Chinese Studies Commons^™

Using Ignatian Pedagogy To Teach Chinese Literature, Dale Hoiberg

Ignatian Pedagogy Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Letters To Mei Lanfang, Alexandra Dare Norman

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

As a male actor of female Dan characters, Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) is known throughout the world as the most representative performer of Chinese opera – particularly for his performance of Concubine Yu in the Peking opera Farewell My Concubine. A feminist analysis of his work in this opera reveals a series of assumptions about the definition of “Woman” in both theatre and life. This project is solo performance piece formatted in a series of open letters to Mei Lanfang, interspersed with personal stories investigating what it truly means to be a Woman – as an actor, a Christian, a feminist, …

A Summary Of The 13th Annual Meeting Of The Society Of Chinese Literary Theory And The Conference On Reviewing And Rethinking Chinese Literary Theory Of The Past Century , Jian'gang Yang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

No abstract provided.

New Changes Of Confucianism During The Late Qing Dynasty And The New Novel's Imagination Of The Nation, Jun Zhu, Xun Sun

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

New Novel's imagination of the nation in the 20th century marked the beginning of modern Chinese novel as well as the narrative of a modern nation state. It was related both to the introduction of western modernity and new changes of Confucianism during the late Qing Dynasty. The convergence of the evolution theory in Gongyang studies and that in the West changed the traditional temporal and spatial structure in Chinese novels, which consequently resulted in the shift from traditional utopians to the imagination of the future "New China". While Chinese writers were introducing western political ideas by writing political novels, …

An Interpretation Of Zhang Xuecheng's Idea "The Philosophers And History Failed, Yet The Collection Flourished", Xu Fu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In Shijiao Zhang Xuecheng argues that "the philosophers and history failed, yet the collection flourished", using refined words to summarize the change of academic studies after Warring States. Not only does the argument describe the change of private writing's form, but also reveals its substantial change, which is the loss of purposes. In his discussion of the decline of history, Zhang Xuecheng especially emphasizes the loss of specialized subjects. This argument contains Zhang's academic ideal, and provides a frame of reference when it comes to other topics in Wenshi-Tongyi. The multiple dualities in this argument are consistent with the meaning …

Game Impulse's Negation Of Time In Time: Temporality In Schiller's Aesthetics (Ii), Yanshun Liu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Temporality is the key to Schiller's aesthetics and aesthetic education, which should be elucidated. Schiller believes that temporality must be followed in order to give a clear account of the fundamental differences between the perceptual impulse and the rational impulse in terms of their composition. He argues that the game impulse, which is of narrow temporality, cannot have far foresight, that the rational impulse as maxims, ethical norms and religious gods can negate time, and that temporality is by no means a tertiary criterion independent of the other two impulses. Only in the game impulse can rationality be activated and …

Jonathan Culler And Feminism, Fang Wu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Jonathan Culler constructs Feminist reading theory from the angle of literary deconstructionism. He elaborates on Feminist reading theory from three facets: reading and interpretation of women's experience, women's reading that identifies with men and that asserts reason. As a male theorist recognized by many women critics, Culler fully affirms Feminism and reflects upon it from a deconstructionist perspective.

The Logical Basis Of "Illocution" And The Problem Of "Intentionality": Quine's "Reducto Ad Absurdum" And The Dispute Between Wittgenstein And Kripke, Yunke Lin

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

With the introduction of analytic philosophy in general and the analysis of everyday language in particular into studies of literary theory, illocution has become a widely accepted theoretical resource therein. The ready application of this theory in literary studies without considering its evolution within analytic philosophy has caused many problems in literary theory, the most visible of which is the issue of "intentionality" contained in illocution. Searle's seminal paper "The Logical Status of Fictional Discourse" marks the involvement of analytic philosophy in studies of literary theory, but his "given intentionality" stance has become a new problem. The logical status of …

The Neo-Noir Crazy Stone Phenomenon, H. Kuoshu Harry

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The Crazy Stone phenomenon in China is often described as the black carnival of both the movie goers and the concerned scholars. The filmic and discursive enthusiasm for Crazy Stone has drawn much attention to the carnival theory by M. Bakhtin and the postmodern theoretical attention to mass culture. Surveying the cultural implications of craziness and how Crazy Stone connects with both the global as well as domestic film cultures, the author of this article observes the absence of such concepts as film noir and neo noir in this round of discussion and argues that Crazy Stone discourse and many …

The Theoretical Evolution And Literary Orientation Of "Symptomatic Reading", Wenfang Yao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The term "symptomatic reading" initiated by Althusser, as far as the origin of the term is concerned, can be traced to Freud and Lacan. Freud uncovers meaning from slips of tongue, dreams and the symptoms of the insane. Adopting philosophy, psychology and linguistics in rebuilding psychoanalysis, Lacan seeks to restructure, in a scientific and systematic manner, Freud's view that symptoms are meaningful. This is what lays the foundation for the theory of "symptomatic reading" put forward by Althusser. In the process of establishing the theory, Althusser derives the method from the form of negation Hegel investigates in his Science of …

Zhuzhi Poetry's Shift Of Writing Pattern And Its Improvement Of Status In The Qing Dynasty, Yi'an Zhu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Compared with the composition features in the Ming dynasty, zhuzhi poetry becomes more realistic in the Qing dynasty. Zhuzhi poetry and hundred endemic poetry are used to write detailed comments in ancient books and local chronicles, which pay special attention to documenting events and reality. These changes are related to the popularity of pragmatism that encourages contribution to society. At the same time, the intentional practice of taking part in compiling historical books enables many poets write local chronicles in the form of zhuzhi poetry. Because of their use of zhuzhi poetry to offer supplements to local chronicles and their …

Analyzing Poetics With Calligraphy: Calligraphy And Poetics Of The Classicist School In The Ming Dynasty, Xianpo Yuan

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Analyzing poetics with calligraphy is an important strategy for the Ming dynasty classicist poetics. It originates from Su Shi and Yan Yu, flourishes with the first seven celebrities and the last seven celebrities, and ends in the five litterateurs. Such a combination of calligraphy and poetics aims to establish classical aesthetics by learning from calligraphy in terms of its classical characteristics, and thus to find a theoretical basis for ancient poetics. Furthermore, the classicist school moves beyond the connection of form between calligraphy and poetics by emphasizing practice, namely, composing poetry in the way of coping calligraphic works. In short, …

On Terry Eagleton's Revolutionary Criticism, Wei Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The “revolutionary criticism” which Eagleton uses in the interpretation of Walter Benjamin is often equated with “political criticism” or “ideological criticism” by some researchers, but what have been downplayed or even ignored are the relationship between “revolutionary criticism”, cultural revolution, and the revolutionary cultural practice, as well as the revolutionary energy generated among them. Eagleton points out that the “revolutionary criticism” has anticipated the practice of contemporary deconstruction criticism, and yet they have qualitative difference. Significantly, some of his descriptions of deconstructionism are simplistic. Some scholars believe that the “revolutionary criticism” is his ideal criticism, which neglects the problem of …

Originality In Modern And Contemporary Chinese Drama Revisited: Spoken Drama Vis A Vis Chinese Opera, Huizhu (William) Sun

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

From a comparative perspective and using originality as the main criterion, this study examines dramatic literature in modern and contemporary China, including Chinese opera as well as spoken drama, especially taking seriously the former, often overlooked by modern literary scholars. The conclusion is that the achievements of Chinese opera are greater than those of spoken drama. And modern Chinese opera has unwittingly had a breakthrough in the area of modern verse drama where western dramatists have tried but largely failed in the last century or so. Some Chinese operas may likely become the most valuable world classics from Chinese theatre.

"Engaging In Literature For Life" In The Era Of Post-Revolution: The Theoretical Framework And Connotation Of Zhu Ziqing's Literary Appreciation, Cheng Luo

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Previous studies have primarily recognized Zhu Ziqing's significance in modern hermeneutics of poetry, literary criticism, the establishment of literary studies as a discipline, etc; and they tend to pay much attention to the influence of Richards and Empson's semantic criticism on Zhu's methodology of appreciation. However, in the historical context of post-revolution Zhu's literary appreciation is not just for "appreciation" or "knowledge", but originates from his anxiety about the cultural and political conflicts between the new and the old. That the two literary events between him and Gu Sui and Zhu Guangqian reveal Zhu's uniqueness on his theoretical framework of …

A Discussion Of "Wen Bi" Theory In The Southern Dynasties From The Taboos Of "Bi", Yunyun Tang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Scholars have been discussing the connection between "Wen Bi" theory and its function in the division of literary genres. The book Wenjing Mifu Lun emphasizes the harmony but does not require end rhyme. "Wen Bi" theory is closely linked to the parallel prose according to taboos of "Bi", and thus they share popularity in the Southern Dynasties and decline in Tang Dynasty. We can also conclude from this fact that there is study of rhythm in the Southern Dynasties, which, however, was not sufficient to prove that there was the idea of "pure literature" at that time.

A Study Of Liu Yongji's Litterateur Temperament Through An Analysis Of The Separation And Reunion Of Xueheng And Xiangjun, Wenxin Chen, Junwei Jiang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper aims to reveal Liu Yongji's litterateur temperament by analyzing the separation and reunion of Xueheng and Xiangjun, and by focusing on Liu Yongji's activities in the 1920s with reference to an inclusive definition of the academic community of Xueheng. In terms of Xueheng, Liu Yongji's role was always a supporter and a follower. In contrast, he adopted a more independent cultural attitude in terms of his discourse for Xiangjun. Unlike Xiangjun, which paid more attention to literature, Xueheng valorized academic research. Unlike Liu Yongji's high-hearted pride, Wu Mi’s style was much more like one of a fighter. These …

Eagleton On Culture And The Death Of God: A Discussion Of "The Theological Turn" Of Western Leftists, Xi Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

As a well-renowned critic of Western cultural leftists, Eagleton turns his research focus from cultural sphere to political issues in the new era. He reminds the intellectuals that the secular age seems to have been replaced by a new era, namely, the post-secular era, where metaphysical conflicts have caused various kinds of vital threats to world peace directly. He argues that Marxist critics have the responsibilities to venture into the overlapping areas of religion and politics. Eagleton's new work Culture and the Death of God attempts to correspond to the above aporia and open up the third way of returning …

Huaxia Mythological Astronomy And The Comparative Literary Studies Of The Multi-Ethnic Chinese Nation, Yunhong Dai

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Contemporary literary studies in China is moving towards a new direction, which is to reflect on and study the literature of multi-ethnic China by considering cultural-historical characteristics of the Chinese multi-ethnic nation and the multiple sources and ethnic groups in and of Chinese literature. Studies in Chinese mythology and archaeoastronomy indicate that Huaxia mythological astronomy is the source and basis of Chinese history, culture and literature. If the Chinese comparative literary studies reflect on their history, horizons and scope, Huaxia mythological astronomy should become a cornerstone and starting point of this discipline.

Literature Of Small Nationalities: Rewriting History, Boundary And Transgression, Changzhong Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The encounters of tradition and modernity, the local and the global make rewriting history a prominent narrative syndrome of literature of small nationalities. It is rewriting history’s basic appeal to summon collective memory and subsequently to reinforce an awareness of boundary and reproduction of identity with it. History in this sense is not a grand history written to be verified, but a narrative and hermeneutic tradition, a past constructed and molded by texts. Because of the absence of self-other spatial dimension, the single temporal dimension of tradition-modernity makes rewriting history penetrate the boundary of literature and ethics. Rewriting history can …

The Influence Of Gender Theory On Women Studies And Its Debates, Chenghua Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In the 1970s, gender theory emerged under the influence of the research of the American psychoanalyst Robert Stoller. Scholars in women studies who rely on gender theory focused on the social construction of gender identity, elaborating on how the discourse around men and women shape masculinity and femininity, and how masculinity and femininity construct the hierarchy of men and women. Under the influence of gender theory, researchers conducted research in four areas: the analysis of symbolic images, the construction of different disciplines, the distinction of social roles and the internalization of value systems. Gender theory also prompts us to accept …

The Performativity Of Cultural Trauma And The Construction Of Trauma Discourse, Jianhui Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

As literary theories, the trauma theory and the performativity theory are interrelated in that performativity is the process of trauma representation and trauma is the object of performativity. Trauma does not preexist, but becomes one. The performativity of cultural trauma is the means by which trauma discourse is constructed. Through an exploration of the performativity of cultural trauma and of the construction of trauma discourse, this article sorts out and examines the two literary theories in question and their critical paradigms.

The Quarrel Between Philosophy And Poetry In Agamben's Literary Horizon, Hongsheng Jiang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The split between philosophy and poetry has long been accepted as natural in Western culture. Agamben maintains that this scission actually engendered serious problems. It is a manifestation of the schizophrenic character of Western culture: the subject cannot fully possess the object of knowledge and experience the wholeness of humanity, leading to alienation of the self and culture. In addressing the old enmity between philosophy and poetry, Agmaben proposes a kind of creative criticism, which joins together criticism and creation, to recover the unity of the fragmented word in Western culture. In Agamben's view, the development of an "interdisciplinary discipline" …

The Riddle Of Life And Death And Its Appearance On Vase Paintings: An Interpretation Of The Essential Theme Of The Pre-Socratic Cosmological Aesthetics, Shunning Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The essential theme of Pre-Socratic cosmological aesthetics is the riddle of life and death. It shows that from the very beginning Pre-Socratic thoughts were not about the exploration into nature, but about life and death. Such a concern was conceived in Proto-Geometric and Geometric decorated pottery in the Dark ages, rather than derived from the writings of Hesiod and Homer.

The Violent "Linguistic Utopia": The Issue Of Evil In Terry Eagleton's Theory, Jian Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The issue of Evil which Terry Eagleton discusses is a hot topic that originated from the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, though many modern philosophers are puzzled about this unexplained violence which suddenly appeared in history. Eagleton turns his attention to the layer of Language, arguing that the transcendentality in Language contains both creativity and lethality. Eagleton's contemplations also include his reflections on Arnoldian elitist theories. He calls for a new ethical materialism which is related to the other and personal limitation and both the relation to the other and personal limitation are uncontrollable.

Teaching Languages Online: Innovations And Challenges, Mayu Miyamoto, Natsumi Suzuki, Atsushi Fukada, Yuhan Huang, Siyan Hou, Wei Hong

Purdue Linguistics, Literature, and Second Language Studies Conference

Language professionals long resisted teaching online mainly because it was unthinkable to teach speaking in the online environment. Recent advances in technology, however, have made it conceivable. This chapter presents the design and implementation of online courses in Japanese and Chinese recently developed and being offered at Purdue University. We will highlight not only technologies involved, but also pedagogical innovations that helped resolve difficult issues. The efficacy of online teaching will also be touched upon. Reactions from enrolled students and the instructors that have taught the courses will also be shared.

The Evaluation Of Implicit And Explicit Instruction In Chinese Refusals: A Case Of A Japanese Learner, Bo Zhan

Purdue Linguistics, Literature, and Second Language Studies Conference

No abstract provided.

Session A-3: The Yin And Yang Of U.S.-China Relations 1840-Present, Diane Haleas

Professional Learning Day

The United States and China have experienced both difficult relations and positive relations. For over 150 years these interactions between the United States and China have resulted in significant influences on political, economic, and cultural decisions in both countries. This presentation will offer an overview of time periods, emphasize crucial events, and analyze the implications for U.S.-China relations today and in the future. Lesson plan ideas will be included.

The Paradox Of Power: Principal-Agent Problems And Fiscal Capacity In Absolutist Regimes, Debin Ma, Jared Rubin

ESI Working Papers

Tax extraction in Qing China was low relative to Western Europe. It is not obvious why: China was much more absolutist and had stronger rights over property and people. Why did the Chinese not convert their absolute power into revenue? We propose a model, supported by historical evidence, which suggests that i) the center could not ask its tax collecting agents to levy high taxes because it would incentivize agents to overtax the peasantry; ii) the center could not pay agents high wages in return for high taxes because the center had no mechanism to commit to refrain from confiscating …

Chinese Communication Studies: Three Paths Converging, Wenshan Jia

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

This contribution presents the possibilities for anthropological and neo-Marxist media within the hugely expanding sector of Chinese communication studies. China has sourced mostly from the American positivist tradition but is increasingly ­taking on board European critical thinking but it also needs to absorb some of the depth and diversity of indigenous scholarship existing in Chinese.

Jia, Lu, and Heisey (2002) presented an influential meta-analysis of every ­example of communication studies in China at that time. The book chapter which talks about the rise of the discipline and scholarship of Chinese communication as an academic discipline (Jia et al., 2014) summarises …