Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
-
- Western Literary Theory (11)
- Classical Literary Theory (10)
- Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory (8)
- Mutual Learning between Literary Theories (6)
- Theoretical Studies of Ancient Literature (4)
-
- Aesthetic Studies (3)
- Issue in Focus: Oversea Studies of Chinese Classical Literature (3)
- Issue in Focus: Studies of Peking Opera (3)
- A Study of Socialist Discourse System with Chinese Characteristics (2)
- Avant-garde (2)
- Hermeneutics (2)
- Issue in Focus: Reading as Compassion (2)
- Issue in Focus: Studies on Chinese Art History (2)
- Literature (2)
- Narrative (2)
- ( l＇) avenir (1)
- A priori (1)
- Aesthetic (1)
- Aestheticization (1)
- Affect (1)
- Affective (1)
- Alain Badiou (1)
- Allegory (1)
- Alternate history (1)
- Anthologies of ancient Chinese fiction compiled by the Western Sinologists (1)
- Anthropocene (1)
- Anti-context (1)
- Arthur Danto (1)
- Articles (1)
- Artistic appeal (1)
Articles 1 - 30 of 57
Full-Text Articles in Film and Media Studies
The Construction And Reflection Of The Theoretical Knowledge System Of Chinese Literature And Art:Summary Of The 16th Annual Conference Of The Chinese Association For Theory Of Literature And Art, Qianpeng Gu
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
No abstract provided.
Différance, Transparency And Truth: Jean-Luc Nancy On Beauty, Zhizhong Zhang
Différance, Transparency And Truth: Jean-Luc Nancy On Beauty, Zhizhong Zhang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
In God, Justice, Love, Beauty, Jean-Luc Nancy thoroughly elucidates his perspectives on beauty, extending beyond the confines of conventional epistemological aesthetics by introducing deconstructionism to the discourses on aesthetic issues. Specifically, Nancy reinterprets the legend of Narcissus, positioning its theme as the movement of beauty's self differentialspacing, and unveiling the différance inherent in beauty. However, as a generalized spacing movement, différance cannot highlight the singularity of beauty. Consequently, through an analysis of douard Manet's painting Reading, Nancy contends that beauty, as a motion of meaning that transcends signification, can only be represented as being of near-nothingness, that is, as a …
Rita Felski's Critique Of Contextualism: Taking Rem Koolhaas And Bruno Latour As A Clue, Lijun Su
Rita Felski's Critique Of Contextualism: Taking Rem Koolhaas And Bruno Latour As A Clue, Lijun Su
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
With a special nested structure, Rita Felski follows and finalizes Rem Koolhaas and Bruno Latour's manifesto of “Context Stinks!” The three theorists of different disciplines such as architecture, sociology and literature take context as a conservative proposition. In response to the contextualist paradigm that is threatened by self-limitation, self-exclusion and generalization, Koolhaas creates space for innovation through the strategy of “bigness”, while Latour questions the theory of social entities, introducing non-human actors into a new coordinate system. Based on them, Felski tries to remold the future of literature within the framework of actor-network theory, in order to forestall text from …
Dufrenne's Genetic Phenomenological Explanation Of “Affective A Priori”, Ziming Huang
Dufrenne's Genetic Phenomenological Explanation Of “Affective A Priori”, Ziming Huang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The discussion on the nature of the affective in phenomenology can be traced back to the debate on the universality of the aesthetic affective in modern epistemological aesthetics. Dufrenne interpreted it from the perspective of genetic phenomenology and identified it as a problem of “affective a priori.” The “affective” is an object of feeling triggered by the work and constituted by the subject; and “a priori” is a means of preforming the object within the subject. As the constituent structure of the object, the affective a priori indicates the unity of the objective cosmological a priori and …
Derrida's Theory Of Sovereignty—And His Criticism Of Robinson Crusoe, Jinlong Xiao
Derrida's Theory Of Sovereignty—And His Criticism Of Robinson Crusoe, Jinlong Xiao
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The 20th century has witnessed an unprecedented exploration and development of the concept of human essence in the Western theoretical community. In the early 20th century, Heidegger proposed that human essence was existence. Later, Foucault argued that human essence was power. By the end of the 20th century, Derrida clearly pointed out that human essence was neither pure existence as advocated by the existentialists, nor pure power, as claimed by the power theorists. Instead, it is something between existence and power: the “powerization” of existence, which Derrida termed “sovereignty.” The operating rhythm of sovereignty involves the autonomy of automation, specifically …
Atmosphere And Artistic Appeal (Qi Yun): An Unfinished Reflection On The Modern Interpretation Of “Artistic Appeal And Rhythmic Vitality” From The Perspective Of Atmosphere Aesthetics, Lei Li
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Drawing from the traditional binary thinking of subject-object division and confrontation, the modern interpretation of “artistic appeal and rhythmic vitality” since the twentieth century considers it either as an aesthetic feature or the overall spirit of the artwork, or as the painter's inner harmony and resonance, failing to fully realize that the ideal effect of “artistic appeal and rhythmic vitality” can only be generated by the two-way communication and resonance between the creator and the object. In the light of the aesthetics of atmosphere, “artistic appeal” is a special category or an advanced state of atmosphere that arises from the …
A Study Of The Historical Formation Of The “Fengyao” Pattern And The “Touchun” Pattern In Five-Character Metrical Poetry, Zhao Zhang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Since the Song dynasty, the touchun pattern has referred to the five-character metrical poetry in which the antithesis is used in the first couplet rather than the second; the fengyao pattern has referred to those in which the antithesis is only used in the third couplet. These two patterns began to flourish in the works of Shen Quanqi and Song Zhiwen. During the High Tang dynasty, they were equated in number with the standard format of metrical poetry. It was not until the Dali era that they were finally confirmed as variant formats of five-character metrical poetry. This trend of …
A New Explanation Of The Connotation And Poetic Significance Of “Poetry Springs From Emotions And Hence Reads Beautifully” In Rhapsody On Literature, Yanfeng Cai, Xiaoli Wei
A New Explanation Of The Connotation And Poetic Significance Of “Poetry Springs From Emotions And Hence Reads Beautifully” In Rhapsody On Literature, Yanfeng Cai, Xiaoli Wei
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Traditionally, “poetry springs from emotions and hence reads beautifully” in Rhapsody on Literature has been interpreted primarily within the poetic context of expressing emotions and aspirations, often overlooking the broader connotation of “emotion” and the logical relationship between “springing from emotions” (yuanqing) and “beautiful” (qimi). Two key concepts are essential in understanding of this sentence. The first is “emotions”, which has been widely used to denote an objective state, essence, and reality since the pre-Qin era. Recognizing the objective meaning of “emotion” is crucial for a correct understanding of the poetic connotation of “springing from emotions”. …
New Changes In The Theater Ecology In The Late-Qing Shanghai: A Study Based On Wang Guifen's Contract Payment Lawsuit, Chunning Zhao
New Changes In The Theater Ecology In The Late-Qing Shanghai: A Study Based On Wang Guifen's Contract Payment Lawsuit, Chunning Zhao
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Contract payment lawsuits discussed in this paper were disputes over rights and interests arising from the operation of modern xiqu (Chinese opera). During Wang Guifen's performances in Shanghai, he was involved in such lawsuits with quite a few theaters, including Xin Dangui, Tianxian, Liuchun, Tianfu, and Guixian. The practice of inviting and recruiting famous actors with high contract payments was a common form of commercial competition in Shanghai's theaters, and it was also the direct cause of job-hopping by well-known actors and their involvement in legal disputes. The high contract payments intensified malicious competition between theaters, hindered the healthy development …
A Semiotic Interpretation Of Landscape Painting And Its Limitations: A Focus On Duan Lian, Yiqing Liu, Zhijie Sun
A Semiotic Interpretation Of Landscape Painting And Its Limitations: A Focus On Duan Lian, Yiqing Liu, Zhijie Sun
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Duan Lian has offered a semiotic interpretation of the history of landscape painting. He argues that the formation, development, divergence and decline of landscape painting are all conveyed through the form of images. This constitutes an interaction of image symbols from form to concept, providing new perspectives and paradigms for the study of landscape painting and semiotics. However, regarding the transcendence of landscape painting, we contend that Duan Lian's semiotic interpretation of landscape painting cannot fully capture its intrinsic aesthetics and spirit, as this approach may lead to an underestimation and weakening of the artistic essence of landscape painting. Semiotics, …
Education For The Average Person And The Celestial-Human Strategy In Ancient Poetry Education: Pedagogical Choices In The Context Of The Li-Du And Su-Huang Debates, Shugong Zhao
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
As early as the Wei and Jin dynasties, Chinese literary culture developed a marked adulation of genius. Yet, poetry education took a distinct approach, which favored models not solely based on genius. In discussions contrasting Li Bai and Du Fu, Li Bai was esteemed for his rare natural gift, while Du Fu was valued for his profound intellectual insight. Similarly, in the Su-Huang debates, Su Shi was praised for innate talent, while Huang Tingjian was noted for his disciplined scholarship. Despite these distinctions, poetry education consistently recommended emulating figures like Du Fu and Huang Tingjian. This choice reflects the ancient …
“The Poetics Of Graphite Stone Paintings” And The Quality Of Modern Scholars' Paintings: Wu Changshuo And Pan Tianshou As Examples, Zhongyi Xia
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
To identify why only “the poetics of graphite stone paintings” in Wu Changshuo and Pan Tianshou's works deserve to be referred to as representative of “modern scholars' paintings,” several issues need clarification. First, what is the boundary between “paintings by scholars” and “paintings by literati?” Second, how does one identify Wu's “stubborn stone” not only as a kind of “scholarly painting,” but also as “modern?” Third, how does one recognize Pan's “massive rock” as a “scholarly painting” worthy of being called “modern?” The response is as follows. Firstly, “scholarly painting” is rooted in tranquility and introverted in the self-sanctity of …
On “Posthumanism”, Martin Crowley
On “Posthumanism”, Martin Crowley
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The label “posthumanism” identifies neither a doctrine, nor an intellectual or analytical approach with a defining set of protocols. Rather, we may take “posthumanism” as a term loosely applied to a range of contributions and approaches, on the basis of a generally under-specified collection of sympathies and commitments. Approximately stated, these sympathies and commitments would entail the claim that — with due allowance for historical variation — the category of “the human” has long played a key role at the centre of Western thought; that this role has included serving to justify the promotion of human beings above other forms …
The Invention Of Tradition: From Ancient “Articles” To May Fourth “Literature” — A Concurrent Explanation Of The Connotation Of “Chinese Literary Theory”, Xu Xu
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
This article focuses on the relationship between literary views and article studies of May Fourth scholars from the perspective of hermeneutics, in order to re-explain the connotation of “Chinese literary theory” and consider the construction of a Chinese literary theory discourse system. Rooted in interpretations of the interplay between literature and dao, May Fourth scholars reshaped the traditional framework, shifting the focus to the relationship between literature and humanity, through the integration of ideals and dao. Their commitment to broad, applied literary views led to a progression from a simple division between cultural traits and literary function to a more …
Signifying And The Feeling Of Differences, Samuel Weber
Signifying And The Feeling Of Differences, Samuel Weber
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
What does Werner Hamacher's concept of archiphilology have in common with Saussure's view of intralinguistic， differential function in language? Perhaps the way in which the indefinite of language itself “slowly defines itself，” both in response to past acts of appropriations， and appealing for new signifieds the meaning of which can only be seized and unseized over time. Several of Kafka's short stories illustrate how literary works play out the same tension within what can be called a “progressive and digressive” narrative， warding off any internal principle of closure or conclusiveness while continuing to require endings and answers. Holderlin's “Remarks on …
Guest Editor's Overview, Yue Zhuo
Guest Editor's Overview, Yue Zhuo
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
No abstract provided.
Potentiality, Resistance And Bare Life: Giorgio Agamben On Melville’S Bartleby, Yanjun Wang, Yaping Wang
Potentiality, Resistance And Bare Life: Giorgio Agamben On Melville’S Bartleby, Yanjun Wang, Yaping Wang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The idea of potentiality runs through Giorgio Agamben’s political philosophy. In his analysis of Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener, Agamben thoroughly interprets potentiality and bare life through Bartleby’s “I prefer not to”. Agamben believes that Bartleby’s inoperativeness is the highest form of resistance, which exists as pure potentiality against the power apparatuses in modern society. Agamben considers Bartleby’s inoperativeness as the exact way to redeem bare life in modern society, where the state of exception already becomes normality. This article starts with Agamben’s reading of Bartley, focuses on potentiality, resistance and bare life to analyze the pure and thorough way …
The Fallacy And Verification Of Criticism On Contemporary Chinese Confessional Poetry, Lei Wei
The Fallacy And Verification Of Criticism On Contemporary Chinese Confessional Poetry, Lei Wei
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Contemporary Chinese confessional poetry has engaged much academic attention despite its short existence between the 1980s and the 1990s. The confessional poetry has been related with female poetry by scholars since the beginning, and they have been criticized for lacking Chinese cultural characteristics, skills or aesthetic values etc.. However, contemporary Chinese confessional poetry is not exclusively the product of female poets, as there are quite a few male poets who created some fine confessional poems. Chinese confessional poetry of new period turned out to be embodied with a literary form of strong nationalistic features and contain rich elements of traditional …
The Somaesthetics Of The Multitude: The Politico-Aesthetic Logic Of Antonio Negri And Michael Hardt In Constructing The Subjecthood, Jinying Li
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
"The Multitude", a concept reconstructed by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt after the deconstruction of the subjecthood by post-structuralism, is a combination of singularity and commonality, and physicality and affection, and it is the subjecthood of postmodern society that overthrows the control of the empire and constructs the commonwealth. In the early days, Negri began to explore social issues from the perspective of the relationship between art and the multitude. From this perspective, his logics in constructing the multitude can be summed up as aestheticization and bio-politicization, and its inner trajectory of reasoning can be summarized as a transformation from …
Nelson Goodman On Exemplification, Hui Zhang
Nelson Goodman On Exemplification, Hui Zhang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Nelson Goodman holds that there are two forms of symbolizing, namely, denotation and exemplification. In denotation, a symbol is used to refer to an object, while in exemplification the exemplifier has a label or is referred to by a label. Exemplification explains how abstract works perform symbolic functions and express metaphorical exemplifiers. Being highly creative and influential, Goodman's theory is valuable and can serve as a reference for Chinese scholars.
“Inaesthetics” And The “Passion For The Real”: Alain Badiou On The Avant-Garde Art, Kaifeng Xia
“Inaesthetics” And The “Passion For The Real”: Alain Badiou On The Avant-Garde Art, Kaifeng Xia
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Alain Badiou distinguishes between the didactic schema, classical schema and romantic schema in art, and further suggests that the avant-garde art does not create a new schema, but synthesizes the previous schemata into a didactico-romantic schema. Badiou strives to propose a new schema, the "inaesthetics" schema, which is both immanent and exclusive, that is, taking art as a truth-procedure. The inaesthetics schema is actually modeled around the avant-garde art, as Badiou believes that the avant-garde art embodies the "passion for the real" which implies two approaches of "destruction" and "subtraction." When Badiou attempts to combine these two approaches in his …
Wang Guowei's Theory Of Intuition And New Practice Of Symbolizing With Affective Image In Ci-Poetry, Bailing Yang
Wang Guowei's Theory Of Intuition And New Practice Of Symbolizing With Affective Image In Ci-Poetry, Bailing Yang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The category of "perceiving" runs through all the fields and the whole process of Wang Guowei's research. He insists that art is based on intuition, but this does not mean that he is an anti-rationalist. He is not opposed to the use of bi(comparison) and xing (affective image) in classical Chinese poetry, yet reforms these methods with his theory of intuition, thereby giving them connotations of symbolism in modern Western poetics. Taking sorrows for the change of seasons, observations of moonlights, and astronomical phenomena as examples, this article analyzes the symbolic means of intuitive cognition embodiedin Wang Guowei's statement, "all …
Mao Qiling's Comments On The Romance Of The West Chamber And The Value Of His Concept Of “Lyric Example” In Literary Criticism, Xurong Yang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Theatre critics of the Ming dynasty spoke only occasionally about the "example (li)" of the Yuan-dynasty plays (za ju). In early Qing dynasty, Mao Qiling proposed "lyric example ( ci li)" as the primary commentary approach to The Romance ofthe West Chamber. The concept of "lyric" refers to the Yuan-dynasty plays, and the concept of "example" refers to the conventions, commonalities, laws and paradigms. Mao's concept of "lyric example" provided a comprehensive analysis of the language, the temperament, the system, and the performance as well as the critical standards in evaluating not only The Romance of the West Chamber but …
The Breakthrough And Limitations Of Qi Biaojia's Xiqu-Play Criticism, Shiyang Zhang
The Breakthrough And Limitations Of Qi Biaojia's Xiqu-Play Criticism, Shiyang Zhang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
In his letters to friends, Qi Biaojia expressed his hope to compile a collection of xiqu-plays in the Ming dynasty to promote contemporary xiqu-plays with textual criticism of the manuscripts. Qi inherited Wang Jide's idea of being the first to bridge the gap in the xiqu world and Lv Tiancheng's "intention to be close to the secular." Therefore, he tried hard to collect all the xiqu-plays in the Ming dynasty available to him, and compiled a monograph on xiqu-plays. Qi focused on manuscripts rather than on the playwrights or actors as his basis of evaluation. As opera music meters and …
Multidimensional Construction And Deconstruction Of The Claim That The Eight-Legged Essay Was Epitomized In The Ming Dynasty, Xiong Zheng
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The claim that the eight-legged essay was epitomized in the Ming dynasty was solidified by scholars of the Ming and Qing dynasties with the belief that each generation had an exemplary genre since the Yuan dynasty. The claim was constructed from four dimensions of the three relationships between writing and, respectively, societal politics, scholar's vitality, and tradition of adhering to the classics and doctrines, as well as generic transformation and its value. The value of the eight-legged essay in the Ming dynasty had also been criticized in the above mentioned four dimensions by the Ming and Qing dynasty scholars. However, …
The Aesthetic Concept Of On The Absence Of Sentiments In Music And A Reflection On The Construction Of Chinese Aesthetics, Kai Lin
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Ji Kang's ( 223-263) On the Absence of Sentiments in Music has three types of aesthetic concepts. First, listeners of sorrowful music release his emotions through listening. Second, peaceful listeners obtain aesthetic pleasure through appreciating the beauty of musical form. Thirdly, peaceful listeners focus specifically on moderate music, in order to acquire peace and preserve his health. Going beyond utilitarian emotions, Ji Kang laid more emphasis on the second type of aesthetic concept, which was close to Kant's definition of disinterestedness. Yet, he regulated desire due to vigilance, rather than stressing "aesthetic freedom" like modern aesthetics. Therefore, Ji Kang's three …
Fictional Text And Reality Of The Possible, Shusheng Zhang
Fictional Text And Reality Of The Possible, Shusheng Zhang
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
This article explores the issue of reference in fictional texts, that is, the relationship between fictional texts and reality. Paul Ricoeur thinks that the reference of poetic language is not cancelled, but only suspended. Through its semantic creativity, it possesses the ability to transform reality and to turn our personal environment into a habitable world. The interpretation of the concept "world /Welt" and "environment /Umwelt" by Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer shed light on the significance of fictional texts in reality, for they propose to us possible modes of existence in the ontological sense. In other words, fictional texts can …
A Paranoid Anxiety Of Life And Its Artistic Expression: A Thematic Study Of The Story Of Zhuangzhou Drumming The Basin, Yugui Jing
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
The original story of "Zhuangzhou Drumming the Basin" as first appeared in the Stories to Caution the World has been circulated both in China and abroad, and the motif of "unfaithful widow" is given distinctive artistic forms of expression. Zhuang's wife, the female protagonist in the story is constructed as an embodiment of carnal desire. Such representation reflects the status and tragic existence of women in a patriarchal society. Zhuangzi, who tests his wife's faithfulness, is in fact a representative figure of ancient scholars of little means who are separated from society and family, and a sexually jealous character of …
Juxtaposition, Narrative Strategies, And Multimedia Explorations: Representation Of Time In Comics, Xu Lian
Juxtaposition, Narrative Strategies, And Multimedia Explorations: Representation Of Time In Comics, Xu Lian
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
Following the tradition of narratology and comics studies, this article explores various ways of representing time in comics and displays the complexity and diversity of temporal representation in the grammar of comics. It focuses on spatialization, closure, order, speed, and innovation enabled by virtue of multimedia explorations. Spatialization strategies such as juxtaposition and collage are basic ways to represent time in comics, and closure of perception is also critical in understanding time. However, new forms like music comics and webcomics have significantly changed the structure of temporal representation.
The New Development Of Marxist Literary Criticism Today: An Interview With Barbara Foley, Shengzhen Zhang, Barbara Foley
The New Development Of Marxist Literary Criticism Today: An Interview With Barbara Foley, Shengzhen Zhang, Barbara Foley
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art
This interview with Prof. Barbara Foley covers a wide range of critical approaches and new challenges in the fields of Marxist theory, Marxist literary criticism, and Marxist pedagogy. Prof. Foley holds that Marxism provides a meta-theory, a privileged standpoint from which to study the connections between literature, politics and history. After examining fundamental principles of Marxism － － historical materialism, political economy, and ideology critique － － Foley analyzes long-standing debates over the nature of literature and sets forth key concerns of Marxist literary criticism. This interview also examines a broad range of literary works － － from classical to …