East Asian Languages and Societies Commons^™

Franco Moretti's Reconstructionist "New Theory Of Literary Evolution" And World Literary History, Yuping Wu, Hanwen Fang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper claims that Franco Moretti's "New Theory of Literary Evolution" as one of the subjectivity theories behind the reconstruction of world literature history could be viewed as the reproduction in the postindustrial era of the evolution theory of literature in the 19th-century West. Although Darwin's evolution theory had profound impacts in the Western theory of social sciences, its limitations in epistemology and methodology have long been exposed and challenged. Moretti's plot-style interaction proposition takes into consideration formalist theory and the Western theory of world system, trying to reconstruct an innovative theory of world literature. The paper concludes that Moretti's …

Penglai, Cinnabar, And The Great Roc: The Presence Of Daoism In Du Fu's Poetry, Haoming Liu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper challenges the traditional stereotype of Du Fu as poet-sage by investigating his relationship to Daoism as is reflected in his poetry and in his life. It first discusses Du Fu's subscription to Daoism as a state ideology promoted by the Tang rulers and his representation of the court in Daoist paradisiacal imagery. It then moves to a discussion of the significance of Daoism to Du Fu as a personal faith and practice, with particular attention paid to his relationship with the doctrine of gold cinnabar. Finally, it investigates the nature and the meaning of the metamorphosis of the …

What Are The Consequences Of Literary Theory? Regarding To Stanley Fish's Non-Consequentialist Concept, Houliang Chen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Literary theories have been long believed to have consequences. On the one hand, changes may be brought about in our reading experience and critical practices, and reforms may occur on the other. An entirely different argument, however, is raised by Stanley Fish, who claims that theory has no consequence because of its vain attempts to guide practice while taking a transcendental gesture so as to acquire a general hermeneutics of text from an absolutely impartial viewpoint. Literary theory is, therefore, a descriptive act of interpretation at best instead of an act of interpretation; hence, it cannot bring about any practical …

Cultural Turn And The Legitimacy Of The Theory Of Contemporary Chinese Aesthetic Ideology, Yanfeng Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper starts its investigation from the perspective of discourse legitimacy with respect to the structural transformation of contemporary social culture and the transfiguration of the mechanism of discourse production. It tries to trace the working logic underlying the historical development of the theory of aesthetic ideology and map out how its legitimacy is produced, ossified and trapped into crisis. The theory of aesthetic ideology was formed in the 1980s, and this paper takes its discursive structure, attribute and function as obvious symptoms of "modernity." Due to the fracture of "modernity," the transformation of socio-cultural structure and the transfiguration of …

How Can A Literary Theory Be In The Era Of Post Theories?, Wei Song

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Theoretical paradigm of modernity is met with unprecedented challenge and crisis, amid contemporary innovation and transformation of thoughts, thinking and discourse. Issues emerging from the post theory and "after theory" become important points for academic reflection. Post theories belong to the theoretical paradigm of postmodernity with a deconstructionist critical spirit. The reconstruction of literary theory in the era of post theories is not only a response and a critical questioning to contemporary cultural transformation, and the reality concern and critical dimension are the most demanding cultural-political issues in the process of the reconstruction.

The Gestation, Evolution And Cultural Implication Of The Concept Of "Author" In Ancient China, Chunqing Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The paper examines the development of the concept of "author" in ancient China from the pre-Qin to the Han-Wei Period. The trajectory can be found from Confucius's "explicating without writing down" to the claim that "the authors are too holy to be named" in The Book of Rites, and down to Cao Pi's "Jiayi could be named as a real author [on the basis that] his 'On the Qin's Governance' evaluated Zhou and Qin's merits and demerits, explicated the uninterpreted phenomena, exemplified with the mores from the past three dynasties and illuminated with the sages' teaching." This process, from the …

戰國文字構形特徵研究, Yan Ho Siu

Lingnan Theses

綜觀歷來的戰國文字研究，不少學者均主張依地域分系，學者何琳儀(1943-2007)將戰國文字分為齊、燕、晉、楚、秦五系，近代研究亦多取何氏的分域方法。學者李運富(1957-)認為，地域特點僅屬文字的書寫風格，不能作為分系的依據，質疑戰國文字的分域方法。何琳儀於其著作《戰國古文字典》與《戰國文字通論》中，嘗試列舉不同字例，以五系的分域方法，收集大量戰國文字的資料，概括構形的地域特點，唯何氏的論說未有對五系文字的特徵作更整體和深入的考察。基於前代學者的研究，本文以戰國文字為研究核心，透過構形的比較與歸納，補充近年出土的材料，嘗試從不同的角度，探討戰國文字的構形特徵與演變情況，論證戰國文字「東、西土分用」的說法以及劃分成五系的必要。

本文的主體部分共分五章。第二章從微觀的角度，依個別域系分類，逐一援引字列，分析當中的字符、部件，集中呈現各系的地域特徵。第三章同樣以域系作區分，嘗試通過整合與歸類，指出不同字符、部件的類化現象，嘗試凸現各系文字的相異之處。第四章集中比對「東土四系」(齊、燕、晉、楚)與「西土秦國」的文字，通過字例的展示，歸納彼此相異的構形，論證王國維(1877-1927)等學者主張戰國文字「東、西土分用」的說法。第五章以宏觀的角度，逐一展示、分析五系文字構形各異的個體字符，嘗試以相同的字例，說明五系文字各自存有的地域特徵。第六章以五系文字當中，構形同時相同與相異的字符為例，分析當中的異、同原因，了解五系文字的構形演變。

通過本文橫向與縱向的文字比對，可知五系文字的構形或受書寫材料影響，但當中演變並不受載體所限。戰國五系文字同源於殷周文字，經過程度不一的構形演變，加上各域系對文字所作具規範的整合，五系文字的構形越趨不同，地域特徵更為明顯，可證戰國文字有分作五系的必要。從本文的不同分類與探討，可見戰國文字存在「東、西土分用」的情況，但僅為當時文字構形異、同的現象之一。五系文字的構形異、同存在不同情況，表示戰國文字處於演變的階段，說明戰國五系文字「同中趨異」的現象。

A Further Reflection On The References Of Verbal Signs And Images, Jingpeng Zhao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Language and writing are two different systems. Language as a system of sound symbols has the unique feature of containing "image" (verbal icon) in the sounds, and while writing, compared with the other images, are images that can be pronounced. A further reflection leads to the observation that the resemblance between the verbal icon and the referent can only decide the relation between the meaning and the referent but cannot undermine the arbitrary relationship between the pronunciation and the verbal icon or between the signifier and the signified. In other words, it cannot change the nature of the linguistic sign …

Aesthetic Anthropology Should Focus On The Aesthetic Connotation Of Ethnic Culture, Zheng Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper argues that aesthetic anthropological research should be directed at aesthetic ideas and their external forms of ethnic culture, as well as the general principles of the gestation, change and development of these ideas and forms. When the aesthetic contents of ethnic cultures are contaminated by industrial civilization and popular culture, with their unique core value increasingly undermined, aesthetic anthropology will lose ground of its academic focus. Aesthetic anthropology should aim to reveal the aesthetic connotation of ethnic cultures and maintain the positivist unique quality of anthropology.

Cleanth Brooks's Theory Of Fiction And His Critical Practice, Feiliang Fu, Shunqing Cao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Cleanth Brooks' critical study on fiction, especially on William Faulkner's, is a remarkable achievement. Brooks claimed that there is no essential difference between fiction criticism, poetry criticism and drama criticism. In fiction criticism, Brooks' emphases remain on textual skills such as irony, paradox and symbol, taking fiction as an organism that should be independent of the social life and political propaganda, and opposing Romantic sentimentalism. Nevertheless, Brooks also lay great weight to the historical context and geographical environment of an author, emphasizing the influence of an author's life experience and entire body of works on a particular fiction, and attaching …

Discourse Power And The International Status Of Chinese Contemporary Literary And Art Theory, Shengxun Shi

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Discourse power is a problem emerged when Chinese art encounters the Western discourse hegemony. Theoretical expression is crucial to the acquisition and presence of the discourse power over art, while the discourse power over literature and art theory is essential to Chinese art discourse power. International status is an entailing problem of the internationality of discourse power and it encompasses discourse power into the global framework of totality. However, in the global framework of literary and art theory China remains silent, and thus the issue of the international status of Chinese literary and art theory emerges. Chinese theoretical scholars have …

From The Peach Blossom Fan ToThe Classic Of Mountains And Seas: A Way On Chinese Literature Of Professor Shi Ting-Quan (Richare E. Strassberg), Guozhong Peng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Professor Shi Tingquan (Richare E. Strassberg) in UCLA had been exposed to Chinese culture in his childhood. Later, he studied in Princeton University for his Doctor's degree, his research was on K'ung Shang-ren's play The Peach Blossom Fan and later he wrote a book named The World of K'ung Shang-ren: A Man of Letters in Early Ch'ing China. In the book, he argued that K'ung put many things he had experienced into his play and made it into a semi-biographical play. K'ung's Peach Blossom Fan and the beautiful sceneries of the South Yangtze River depicted in this book further intrigued …

On The Tragic Consciousness Of Chinese Aesthetics, Zhirong Zhu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In Chinese aesthetics, tragic consciousness shows as the poetic experience of a subject's empathy with objects, and this experience covers the bereavement or life-long separation, which may also reflect in the melancholic sense for the passing of spring and the coming of autumn in Chinese ancient literary works. The tragic consciousnesses of the literati, the hero and the female have their particular characteristics and inherent spirit. In ancient Chinese tragedies is seen a general transition of spirit from the heroic to the common and secular. On the one hand, this tragic consciousness is deeply influenced and constrained by Chinese cultural …

On The Ways For Literature To Pervade Reality, Xuan Wu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The paper raises the issue on how valid the traditional categorization of creative methods such as realism, romanticism and modernism can explain the uniqueness and originality of classical writers such as Dostoevsky and Lu Xun etc. It observes that classical writers have shared experience in the originality of literary creation which shows in their unique questions in philosophy or humanity targeting at the social reality of their own time while establishing their own understanding upon the questions and the understanding leads to the unique structuring of literary works. Therefore, a methodological schema can be found between individual concerns, personal understanding …

The Antiquity-Revival Movement And The Study Of Ci-Poetry In The Ming Dynasty, Yi Yu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The Antiquity-Revival Movement had a profound influence on literature in the Ming Dynasty, which also showed in poetics as the devaluing of poetry written in the Song Dynasty and establishing a direct lineage between the then prevailing Ci-poetry to the ancient poetic tradition of the Han-Wei and Six-Dynasties. Thus, the study of Ci-poetry in Ming Dynasty expanded its scope of exploration into aspects such as the tonal, lyrical and aesthetic qualities in poetry. Due to the inherent affinity between the Ci-poetry in the Southern Song Dynasty and Shi-poetry in the Song Dynasty, the poetics of Ci-poetry in the Ming Dynasty …

The Construction Of Refined-Vulgar Ci-Poetry System In The Northern Song Dynasty With Liu Yong As A Benchmark, Licheng Xu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Before the Song Dynasty, Ci-poetry was a form of ballad singing, often having an impromptu nature, and therefore it was regarded as a genre of lowbrow literature. Later, scholar-officials in the Northern Song Dynasty were attracted by the new form and tried to make it a literary form to entertain their taste and talent. During the process of legitimization and canonization, Liu Yong, as a representative popular Ci-poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, played a uniquely important role. Scholar-officials identified vulgarity as the characteristic of Liu's ci-poems as they mostly belonged to the popular lowbrow lyrics. The scholar-officials then benchmarked …

The Gestation Of Foundational Meaning In Aesthetical Activities, Yuan Zhu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In anthropological aesthetic studies, aesthetic activities in primitive society are usually part of others activities. Aesthetic studies show that art, due to its intuitive nature, is foundational in human practice, and that aesthetic activities are not attached to other activities but underlie all the activities. The conflict between the two theoretical approaches has raised questions which concern whether the original, fundamental and authentic value of aesthetic activities is applicable to primitive society, and whether the primitive people is a people without aesthetic activities. Therefore, there is a need to substantiate the original gestation of the foundational meaning of aesthetic activities …

The Tool And The Entity: The Language Philosophy In Zhuangzi's Aesthetics, Xianglin Yan

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Zhuangzi's critique on language exhibits a deep contradiction in his thinking as he considered language to be both a tool and an entity, despite its dialectical nature. Language is a type of poetic spiritual existence and contributes to the production of culture, and the text of Zhuangzi illustrates Zhuangzi's poetic view of language.

Arabic Language Acquisition Video Materials, David M. Duerden, Dr. Kirk Belnap

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This project built on a National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC) project to provide BYU students, and eventually students around the country, with audio and video exposure to native Arabic speakers and everyday-life situations in the Middle East.

God As One Who “Inhabiteth Eternity” An Examination Of Isaiah 57:15, Jacob Rennaker, Dr. Donald Parry

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The language that people use conveys a myriad of meaning. In examining the language an author uses, for example, one can discover his or her understanding of a subject. This holds true for the author of the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 57:15 contains a curious phrase that is used nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Here, God is referred to as One who “inhabiteth eternity.” These words imply a certain understanding of deity. Traditionally, this verse has been interpreted as a metaphor regarding God’s kingship and His transcendence. In a careful examination of the phraseology and context of the verse, …

找 老 家: Documentary Filmmaking And The Search For Chinese Heritage, Gloria Jean Gong, Dr. Matthew Christensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Due to systematic gender discrimination and the “one-child” policy, the overwhelming majority of Chinese orphans adopted by American families are female. Families choose different ways of familiarizing their adopted daughters with “Chinese culture” and making them aware of their “Chinese heritage.” As a third-generation Chinese-American, I was interested in using participatory filmmaking as a method to examine the issues of identity and cultural heritage that arose as families with adopted Chinese daughters took them back to visit China for the first time.

Chinese Folk Songs: Unrecorded Voices In History, Karin Mei Li Inouye, Dr. Dana Bourgerie

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the village of Taicang, a small dirt road community tucked between a Ming dynasty capitol and a famous silk city, nationally acclaimed composer Gao Xuefeng combs the countryside rich in rice and fish for century old folk tunes around which he weaves a tapestry of music based on simple, yet haunting melodies. Along the Silk Road where Central Asia meets China, professor Zhou Jie leaves his local home in Kashgar to trek into the harsh mountain climes and the vast reaches of shifting desert to record ancient mukamus—folk tunes—found also in Central Asia, the Middle East, and northern Africa. …

Ticket To Salvation: Nichiren Buddhism In Miyazawa Kenji’S 'Night On The Galactic Railroad' (Ginga Tetsudō No Yoru), Jon P. Holt

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

Presentation focuses on the Night on the Galactic Railroad, a classic Japanese novel written by Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933).

Following His Shadow: The Haiku Of Sant¨Ka, Keith Johnson, Dr. Van C. Gessel

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Apart from an all too brief period of popularity during the early ’80’s, the poetry of Taneda Sant©ka (1882-1940) has languished in relative anonymity. He has yet to enjoy the household-name status of fellow haijin like Bash©, IkkyÅ, Ry©kan, et al. This strikes me as inexcusable and yet somehow expected. The life of Sant©ka was defined more by its defeat, rejection, and loneliness than by its triumph, acceptance or fellowship. What amazed me when I first came upon his work (and continues to amaze me now) was how, despite alcoholicism, poverty, malnutrition, suicidal dementia, emotional desolation and loneliness so sharp …

漢族洪水神話傳說中的神異動物：論鯀禹治水神話及陷湖傳說, Kit Man Poon

Lingnan Theses

洪水，是世界性的神話、傳說母題，中國自古水患頻繁，其中漢族產生大量洪水神話和傳說。鯀禹治水神話和陷湖傳說仍然傳頌至今。

受萬物有靈觀念和動物崇拜影響，人類將動物神格化、形象化，創造大量神異動物。洪水神話傳說中的神異動物擁有怪誕外形和神秘力量，能夠掌治洪災，體現先民的豐富想像和對力量的崇拜。神異動物與人類的互動關係象徵性地展現人類對洪水態度的兩個面向：鯀禹治水神話中全獸形和半人獸形的神祇擔當人類英雄治水的強敵或助力，百靈護佑的禹征伐神異動物反映人類反抗自然的積極精神。陷湖傳說中洪水是神異動物對人類的懲罰，包括報應、報答、報恩三方面的果報概念，呈現神異動物較為人性化的面貌。陷湖傳說中人類不能亦不會逃過洪水，顯示人類無法違背命運的宿命意識，強調神異動物的權威性。除了強烈的宗教意識，陷湖傳說呈現惡者遭殃善者得救的對立，具懲惡揚善的教化作用。陷湖傳說的道德意識結民間信仰，加強傳說的阻嚇性。

歷代的神話和傳說中神異動物以不同形態反覆出現，呈現與人類的不同關係，神異動物在洪水母題中的意義卻未有專門討論。本論文從變形、主題、二元結構三個方面，分析神異動物在鯀禹治水神話和陷湖傳說中扮演的角色及顯示的意義，探討當中的漢族文化思維。

Heian Period Japan As A Role-Playing Game, Alma Eyre, Dr. Jack Stoneman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My project was intended as source material to aid in a role-playing game. A role-playing game is an avocation activity involving two or more people, with one person playing the role of a game-master (GM) and the rest playing the roles of characters. The player characters (PCs) interact with the world that the game-master describes to them. Players talk to the GM and describe what their characters are doing, while the GM tells the players what their characters observe in reaction. Through GM and player discussion a story develops. This describes the most common format for games labeled “role-playing games”.

We Shall Laugh An Original Translation Of Short Stories By Zakaria Tamer, Neal Spackman, Dr. Dil Parkinson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I was successful in translating 9 short stories by the Syrian author Zakaria Tamer. Mr. Tamer is a contemporary writer who currently lives in London. His works are known throughout the Middle East but few of them have been translated into English. My translations are the first ones of these stories in English.

Isma`Kuwayyis: Software To Improve Listening Comprehension In Arabic Students, Jason White, Dr. Dilworth Parkinson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In Arabic pedagogy (as in many languages), listening comprehension continues to be an area of frustration for students as well as teachers involved in second language acquisition. The greatest challenge is to allow a student access to authentic material with interaction. Obviously, the resources (natives) for such idealistic activities are very limited. The goal of this software development was to make authentic material available to students and allow for interaction (though somewhat limited), and to make the setup of such activities and materials easier for the professor. Computer-aided instruction cannot replace conversation or live interaction; however, it can and does …

Study Abroad, Gender, And The Speaking Experience How Gender Mediates Speaking Opportunities For Students Studying Abroad In The Middle East, Andrew Smith, Dr. Jennifer Bown

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The study abroad experience as an opportunity to increase learning about a foreign language and culture is becoming more popular in the United States (Gore, 2005; Kinginger, 2009). As a part of this expansion in education, study abroad to the Middle East is growing year after year. Many of these students are embarking on study abroad to Arabic speaking countries with the purpose of making language gains in Arabic. Enrollments in Arabic classes expanded by 126% between 2002 and 2006 (Furman, Goldberg, & Lusin, 2007).

Depictions Of Poverty In Chinese Cinema: Before And After 1949, Anna Moore, Dr. Steven Riep

Journal of Undergraduate Research

After thirty-two years of Communist leadership, Chinese poverty levels reached an unprecedented high when in 1981, 85% of the People’s Republic of China lived in poverty1. In 2009, however, a report from the World Bank indicated that a mere 11.9% of China’s population fell below the poverty line.2 As poverty rates in China have fluctuated dramatically over the last sixty years, cultural, political, and societal perceptions of poverty have also changed. The current study analyzes perceptions of poverty, attributions for poverty, and solutions to poverty as depicted in Chinese cinema.