2018 Vol. 1, No. 2

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Circle of Understanding and Belief: A Restored Reconstruction of the Confucian Thoughts
JIANG Zhe
2018, 1(2): 161-183.
Abstract:
Almost from "Qianjia School" in the Qing Dynasty, Confucianism began the turn of "textual criticism" and "historiography," which had the preliminary model of knowledge modernization, but at the same time undermined the foundation of Confucianism as an important carrier of Chinese thoughts development. Hence, this paper deploys "connotative system" and "metalanguage" of semiotics as formal frame and some thoughts of Western modern hermeneutics as substantiated content, in order to dissolve "textual criticism" and "historiography" regarding Confucian canonical texts respectively as "verbal data" and "historical data" on the one hand, and to reinterpret some relevant subjects of Confucianism and further tap the new potentiality of "restoration" of Confucian thoughts and beliefs, on the other hand.
[Abstract](374) [PDF 1409KB](469)
Serendipity: Seizing the Toned Picture of Poetry in the Light of Prosody
CHEN Shudong
2018, 1(2): 184-196.
Abstract:
What could prosody really do to help us digging further into the classics for the roads still not taken beneath, behind, and between the roads overly trodden? How much could prosody truly help us to make sense of the literary phenomena or scenarios that never cease seizing our attention nor ever relieve us consequently of our incessantly mixed curiosity and bewilderments? Why is the poem WANG Anshi王安石(1021-1086)'s poem "Stopping by Guazhou on board a boat" 《泊船瓜洲》, for instance, so unforgettably poetic? It is because, first and foremost, as the paper argues, what actually sustains the poem is literally the poem's simple emotionally fine-toned and fine-tuned"sound pattern," which proves, however underappreciated, not only "more integral[than] syntax" but also, indeed, more heart-appealing than mere verbal and visual images. What is so special of this simple poem, as the paper further argues, is the often overlooked function words, which, as if conditioned and coordinated by an "invisible hand," add so much to the poem. These "trivial" and "invisible" function words enliven the simple sound pattern; they season the poem in ways so traceless but ever-present like "a grain of salt" in the water in terms of this favorite metaphorical expression in The Upanishads or impact reading in ways as these familiar phrasesmay also thus suggest:i. e. "hui shi housu"绘事后素(To paint is to leave a vacant space behind the painted), "dayin xisheng"大音希声(Great music sounds barely audible), or "daxiang wuxing"大象无形(A great image has no image). The paper then explores accordingly whether or how it is possible to read afresh the classics not only in Chinese but also in English, among other major non-tonic modern languages, such as Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," along the same line of thought in the light of prosodyfor a crucial but often overlooked possibility of mutual illumination. Since the literary scenario is by no means a local but a global phenomenon, this illumination is exactly also what Goethe emphasizes as an irreplaceable necessity while deploring as in Pandora how we as humans are so "[d]estined, to see the illuminated, not the light."
[Abstract](372) [PDF 1345KB](407)
Theatricality of Writing and Emotion in the Eighteenth Century British Print Culture: David Hume and the Making of Literary Career
JIANG Wentao
2018, 1(2): 197-215.
Abstract:
The eighteenth century Britain witnessed a proliferation of modern print culture, which gives rise to the modern institution of the production of literary writing. David Hume and his moral philosophy writing are part of this mechanism in the making. This essay examines the transition of his treatise writing to essay writing as part of his maneuver of literary publications. It presents a history of materiality in writing through an investigation of its institutionalization, its dovetailing with the formation of modern theatrical selfhood, and a possible perceptual history of emotions in the genealogy of modern western subjectivity.
[Abstract](434) [PDF 1326KB](343)
Topology of Sovereignty, or the Politics of Analogy: A Note on Giorgio Agamben's Homo Sacer
WANG Qin
2018, 1(2): 216-233.
Abstract:
Through rereading Giorgio Agamben's productive development and reinterpretation of Carl Schmitt's arguments on sovereignty, this essay argues that in Homo Sacer Agamben employs a topology of sovereignty, as a space of indistinction between inside and outside, a space into which the sovereign's concreteness is dissolved. This idiosyncratic topological space of sovereignty, however, hinges upon Agamben's rhetorical use of analogies. Through introducing and rereading a medieval literary text, Mary de France's Bisclavret, the essay shows the extent to which the logic of analogy could be resisted and the topological space reopened for personal action.
[Abstract](453) [PDF 1278KB](436)
The Framing of Southern and Northern Discourses and the Modern Transformation of Ethnic Geospatial Consciousness: A Case Study of Liu Shipei's “Treatise on the Difference between Literatures of the North and the South”
WU Jian
2018, 1(2): 234-248.
Abstract:
This paper attempts to take LIU Shipei's famous article "Treatise on the Difference between Literatures of the North and the South" as center to research the imagination of the North-South divide of Chinese literature in the late Qing Dynasty and at the beginning of the Republic of China. This paper tries to draw the outline of the transforming of the literary discourse of the North-South divide from the political discourse in tradition into a sort of modern knowledge. First, this paper analyzes the thought resource and reality prompt tendency of LIU Shipei's discourse of the North-South divide of China, pointing out the discussion occurring in his "Guang Han"(revitalizing the Han nationality) period when LIU was a devout believer in nationalism. The key point of the discourse is the question why north China had great cultural prosperity in ancient times but totally lost it in modern times. This discourse inherited thought resource of pre-modern nationalism, and transformed in the new world order in the late Qing Dynasty. Second, in the geographical aspect, although LIU's article inherits the traditional thoughts of regional custom theory, its presumptions obviously base on modern scientific world view, which embodies the modernization of the geographical concept.
[Abstract](487) [PDF 1272KB](580)
On Fantastic Stories of India: The Cultural Confusion behind the Story
WANG Chunjing
2018, 1(2): 249-259.
Abstract:
Fantastic Stories of India, a travelogue published during the Republic of China (1912-1949), recorded the writer's observation of Indian society. The account was almost identical in content to John Finnemore's works, A Peep of India and Peeps of Many Lands:Home Life in India, but the attitude about India was starkly different. This paper describes the way in which the writer of Fantastic Stories of India had a complicated and contradictory relationship to India, which reflected their ambivalent standpoint between the modern West and the traditional East.
[Abstract](372) [PDF 1263KB](344)
The Development and New Trends of Chinese Comparative Literature in Recent Years (2014-2018)
JI Jianxun
2018, 1(2): 263-264.
Abstract:
[Abstract](399) [PDF 1138KB](354)
World Literature and Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Glocalization
ZHANG Xiaohong, LIU Xiaoling
2018, 1(2): 265-269.
Abstract:
Since the 1990s, the world has become increasingly globalized and localized at the same time, a phenomenon some might call glocalization. Whereas globalization leads to cultural convergence, localization is responsible for an increase in cultural diversity and efforts at cultural preservation. Against this backdrop, scholars working in comparative literature often diverge in their engagement with culture. Recently, in order to overcome the limitations of Eurocentrism or Western centric theories, many scholars are choosing the mutually constitutive and productive theories of world literature and cosmopolitanism.
[Abstract](410) [PDF 1217KB](384)
Trends and Developments of Chinese Comparative Literature(2014-2018)
ZHAO Weirong
2018, 1(2): 270-274.
Abstract:
After Chinese scholars were successful in their bid for the 22nd International Comparative Literature Meeting, the field of Chinese comparative literature has gained considerable international influence. For example, new theories developed by Chinese scholars (e.g. the theory of variation studies and cross civilization research and translation studies) are becoming more widely read and recognized in international academic circles; academic conferences focused on Chinese comparative literature are increasing in number; the number of periodicals dedicated to the subject has been increasing and the quality of the periodicals has greatly improved. Looking at the demographics of the researchers, there is a nice range in the age of scholars in the field. As the older scholars continue in their enthusiasm for the topic, the middle-aged scholars are producing new findings, and the young scholars are eagerly forging ahead. On the whole, there is a scene of prosperity in the discipline.
[Abstract](424) [PDF 1257KB](348)
Relationships between Chinese and Foreign Literatures: Problematics, Methodologies, and Fields of Growth (2014-2018)
QIN Liyan
2018, 1(2): 275-279.
Abstract:
Studies of the relationship between Chinese and foreign literatures have been a prominent part of Chinese Comparative Literature. This paper outlines the important works published in the last five years, with the specific purpose of identifying new problematics, methodologies, and fields of growth.
[Abstract](398) [PDF 1245KB](359)
The Developments and Trends of Chinese Translation Studies (2009-2018)
ZHENG Ye
2018, 1(2): 280-286.
Abstract:
This paper reviews research trends in translation studies in China from 2009 to 2018. Based on the analysis of prominent academic articles and books, this article describes seven important areas of research in the field:translation theory; translation practice; translation teaching; literary translation; interpretation; translation history; and technology. In addition, it describes recent developments and trends and offers suggestions for new research topics and future growth.
[Abstract](393) [PDF 1253KB](352)
Opening the World of Symbiosis: Chinese Literary Anthropology (2015-2018)
ZHAO Zhoukuan
2018, 1(2): 287-294.
Abstract:
Literary anthropology is a pioneer methodology for the study of comparative literature in China. After expanding from literary works to literary texts, from literary texts to cultural texts, literary anthropology is once again pushing the field into new territory for theorizing contemporary humanities. Specifically, by focusing on "multiple evidence" and "narrative of matter," literary anthropology highlights the rethinking of the "materiality" of contemporary thoughts. The "rediscovery" of matter in literary anthropology is in the "synthesis" stage of the developing relationship between things and human. It is also a dialectical innovation of contemporary thought. Reconsideration of physicality not only awakens things, but also opens up a new world of symbiosis.
[Abstract](473) [PDF 1266KB](371)
Imagology: The Feats and Reflections (2014-2018)
ZHOU Yunlong
2018, 1(2): 295-300.
Abstract:
Currently, the study of images of exotic locales is one of the hottest topics in Chinese comparative literature. Not just focused on specific images, imagology is also concerned with theorizing the study of objects in general, by inquiring into the signifying practices of images and why they develop. Recent accomplishments in the field include theoretical reflection and dialogue. While the field is perhaps not progressing as quickly as others, this should not be attributed to the (mis)appropriation of western theories, but rather the difficulty of responding to the topics of the age.
[Abstract](809) [PDF 1256KB](446)
From Lonely Spark to Prairie Fire: An Overview of the Study of Science Fiction in China (2014-2018)
LYU Chao
2018, 1(2): 301-306.
Abstract:
Although Chinese science fiction has a history of over 100 years, it has been relatively ignored as an academic area of inquiry. However, over the past five years, there has been a dramatic increase in attention to the field and it has emerged as an important topic in interdisciplinary research in comparative literature. This paper describes the remarkable progress of the field, made visible by:the proliferation of academic activities; the number and quality of articles published; the number of high-level projects approved; the continued interest in developing of the discipline; the popularization of the topic in international communication and mainstream literature; and the fact that more and more serious scholars are joining the discipline.
[Abstract](477) [PDF 1274KB](348)
Forever on the Path of Spiritual Pursuit: An Interview with YUE Daiyun by LIU Yunhua
YUE Daiyun, LIU Yunhua
2018, 1(2): 309-321.
Abstract:
In this interview with YUE Daiyun, our featured scholar, a discussion about the outlook for comparative literature unfolds as YUE reminisces about her seventy years of accomplishments and setbacks at Peking University. YUE's academic achievements are telling testimonies to her own unyielding spiritual pursuit, as well as the unwavering support of her husband TANG Yijie (1927-2014) and father-in-law TANG Yongtong (1891-1964), a master of Chinese culture. In light of the diverse demands of modern China and Chinese intellectuals' Weltschmerz (or empathetic concerns for the country and its people), YUE articulates her vision of comparative literature as a way to orient China's native scholarly traditions to a global context and also contend with its own problems. According to YUE, a New Humanism should be the guiding value, with China's traditional literary and cultural legacies at the center of methodological foci. She also looks to widen the critical lens of comparative studies in literature to address interdisciplinary and intercultural issues, such as the fate of humans and intellectual-spiritual communities. The interview draws to a close with a discussion of the wisdom of "wishing to say nothing."
[Abstract](441) [PDF 1228KB](501)
Estok, Simon C.. The Ecophobia Hypothesis
Serpil OPPERMANN
2018, 1(2): 325-327.
Abstract:
[Abstract](403) [PDF 1087KB](333)
Alaimo, Stacy. Exposed: Environmental Politics and Pleasures in Posthuman Times
Iris RALPH
2018, 1(2): 328-330.
Abstract:
[Abstract](389) [PDF 1086KB](341)
LAI Tsz Pang. Attuning the Gospel: Chinese Christian Novels of the Late Qing Period
LIM Hyebin
2018, 1(2): 331-333.
Abstract:
[Abstract](341) [PDF 1137KB](361)
Skinner, Quentin. From Humanism to Hobbes: Studies in Rhetoric and Politics
LUO Yuwei
2018, 1(2): 334-337.
Abstract:
[Abstract](381) [PDF 1165KB](334)
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