East Asian Languages and Societies Commons^™

Revolution And Transcendence: The Aesthetic Transformation In The "New Novel" In The Late Qing Dynasty, Jun Zhu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The rise of the "New Novel" started the "revolution in the circle of fiction writing" in the late Qing Dynasty. In literary history, the New Novels have not been done justice for the traditional ethics shown in these works were in contradictory with the modern political system. However, it is undeniable that these works had left rather deep influence on Chinese ideology, politics and culture in the 20th century. From Kang Youwei to Liang Qichao, Chinese literature had witnessed a historical process from external transcendence (triggered by the import of exotic political and scientific culture) to immanent transcendence (aroused by …

Social Conventions: The Structural Elements Of Literature, Dakang Ma

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In literary activities, social conventions are not only a more important and fundamental structural element in the narrative structure of discourse but also the fundamental premise for the comprehensibility, creditability, authenticity and criticalness of literary works. The universality of literature originates from the universal validity of social conventions. Social conventions are constructed in the process of social history, and invariably ideologically grounded with embedded power relations. The paper concludes that one major critical function lies in its exposure of the working of power hidden in the social conventions.

The Human-Nature Relationship In The Pre-Cultural-Revolution 17-Year Literature, Yu Wang, Liu Hong

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The paper argues that the human-nature relationship in the literature of 17 pre-Cultural-Revolution years cannot be interpreted from the sole perspective of ecological ethics, but it should be examined together with the way and the knowledge background under which the relationship was represented. The relationship shows to be two-folded. On the one hand, man regards nature as "the other," when the consciousness of war culture is introduced in the field of man-nature relationship, taking nature as the target to be conquered through in spiritual and technological levels. One the other hand, nature becomes part of the constructive process of the …

The Differentiation Aesthetics In The Representations Of The Clothing, Food, Residence And Traveling Of Migrant Peasant Workers, Bo Feng, Deming Xu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Clothing, food, residence and traveling make up the daily life of people, and the first three are the basic needs of life while traveling becomes the condition for the three. The different preferences in clothing, food, residence and traveling means of the migrant peasant workers reflect the politics based on the distinction between the urban and the countryside. In the novels about the migrant peasant workers, the representations of their daily life in terms of clothing, food, residence and means of traveling highlight the aesthetics of differentiation. The pursuit of the lifestyle of the citizens is shown as the motivation …

The Implication Of History-In-Poetry And The Reception Of Li Shangyin In The Late Qing-Dynasty Poetry Circle, Weizhong Ma, Chen Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The debate over emulating the Tang or the Song Dynasty poetry was an important link in the evolution of the Qing-Dynasty poetry, in which the reception of Li Shangyin both pointed a direction for the retro poetics and became in most areas a continuation of territory poetics. The three acceptance models culminated the multi-perspective study of Li Shangyin's poetry. Taking into consideration of the complex social context, the paper claims that the concept of history-in-poetry could become the starting point to investigate the theoretical value of the reception of Li Shangyin in the late Qing-Dynasty poetry circle.

The Landscape Sentiments As The Chinese Symbol And Expression Of An Ecological Art, Guoming Yin

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In Chinese literature and arts, the sentimens in "shanshui" (mountains and waters, landscape) not only embody an aesthetic pursuit but also form a traditional cultural symbol. The sentiments display the artists’ consciousness of life and manifest the ecological connotation of "man in nature." The preposition of the landscape sentiments as a theoretical categorization may be helpful for the discovery of the universal value and new meaning of Chinese litearay theory in the context of comparative and cross-cultural studies.

Japanese Women's Science Fiction: Posthuman Bodies And The Representation Of Gender, Kazue Harada

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation explores the way Japanese women science fiction writers and manga (illustrated stories, often translated as comics) artists have used posthumans, cyborgs, and other hybrid creatures to question contemporary gender roles and identities. Traditionally, science fiction has been seen as a male domain. But by incorporating science fiction themes into manga and fiction intended for a female readership, these writers have carved out space for women in the genre and have stretched the boundaries of science fiction in the process. I focus primarily on the representation of posthuman bodies in the literary works of Ohara Mariko (b.1959) and Ueda …

It Begins With You And Me, Sea A Joung

Graduate School of Art Theses

This thesis conceptualizes the conditions of the Korean division, including the realization of the political and cultural gap between North and South Korea, lack of education about the Korean division and the role of media. The Korean War, also known as the “Forgotten War,” is erased from the consciousness of contemporary societies. This thesis describes a history about how the artificial division created during the Korean War continuously affects the lives of modern Koreans. For more than sixty years, North and South Korea did not have any form of communication except through government negotiations and regulated media. As a result, …

The Ingredients Of Comparison: The Semantics Of The Excessive Construction In Japanese, Xiao Li

Publications and Research

Excessives (e.g., this pair of pants is too long) are often considered as a ‘degree construction’ in the literature, presumably because it is assumed that their semantics involves a comparison of degrees. This paper takes a cross-linguistic look at the excessive construction in Japanese and raises the question of whether degrees are a necessary ingredient in the semantics of comparison. Unlike any degree morpheme in English, -sugi ‘to exceed’ can combine with either a gradable adjective (e.g., naga ‘long’) or a non-gradable verb (e.g., yomi ‘to read’) to form an excessive construction. In each case, a semantically different type of …

Cinderella: The Study Of Cross-Cultural Encounters In Pre-Modern Societies, Jae Ho Kim

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The vast number of Cinderella variants across the world is staggering and almost unfathomable. Hundreds of versions exist all across the world including Africa, Europe, and Asia. Most people are familiar with the modern Cinderella version written by a French author in the 17^th century. But unbeknownst to a majority of the population, this story dates back centuries ago from earlier time periods. One of the earliest written accounts of the Cinderella story was found in China about 850-860 A.D and the name of the protagonist was Yeh-hsien, instead of Cinderella. By means of comparative textual analysis, three versions …

Book Review: The Nature Of Beasts: Empire And Exhibition At The Tokyo Imperial Zoo, Andrew W. B. Kustodowicz

Madison Historical Review

No abstract provided.

Huānyíng Nǐ Lái Dào Bgsu: A Guidebook To Bgsu, Jane Powell

Honors Projects

This project is intended to address the needs of Chinese international students in the U.S, specifically those studying at Bowling Green State University. The principle goal is to create a guidebook to student life at BGSU, focusing of academic success, lifestyle adjustment, and connections to domestic students. This guidebook utilizes both academic research, as well as individual student input. Furthermore, much of the guidebook’s content is in both English and Chinese, allowing for greater comprehension of the information.

In addition, this project includes an accompanying essay in order to better analyze the concepts of the academic research. This essay compares …

Teaching Chinese As A Foreign Language: A Foreigner's Perspective, Frederick J. Poole

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio reflects the author’s beliefs on effective methods for teaching Chinese as a second language. The first section includes the author’s teaching philosophy, which focuses on communicative language teaching, developing literacy, integrating culture into instruction, and employing technology to facilitate learning. Following the teaching philosophy are three artifacts that were written throughout the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program. First, the language artifact presents a study conducted by the author regarding three different approaches to teaching beginners of Chinese. Second, the literacy artifact is a proposal for a study that examines the effect of reading Chinese via an …

Addressing The Needs Of Chinese International Students: A Guidebook To Bgsu, Jane Powell

Honors Projects

This project is intended to address the needs of Chinese international students in the U.S, specifically those studying at Bowling Green State University. The principle goal is to create a guidebook to student life at BGSU, focusing of academic success, lifestyle adjustment, and connections to domestic students. This guidebook utilizes both academic research, as well as individual student input. Furthermore, much of the guidebook’s content is in both English and Chinese, allowing for greater comprehension of the information.

In addition, this project includes an accompanying essay in order to better analyze the concepts of the academic research. This essay compares …

Exporting Exoticism: Captain Brinkley's Japan Described And Illustrated, Dan Johnson

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Anime: Fortress Of Solitude Or Kryptonite?, Oscar King Iv

Honors Thesis

Anime is a complex medium that is expanding at a rapid rate on a global scale. It inspires fandoms, some of which unbelievably tenacious. My research explored scholarship concerning anime fans and asked the question: Why does anime in particular seem to create hyper-obsessed fans? I consulted fandom studies, pop culture scholarship, and sources regarding the anime medium as a whole.

The results of my study suggested that anime, at its extremes, functions in some capacity as a modern fairy tale genre. It allows a viewer to vicariously experience life through the screen, engaging with the animated characters in a …

Go Nation: Chinese Masculinities And The Game Of Weiqi In China (Book Review), Wenqing Kang

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How To Make Field Trips Fun, Educational And Memorable: Balancing Self-Directed Inquiry With Structured Learning, Gregory Rohlf

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Unrealistic Weeds Of Love And Romance: The Korean Drama And The "Flower Boy" Genre, Colby Y. Miyose

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The concept of love has intrigued many social critics, and has led them to accuse media of perpetuating unrealistic notions of romance that are unattainable for a healthy and satisfying relationship. Unrealistic expectations of love and romance are a primary cause of relationship dissatisfaction among real couples. It is imperative to critically analyze media sources in order to gain knowledge of how to counter unhealthy notions of romance. Korean dramas (K-dramas) typically present a scenario in which strong mutual love and desire between two people come into conflict with existing sociocultural values. The kkonminam (Flower Boy) genre in particular, caters …

Constructing The Yellow Peril: East Asia As The Enemy In American Discourse And Political Rhetoric, Laura K. Witwer

East Asian Studies Honors Papers

The notion of the Yellow Peril, the perceived racial threat of Asians or Asian nations overtaking Western Nations and Western culture, is not a new phenomenon, but instead an idea that has existed for many centuries, becoming popular in the nineteenth century. The Yellow Peril has been a potent belief which has influenced not only personal opinions, but has also affected Western foreign policy. The United States, whose ideological foundations were built upon Western ideology, was not immune to concerns of the Yellow Peril. Drawing on the theories of critical constructivism, poststructuralism, and postcolonialism, this study analyzes the manifestation of …

The Girl With The Peanut Necklace: Experiences Of Infertility And In Vitro Fertilization In China, Ruoxi Yu

Student Work

A 2014-2015 William Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Ruoxi Yu (Berkeley College '15) for her essay submitted to the Department of Anthropology, “The Girl with the Peanut Necklace: Experiences of Infertility and in vitro Fertilization in China.” (Marcia Inhorn, William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of Anthropology, advisor; Susan Brownell, Professor of Anthropology at USML, secondary reader.)

Ruoxi Yu’s essay, “The Girl with the Peanut Necklace: Experiences of Infertility and in vitro Fertilization in China,” situates original research within the history of the one-child birth control policy and the tension between the …

How To Get An American Boyfriend: Japanese Women And Westernization, Nicole M. Puckett

Honors College Theses

Since the end of World War II, and even more so since the 1980’s, Japanese women have been gaining more and more independence through jobs and international experience. Part of this move towards liberation can be seen in how brand-focused many Japanese girls and women are and the overt manner in which they try to express themselves in typically western ways. This report will focus on Japanese women and how they try to make themselves appear western as a means of defining their individual identities and how they balance that with their usual prescribed roles as traditionally Japanese mothers and …

Imagination And Reality: Landscape And The Folk Culture Of Joseon Dynasty Korea, Matthew Finley

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The Five Peaks Screen of Korea’s Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) is one of the most iconic works of its time. Nevertheless, the remarkable visual impact and cultural significance of the Five Peaks Screen evades systematic scholarly study, partly because of its generic classification as folk art. In this paper, I will resituate the Five Peaks Screen in the artistic tradition of East Asian landscape painting. When considered in the context of literati painting traditions and relevant popular landscapes, it becomes clear that the design of the Five Peaks Screen coheres to traditional aesthetics to emphasize the ability of artwork to inform …

Breastfeeding Initiation And Continuation By Employment Status Among Korean Women, Yeon Bai, Nam Mi Kang, Jung Eun Lee, Theo Van Achterberg, Taisun Hyun

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies Scholarship and Creative Works

The objective of this study was to examine the factors associated with the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding among Korean women in relation to their employment status. Data were collected using a web-based self-administered questionnaire from 1,031 Korean mothers living in Seoul with babies younger than 24 months. Demographic characteristics, education on breastfeeding, rooming in, breastfeeding during a hospital stay, and breastfeeding knowledge were examined. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with initiation and continuation at 1, 6 and 12 months according to mothers' employment status. Breastfeeding initiation rates were similar regardless of mothers' employment status. …

Global Hegemon: Chinese Foreign Policy Shifts And Elevated Unpko Involvement, Alex Berge

Political Science Theses and Capstones

A common question being asked in many circles is whether China will emerge as a potential rival to the U.S. as a global superpower? If the answer to this question is “yes” many ask how China will accomplish this. Research suggests that China will obtain superpower status through increased global presence and more cooperation in international organizations, specifically United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO). The literature examines Chinese policy changes that allow for more contributions and activity in UNPKOs and also what missions China can now participate in from which it would have formerly abstained. The preliminary results have shown massive …

Theravada Buddhism And Dai Identity In Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, James Granderson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This ethnographic field project focused upon the relationship between the urban Jinghong and surrounding rural Dai population of lay people, as well as a few individuals from other ethnic groups, and Theravada Buddhism. Specifically, I observed how Buddhism manifests itself in daily urban life, the relationship between Theravada monastics in city and rural temples and common people in daily life, as well as important events wherelay people and monastics interacted with one another. This research was intended to fulfill a need to observe how Theravada Buddhism influences Dai lives on the mundane level.This involved a several week study period in …

The Social Institution And Inscription Of Child Marriage In The Terai Region Of Nepal, Alexandra Baer Chan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Marriage is typically considered to be one of the foundations of the family unit, and family is thought to be one of the pillars of society. Because marriage is such a primary social concept, its forms and functions may be taken for granted, despite the fact that it is culturally dependent. For example, the idea that one must be in love in order to get married may be more cultural ideal than universal idea—and is thus not true of many cultures. Arranged marriages are still performed in many parts of the world, and can be means of building kinship circles …

Meditating On Mountain Bikes, Sam Bowen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For a long time, Nepal has been an exotic destination for adventurers and spiritual wanderers. Geographically, there are no comparisons. “The country is vertical,” said Jagan Biswarka as he pointed across Phewa Lake to the snow-capped mountains. “You can see the 8000 meter from 800 meter. This will be one of the best playgrounds in the world. Nowhere in Nepal. Nowhere in the world.” Mads Mathiasen, a Danish expatriate agrees. “I think very few people realizes how big a contrast there is in Nepal from seventy-one meters above sea level – the lowest place in Nepal – to eight-thousand eight-hundred …

The Public Nature And The Governance Of Contemporary Visual Culture, Xueqin Min, Liyong Zheng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Contemporary visual culture is encroaching on daily, social and political lives of the public with diversified content and in hi-tech forms. The public nature of contemporary visual culture brings much convenience for itself to integrate into public space, guide public value and participate into public governance. Empirical investigations show that visual culture representing everyday life tends to provide entertainment and interest, and visual culture reflecting social life is hypersensitive to the public nature, while visual culture referring to political life is becoming more pronounced for its remedying social inequality and nurturing participation habits. Visual culture is provided with an unprecedented …

The Sociality Of The Aesthetic And The Reconstruction In Critique: From Zhu Guangqian's "Misreading" Of Croce, Lang Jin

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper investigates the construction of sociality in Zhu Guangqian's aesthetics by analyzing his acceptance of Croce. Misreading is almost a consensus in the studies of Zhu Guangqian's acceptance of Croce, while this might also overshadow his aesthetics construction. When returning to Kant as his point of re-departure, Zhu Guangqian not only directed his critique toward Croce but also the western tradition of idealist philosophy in general, and it is his continuous concern of the sociality of the aesthetic that lies behind his critique. This concern of his starts with his critique of Croce's aesthetics and is realized when he …