Chinese Studies Commons^™

Ways Of Seeing: Historicization, Technologization And Chinese Artistic Experience, Tairan Liu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Marx raised the issue of "the historicization of senses", arguing that the fundamental feature to distinguish humans from animals is that humans can use their techniques to foresee certain types of things in the future which are not given by the nature but are created by humans. However, issues such as the relationships between technology and the body, between technology and labor, and between technology and the ways of human-sensing invite further investigation. Chinese artistic experience enables us to separate "historicization of senses" from "technologization of senses" under new historical conditions, and then we may reflect on the globalization and …

Hanban Teachers’ Culture Shock And Adaptation In The U.S.: A Mixed Method Study, Yufei Guo, Huiwen Li, Hui Pang

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

When entering into the United States, Hanban teachers will face a totally different cultural environment. The different culture may lead to culture shock. This research, by employing mixed methods, investigated the culture shock the Hanban teachers in the United States have experienced. By looking at the teachers’ personal characteristics and the happenings to the teachers in the culture shock period, it also identified the main factors that significantly predict the culture shock. In addition, practical ways were suggested to help the teachers cope with cultural shock effectively.

Keywords: Hanban teachers, culture shock, predictive factors, culture adaptation

American K-12 Cfl Teachers’ Expected Competence, Actual Qualifications, And Needs For Professional Training: A Concurrent Mixed-Method Study, Xiongyi Liu, Ying Feng, Shunqin Li, Xiaocong Ding

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

In recent years, there has been a growing demand in the global labor market for proficiency in Chinese as a foreign or second language. Yet not much is known regarding how Chinese language education is provided by the U.S. schools in order to meet this demand. The present study investigated the competence that a Chinese teacher is expected to have as well as the qualification that currently in-service K-12 teachers of Chinese are actually possess. In addition, this research explored teaching philosophies, attitudes, pedagogy, challenges and needs for professional training among the Chinese teachers who are currently hired by U.S. …

Developing Effective Exercise Forms In Chinese Newspaper And Periodical Reading Class, Haiyan Liu

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Applying good exercises in extensive reading class is an indispensable measure for Chinese language learners. By employing newspaper and periodical extensive reading course as an example, this paper introduces technology-based reading techniques developed from the teaching practice, including rhythmic spacing, speed-reading, news-telling, and English video translation. Suggestions are also made on teaching resource identification and future research. The aim of this pedagogical report is to help extensive reading teachers learn how to develop systematic teaching methodology.

The Past And Present Of Chinese Language Teaching In Ireland, Caitríona Osborne, Qi Zhang, Yongbin Xia

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

China’s booming economy is indeed one of the main reasons for the popularity of learning Chinese as a foreign language (henceforth CFL). With this growing interest in CFL, Ireland is likely to be behind global trends as Chinese is not yet included as a State-examined subject at any level in the Irish schooling system. Chinese language teaching (henceforth CLT) began to develop significantly in formal UK schooling during 2004-2005 (Zhang & Li, 2010), whereas the earliest occurrence of CLT seen in the Irish education system was in 2006-2007 when two Confucius Institutes were set up in Ireland. During this time, …

New Approach To Chinese Writing: An Exploratory Study Of Writing Performance On Social Q&A Online Community, Lin Zhu

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Many studies have investigated how the online community has informed language acquisition and teaching. In the scholarship of Computer-Mediated Communication Theory (CMC), while most of the studies have emphasized second language English writing using the CMC framework, evidence is shown to support CMC in foreign language instruction. However, there is a lack of research on how feedback from native speakers of Chinese influences Chinese learners’ writing in a web environment. In response to the research gap, drawing on sociocultural and CMC, the current exploratory study probes the nature of feedback on Zhihu, the largest Chinese social question-and-answer website, and how …

Challenges Of Employing Voicethread To Enhance U.S. Collegiate Chinese Language Learners’ Oral Proficiency, Guangyan Chen, Junyu Zhang

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

The digital age in education inspires Chinese teachers to integrate Web 2.0 technologies into Chinese as a second language (CSL) curricula to enhance teaching effects. However, few studies examine the challenges that teachers face when integrating Web 2.0 technologies to improve student oral proficiency in Chinese. This study aims to investigate students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the Web 2.0 technology VoiceThread (VT). It examines the challenges of integrating VT to enhance student oral proficiency. The authors conducted two studies with 31 students responding to a questionnaire in Study 1 and 48 students responding to the same questionnaire in Study …

Table Of Contents, Huiwen Li

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Table of Contents for Volume 2, Issue 1 of Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Incheon Chinatown: Cultural Heritage Of This Korea's First Chinatown, Wendy W. Tan

Publications and Research

Established around 1884, Incheon Chinatown is Korea’s first Chinatown. While it has been centuries’ old, it does not fall into a normal condition of old fashioned Chinese community. Rather, it has been highly acclaimed for its presentations of tourist attractions and cultural heritage. It has also been unfortunately labelled as a Chinatown without Chinese. The author has a keen interest in Chinatown development around the world, so a personal visit was made to experience how elements of ethnicity are in action in this Chinese community

The Development Of Shamanism And Its Social Functions In The Song Dynasty (960-1279): Taking Folktales In Record Of The Listener As Major Examples, Xiang Wei

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This thesis examines the development and the social functions of Shamanism in the Song Dynasty (960-1276). The author focuses on different historical religious stories recorded in classics. In this thesis, folktales in Record of the Listener were major examples to illustrate Shamanism in the Song Dynasty. Moreover, this thesis also cites folktales and records from other primary sources. For instance, History of the Song, Qingming Ji, Xu Zi Zhi Tong Jian Chang Bian (A sequel of History as A Mirror) are also important primary sources to research Shamanism in the Song Dynasty. Furthermore, this thesis also focuses on citing views …

Overlapping Scriptworlds: Chinese Literature As A Global Assemblage, Wai-Chew Sim

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article “Overlappinig Scriptworlds: Chinese Literature as a Global Assemblage,” Wai-Chew Sim offers a globalist vision or understanding of Chinese literary studies/Sinophone studies. Deploying the notion of scriptworld (Damrosch), he examines how the Chinese, English, and Malay-language scriptworlds interact in the Southeast Asian context. He traces the rhizomatic connections between Joo Ming Chia’s Exile or Pursuit, a Singapore Sinophone text that explores multiple belongings, and two novels: M. L. Mohamed’s Confrontation (originally published as Batas Langit), and T.H. Kwee’s The Rose of Cikembang (originally published as Bunga Roos dari Cikembang). Tracing the sinophonicity of the latter …

The Disenchantment Of History And The Tragic Consciousness Of Chinese Postmodernity, Alberto Castelli

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Magic Realism brings fantastic events into the frame of the narration. Yet it cannot quite be defined. At the very start of the process of definition, there is a question: Magic Realism is a mode of narration, or rather a post-colonial movement rising sociological issues alternative to the logic of power? The paper parallels and juxtaposes Latin American Magic Realism and the literary experience of Chinese literary Avant-garde in the 80s, similar apocalyptic thematic, but different narrative structures. Relating to the fictional universe of Can Xue and Yu Hua, the aim is to illuminate an exclusive mode to narrate history: …

Promoting Teacher Professional Learning In Tanzanian Schools: Lessons From Chinese School-Based Professional Learning Communities, Mjege Kinyota, Patrick Severine Kavenuke, Rehema J. Mwakabenga,

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper reports on the history, features, and challenges of School-Based Professional Learning Communities (SBPLCs) in China to elicit lessons for Tanzania towards improving in-service teacher professional development. Based on the Chinese SBPLCs, this review aims to provide some insights to educational planners and teachers in Tanzania on how to establish and maintain effective school-based professional learning. This analysis used 30 journal articles published over the past twelve years (2006-2017) to provide research-based evidence. The findings indicate that Chinese schools have registered significant achievements in SBPLCs by supporting teacher collaborative learning and research in both rural and urban areas. As …

In Search Of China’S First Library: Materials, Housing And Arrangement, Junli Diao

Publications and Research

Historically, the origin of libraries has an intimate association with written records supporting administrative or ritual functions at the palace or temple. This article attempts to discuss the possibility of the existence of China’s first library in the Shang dynasty (c.1570-1045 BCE) during the beginning of the formative period of Chinese civilization. The article analyzes and synthesizes both paleographical and archaeological evidence from the perspective of available materials, houses, and arrangement, which answers the questions of what the books were made of, where they were stored, and how they were arranged. The article ends with a conclusion that there is …

Microreading/Microwriting, Perloff Marjorie

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This essay, following upon Kyoo Lee's case for "counterreading", argues for what I call "micropoetics": a close reading that takes into account every phoneme, morpheme, and word of a poetic text and reads that text "verbivocovisually", to use James Joyce's term. I take as my model Marcel Duchamp's concept of the infrathin — the smallest possible distinction, whether temporal or spatial, between A and B. Similarity and analogy, I argue, have been overstressed and produced the problematic political discourse of the present with its clichés and vapid generalizations. Infrathin reading, on the other hand, establishes difference and the uniqueness of …

A Close-Up: On U, The Reader Inoutside, Lee Kyoo

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Where, or who, is the "close reader" today in the age of imMEDIAted information overflow? This essay introduces a new figure, the "inoutside reader," focusing on its interstitially interactive ambiguity, its selfie-like sobjectivity (simultaneously subjective and objective). Seen and seeing through the "window," the inoutside reader that often counter-reads as well is called and calling 'you' out there and in here; neither exactly an insider nor definitely an outsider but "openly" invited as one of or those of you (vous) freely generated and liberally generalized as such, "U" in the net-work, this data-point-like transistor-reader, acts like a butterfly on the …

Conversion And Roaming: Xia Yan In The Vision Of "The State Theories", Xing Tian

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Since the founding of P. R. China, "native" Chinese film theory, especially mainstream cinematic theoretical construction, experienced many twists and turns through its historical process. This article seeks to investigate the key points and features of cinematic theoretical construction throughout different historical phases, and theoreticians' simultaneous corrections and adjustments of their theories according to changing social contexts. Under such historical background of academic development, Xia Yan's artistic outlook and development of screenwriting theories against the development of "native" cinematic theory displayed unique value, and thus the detailed and concrete truth of theoretical construction was brought to light from the perspective …

From Literary Subjectivity To Intersubjectivity And Aesthetic Ideology: Contemporary Chinese Literary Theory's Reconstruction Of The May Fourth Tradition In The Recent Four Decades, Que Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The Chinese literary theory in the recent four decades since China's Reform and Opening-up has been focused on literary enlightenment. As an effort to continue the tradition and to fulfil the unfinished task of the May Fourth literary revolution, literary enlightenment is still an important dimension in the subjectivity of literature. The development of literary subjectivity witnessed a transformation from "literature as a study of humanity" to "literary subjectivity" and "literary intersubjectivity". There are two main theoretical orientations within this historical development: one is the intersubjectivity of literature, the other is the theory of aesthetic reflection or aesthetic ideology. The …

Li Bai's Innovations For Linked Seven-Character Quatrains As Exemplified By "Songs Of The Emperor's Excursion To The West" And "Songs Of Of Prince Yong's Excursion To The East", Xiaojuan Xin

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Li Bai's "Songs of the Emperor's Excursion to the West" and "Songs of Prince Yong's Excursion to the East" present a chronological and structurally complete narrative, and initiate the mode of writing chronicle with linked seven-character quatrains in the Song dynasty (960-1729). These examples, with their rhetoric of allegory and multum in parvo, inherits the spirit of the yuefu poetry and insert their influence on the practice of Palace poetry by such mid-Tang poets as Wang Jian. These two series of poems, as Li Bai's creation of yuefu with new themes, not only exhibit Li Bai's efforts to create a …

Natural-Object Metaphor And Chinese Literary Criticism, Xiaoling Feng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Natural-object metaphor is included in the metaphor system of Chinese literary criticism, with its historical progress of development and evolvement. Natural-object metaphor has its intrinsic theoretical basis and is connected with the genetic theories of Chinese literature, Chinese aesthetic tradition, and the epistemology and life view of Chinese philosophy. The natural-object metaphor has significance in many aspects of literary criticism. It connects the cultural world and the cosmological world, enriches literary expression and aesthetics, and links literary criticism and art criticism, which reflects the life consciousness and the lyric spirit in Chinese literary criticism and traditional aesthetics.

On Issues Of Internet Literature As A Research Topic, Youquan Ouyang, Yufei He

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Theoretical criticism centering around Internet literature has recently witnessed its growing boom. Issues being popularly addressed include not only the construction of evaluation system for Internet literature, social benefits it brings, legal regulations, but also its cultural heritage, industrialization, categories, reviews, overseas spread, corpus construction, and tendency in research direction. The aim of this article is to review the current situation of Internet literature as an academic hot spot and to reflect on it through a discussion of its dynamics and limitations.

Poetry And The Generation And Maintenance Of National Community: The Core Issue And Line Of Thinking In Heidegger's First Lecture On Hölderlin, Zhenhua Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper is an interpretation of Heidegger's first lecture on Hölderlin. The lecture centers on how a national community is created and maintained, and Heidegger's belief is that poetry plays as decisive role. Poets are hailed as "demigods" between the sphere of divinity and that of people. Poetry-writing embodies the message of God and passes it to the people, and achieves the connection between them; hence a national community is generated.

Theoretical Fiction Notes In The Late Qing Dynasty And The Modern Transformation Of Chinese Fiction Criticism, Qingxin Wen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

As one of the most important ways of Chinese fiction criticism, the emphasis of theoretical fiction notes during the late Qing Dynasty gradually shifted to the elements of fiction itself, such as textual content, characterization, aesthetic taste, social function and so on. It also attempted to make theoretical reflections on and systematic construction of fiction criticism. Specifically, fiction notes emphasized the relationship between the creation and criticism of fiction and humanities, interaction between fiction and society, expression of human value, and exploration of the connotation of fiction from the perspectives of science and democracy. As a result of these new …

How Traditional Chinese Theatre Reflected Modern Life: Discussions During The Seventeen Years, Jingfeng Huang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

During the Seventeen Years (1949 - 1966), three intensive discussions on traditional Chinese theatre's reflection of modern life emerged in correspondence to the three pinnacles of modern xiqu creation and performance. Appearing in 1958 and 1960, the first two were derived from the forum of "xiqu reflecting modern life" and the Ministry of Culture's festival of modern xiqu respectively, while the third one took place in 1964, when cities like Beijing and Shanghai held symposiums and the press started columns in cooperation with the nationwide modern xiqu movement. The achievement of these three discussions constituted a comprehensive supplement to and …

The Extremely Sensitive Believer Of "Love In The Human World": The Discovery And Shaping Of Zhu Ziqing's "Sensibility Of The Human World" During The Period Of "Literature For Men", Xianfei Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

A new wave of exploration and shaping of modern Chinese experience starts with the "Preliminary New Literature" which serves the ideological transformation of modern humanistic society reconstruction during the May Fourth period. As a representative writer during the period of "Preliminary New Literature" (or "Literature for Men"), Zhu Ziqing, with a strong belief in modern humanitarianism, begins to express his genuine and unique life experience and feelings. His sentiments include not only sincere brotherly love but also the keen insight into individual's existence as a living being, and most remarkably, the "New People's" sadness, helplessness and indignation over the disregard …

"Andersstreben" And Cross-Media Narrative, Diyong Long

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The term "Andersstreben" means that a type of medium seeks to imitate the features of another type while keeping its own characteristics. In terms of narrative, "Andersstreben" means cross-media narrative. Regarding fiction that features cross-media narratives, we need to understand both its own medium particularities and the other media properties that it pursues. Only in this way can we better appreciate its aesthetics. Cross-media narratives primarily originate from the mutual imitations between temporal arts and spatial arts, and often achieve magical artistic effects and rich artistic connotations that are otherwise unattainable for literature and arts by simply sticking to their …

Reinterpreting The Concept Of Human In The Pre-Qin Classics Of Literary Theory, Jianzhong Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In the pre-Qin classics of literary theory, "human" is one of the most important and fundamental concepts. First, the significance of human in the pre-Qin era is diverse. While Confucianism interconnects "human" and "benevolence" and emphasizes the kindhearted dimension of humanity, Taoism, under the slogan that "Man conforms to nature," stresses the unfettered nature of humankind. As an alternative voice, Mohism devalues music and underlines the principle of abstinence. Secondly, the pre-Qin philosophers consider language to be the specialty that distinguishes human beings from other animals. Specifically, Confucians advocate "to achieve glory by writing," "to pass down the classics," and …

Terminological Transformation Of “Literature”: Establishing A New Literature In Modern China, Xinjian Xu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Since the transitional period between the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China, literature has been regarded as an efficient instrument to arouse public awareness, to revitalize citizens, and to remold the country in the context of "Western learning spreading to the East." Back then, various reformists and revolutionaries, as well as pioneers of the New Culture Movement, devoted themselves to the enterprise of literature. As a result, literature became a key concept frequently appearing in the Chinese society, followed by a massive occurrence of literary practice throughout the country. As a conceptual product of "Western learning spreading to the …

The "Expropriated" Subject: A Case Study Of The Negative Character Qian Shouwei In "Model Plays", Yihan Chen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

There are a few scholarly interpretations of negative characters in the eight "model plays". Generally, existing scholarship is mainly dominated by two research methodologies: first, the binary of "literature and art" and "politics", "ideology" and "Utopia", and second, the formation of "subject" from the perspective of modernity. The first methodology leads to the conclusion that due to political constraint, the creative characteristic of literature has not caught due attention; while in terms of the second, "the other" becomes a sign in the subject's self-construction. By introducing Agamben's idea of biopolitics, this article re-examines the situation of Qian Shouwei and restores …

The Creation And Performance Of Traditional Chinese Theatre With Modern Themes: Significance, Problems, And Developmental Trajectory, Hengfu Zhu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Traditional Chinese theatre with modern themes stems not only from the aesthetic change of the new era but also from the development of Chinese theatre arts, given that modern themes may be more popularly accepted. This paper proposes three suggestions to improve the creation and performance of traditional Chinese theatre with modern themes: to broaden the concept of the mainstream work to cover any scripts that reflect contemporary patriotism and traditional value of Chinese nation with modern aesthetic pursuits; to modernize the theatre expression with poetic lines and lyrics, visualized stage performance through body and expressions, and contemporary style of …