoretical proposition in the idea may be argued to be a meta-problem. It reveals the intrinsic connection between Confucius's aesthetics and his view of benevolence (Ren) and the benevolence-based nature of Confucian aesthetics, while it is the rationale and criteria for aesthetic thinking and judgment in various fields of life, society, art and nature. Confucius's idea of benevolence echoes in Mencius's concept that "enrichment and fulfillment are beauty." The idea that "benevolent neighborhood is beauty" highlights three main characteristics of pre-Qin …

The Production Of Thought And The Knowledge Innovation Of Literary Theory, Xijian Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

To investigate the knowledge innovation of contemporary literary theory from the angle of thought production may bring about profound academic implications. The production of thought creates value and meaning and is fundamental in creating knowledge. It also responds to the intrinsic qualities and rules of the literary theory as a discipline of humanities. As literary theory takes on more modern characteristics, the dominant presence and the production of intellectual thoughts in literary theory are being increasingly recognized and are even taken as the reason and aims for knowledge innovation. As a discipline that makes value interpretation and aesthetic judgment on …

A Cultural Inquiry Into The German Enlightenment Tragedy, Yuan Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In the light of modernity horizon, the German tragic dramas from 1850s to 1930s represented by Schiller, Goethe and Lessing may be argued to have been most deeply influenced by the Enlightenment Movement and become an independent cultural phenomenon of Enlightenment. The German tragic drama embodies the characteristics of German Enlightenment and infuses modernity to the German national culture, and it may well be called Enlightenment Tragedy. German enlightenment tragedy becomes an expression of the modernistic pursuit of German enlightenment culture, and the paper demonstrates the five aspects of the modernity German enlightenment tragedy pursued.

Rationalist Criticism In China's Current Social Transformation And The Neo-Rationalist Spirit In Literary Theory, Nan Gao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Realistic contexts define the construction of literary criticism, and they function through the practices in reality. The current historical period since 1980s has been characterized by social transformation which shows a general feature of interaction between criticism and construction. This period is in turn divided into four different phases characterized by the critique of rationalism, contingent continuation of rationalism, direction selecting, and neo-rationalist spirit construction, while the neo-rationalist spirit is constructed along all the phases. The neo-rational spirit was proposed and named in the 1990s, and the neo-rationalist spirit in literary theory shows in the four aspects of humanism, modernity, …

Signs Of The Return To Literary Studies From The Debate On Literary Canon, Wenfang Yao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The debate on literary canon in 1970s raised the cultural issue behind literary canonization and promoted the turn from literary study to cultural studies. The turn, however, has also resulted in a return to literary studies, which could be seen in the 1990s arguments of some representative scholars engaged in the debate. Scholars such as J. Guillory, Harold Bloom and Jonathan Culler have all expressed that the canonization of literary texts should center on literature and aesthetics. Their common appeal also implies an inherent logic which helps to reconcile the debate on literary canon.

The Discourse Of Revolt And The Study Of Contemporary Literary Theories, Yun Fan

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The discourse of revolt is gaining increasing popularity in contemporary literary theories, and the collaboration between the radical politics and literary theories has also alerted scholarly attention. One demanding question is how to evaluate and reflect the radical trend in contemporary literary theory. While Western researchers have made timely responses to the issue, Chinese scholars need to extend the research field and return from discursive politics to aesthetic ethics.

A Dynamic Analysis Of The Essence Of Art, Yan Chen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The essence of art is neither inbuilt in human brains nor conceived by theorists, but constructed in the course of the practice of art. Any static transcendental and metaphysical circumscription is doomed to fail, and this failure provides an easy excuse for the analytical aesethtics to deny the study on the essence of arts. If a perspective of art history is taken to dynamically examine the essence of art, art may be easily defined as a collection of artifacts that people created by way of material medium and conceptual symbols on the basis of imagination gained from life experience and …

Non-Academic Discourse Practice: Contemporary Association Among Aesthetics, Politics And Ethics: A Review On Rancière's Seminar WithTheoretical Studies In Literature And Art, Yin Bai, Feng Lv

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

No abstract provided.

Narrative Frequency And Three Dimensions Of Time, Weihua Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Time, as an experience for human beings, has three dimensions: linear time, annular time and psycho-time. Gerard Genette's theory of narrative frequency has dealt with only two of the three dimensions, namely, linear time and psycho-time. As a result, Genette's theory of narrative frequency demonstrates as a binary structure between the singular and the iterative. The lack of annular time leads to the neglect and misunderstanding of repetition. From the perspective of the three dimensions of time, a new theoretical structure of narrative frequency can be constructed in the frame of the singular, the repetitive and the iterative.

On Pleasure, Imagery And Value Of Beauty As The Characteristics Of Aesthetics, Zhixiang Qi

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Textbooks on the principles of aesthetics have all tackled the fundamental issue about the characteristics of aesthetics, but generally there exists a breakdown between the description of characteristics and the definition of beauty or there is no distinction between the pleasure of beauty and the pleasure of aesthetic perception. Modern aesthetic theories have a tendency of highlighting the generative aspect of beauty in aesthetic activities and denying the homogeneous quality of beauty and its definition, and therefore the possibility and necessity of the research into the characteristics of beauty is ungrounded. This paper takes a constructive post-modern stance to re-examine …

A Synopsis Of The Symposium On "Paradigm Transformation Of Literary Theory And Traditions Of Literary Theory In West And China", Yong Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

No abstract provided.

Beauty As The Intuitive Presentation Of Idea: A Phenomenological Interpretation Of Hegel's Aesthetics, Hongbin Su

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Hegel's aesthetic view derives from his view of arts, which grows out of his views of art typology and art history. However, his views of art typology contradict his logic principle, and his views of art history contradict the historical practice of art history, and Hegel's aesthetic view is therefore seriously undermined. On the other hand, Hegel’s idea of intellectual intuition proposed in philosophy of mind may serve as a cognitive ability and produce a general representation. This representation, we believe, is actually idea in its intuitive state, which means that idea can be directly presented by way of intuition. …

On Aesthetic Depth Psychology And The Appreciation Of Art, Yuneng Zhang, Gong Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Aesthetic depth psychology has a decisive role in art appreciation. Unconsciousness and sub-consciousness formed in the course of art appreciation as a social practice may act on a certain "pre-view" embedded in aesthetic unconsciousness and sub-consciousness and result in "horizon fusion", and constitute "a schema of evocation". Thus the subjecthood and creativity in the act of art appreciation may be attained.

The Locality Of Theory: Name, Reality, History And Position, Xuehu Chen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper attempts to discuss from the aspects of name, reality, mainstream and related contemporary issues the social position and role of the so-called theory and literary theory in China. Scholars still tend to take literary activities as purely personal perceptions and ignore the social connotations and its structuration, with the result of failure to understand the position and role of theoretical reflection on literature's social significance. This paper hopes to clarify some of the misunderstanding and delineate the related contextual issues before drawing the conclusion that contemporary theory should inherit Chinese theoretical tradition developed in the 20th century, break …

The Will To Power: Retreating From The Ontological Position, Xueqin Feng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

"The will to power" has long been considered to be the foundation of Nietzsche's aesthetics or even his entire thought, as it is the most clarified differentiating mark in Nietzsche's philosophical thought. However, this claim has pinned Nietzsche's aesthetics on the metaphysical concept of aestheticization and overlooked his breakthrough contributions to contemporary aesthetics. The ontological theorization of the will to power is itself not an established theory, and a retreat from the ontological position of the theory can be found in Nietzsche’s later works. Nietzsche eventually abandoned his project to build a mansion of philosophy on The Will To Power. …

A Comparative Study Of Aesthetics Between Fang Dongmei And Xu Fuguan, Cheng Xu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

A comparative study of the aesthetics between Fang Dongmei and Xu Fuguan may reveal that their common aesthetic idea is the aesthetic identification between the Nature and the human, but they hold different understanding in the dominating-dominated role in the interactive relation between the Nature and the human. For Fang Dongmei, the Nature is the dominant, and a metaphysical axiology is built around the Heaven. For Xu Fuguan, the human is the dominant, and a humanist axiology is built around humanism. From the methodological perspective, Fang Dongmei’s aesthetics unifies Confucianist and Taoist philosophies while Xu Fuguan's aesthetics interprets Taoist thoughts …

Meta-Theoretical Procedure Of Foreign Literature Research: An Approach To The Science Of Foreign Literature, Jin Fan

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The paper suggests the concept of a discipline of "the Science of Foreign Literature Study" and claims that such a discipline may be constructed from a trans-theoretical standpoint. The paper argues that the various methodologies and theories introduced into Chinese literary researches should be integrated so as to investigate the general formational principles behind the symbolic system of "foreign literature." This argument is attempted by bypassing all the methodological debates and then is made from the perspective of the double duality between the real vs. the imaginary and the self vs. the other in the sign system of foreign literature. …

Narrative Act And Literariness: On Formal Analysis And Literariness, Xu Liu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Literariness is one of the fundamental issues in literary studies, and this paper tries to examine the forma presence of literariness in literary texts. The paper approaches the issue from the perspective of postclassical narratology, and it focuses on formal analysis combined with content analysis while the paper also tackles the relation between literariness and the writer's creative talent. The paper analyzes the texts by such writers as Zhao Shuli, Eileen Chang and Liu Qing to illustrate the inevitable relation between literary form and literariness, and it concludes that literariness of a literary text is determined by the narrative act …

On Literature As An Art Form And Its Ways, Feng Peng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper argues that literature is an art form and proposes three ways to approach the issue. The issue is then rephrased as three views of literariness: the formalist, the ontological and the procedural. The formalist view claims that the literariness exists in special linguistic and narrative features, such as defamiliarization. The ontological view emphasizes on a certain form of existence of the text and takes a literary work as a pure intentional object. The procedural view asserts that literariness exists in the appropriate attitude of reading as a result of long-term literature education.

On Lu Ji's Concept Of Audible Meaning As A Form Of Synesthetic Criticism, Songqing Chen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Lu Ji's term of "liuliang" in A Treatise on Rhapsody (Fu) had been interpreted since Li Shan in the Tang Dynasty as "clear and bright" or "lucid," although some scholars take it as referring to a new mode of writing rhapsody ("fu," rhymed prose) in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. In this paper, I argue that "liuliang" means "resonant," which was then used to describe the high and loud quality of sound. The term was used by Lu Ji to describe not only the loudness of the sound quality in "fu" but also the rhetoric and beautiful style in its …

On The Acceptance OfThe Books Of Songs In The Qing Dynasty Poetry, Guoan Chen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The acceptance of The Book of Songs shows not only in a branch of study in itself but also in almost all the genres of literary texts. This paper surveys how The Book of Songs was accepted in the poetry from Qing Dynasty and examines the acceptance into the Qing Dynasty literature from the perspectives of preserving the original spirit, the lyric way of expressing emotions and the imagery.