2023 Vol. 6, No. 1

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Articles
Douwe Fokkema and World Literature Studies
WANG Ning
2023, 6(1): 7-22. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236101
Abstract:
In the discussion of world literature in international academic circles, scholars usually quote the works and views of American scholars like Franco Moretti and David Damrosch, but they seem to ignore the contributions made by such a European scholar as Douwe Fokkema, who had before them been dabbling in world literature issues. In fact, as early as the 1980s, Fokkema had already published a number of articles, covering a wide range of world literature issues, and was involved in the discussion of literary canon formation and reformation and other relevant issues. Because of his early training in Sinology and later attainments in Western literary theory, Fokkema broke away from Western-centrism when he began his comparative literature studies, consciously carrying out cross-cultural comparative studies of literature. His involvement with world literature began with a study of postmodern literature, in which he not only invited Chinese and other non-Western scholars to write chapters in the volume on postmodernism edited by himself and Hans Berten as one volume of The Comparative History of Literature in European Languages, but, in his later years, he devoted himself to the study of contemporary Chinese postmodern literature and published an essay on the subject, thus viewing postmodernism as an international trend of thought in world literature and art. In addition, he also dabbled in the construction of a new cosmopolitanism with the times, and reconstructed cosmopolitan elements from China's Confucianism as a reference. All the above constitute his cross-cultural theoretical contributions to the study of world literature.
[Abstract](178) [PDF 877KB](82)
Three English Journals in Republican Beijing and the Internationalization of Chinese Scholarship
GU Jun
2023, 6(1): 23-41. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236102
Abstract:
Due to the efforts of a large number of returned Western-educated Chinese students, Republican Beijing produced a variety of English journals, as cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries deepened after the 1911 Revolution. So far, these journals have not been systematically studied either at home or abroad. As the first attempt, this paper conducts a general survey of three major journals, namely The Chinese Social and Political Science Review, Bulletin of the Catholic University of Peking, and The Yenching Journal of Social Studies, in terms of their founding process, authorial team and main contents. These journals have witnessed the internationalization of traditional Chinese scholarship on literature, history and philosophy, as well as the rise and prosperity of emerging disciplines such as sociology, political science and law in China. Dozens of Chinese contributors to these journals were characterized by profound academic attainments and high proficiency in English, but in the past few decades many of them have been either neglected, or noticed merely through their Chinese works rather than English ones, which deserve renewed attention.This paper chooses several of them as examples of returned students for analysis, with special attention to their role in knowledge transfer and China's academic modernization. Compared with their Chinese counterparts, the three English journals gained more international fame and gave a stronger boost to Beijing's image as an academic center. Against the backdrop of domestic and international turmoil facing Republican China, their achievement and performance should be given more credit, and could provide useful reference for the enhancement of China's soft power today in at least three aspects:first, how to explain Chinese politics, society, history and culture in English; second, how to translate Chinese academic works into English and expand their influence internationally; third, how to establish academic leadership through English journals based in China.
[Abstract](115) [PDF 973KB](59)
The Blue Lotus and Beyond: A Cross-Cultural Dialogue between Hergé and Zhang Chongren
PAN Zhiyuan
2023, 6(1): 42-73. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236103
Abstract:
The Blue Lotus, an episode set in Shanghai of the popular Belgian comic, The Adventures of Tintin, was the result of a collaboration in 1934-35 between Hergé, its creator, and Zhang Chongren, a Shanghai-born art student in Brussels. This paper demonstrates that the key legacy of the comic is its message calling for mutual understanding between different cultures. Despite the considerable amount of literature on The Blue Lotus thanks to the popularity of Tintin, the existing research tends to either mystify or simplify the Hergé-Zhang encounter and its attendant influences. Taking a more contextualized approach to engage the immediate historical and literary background of the comic, this paper focuses on how a cross-cultural dialogue between Hergé and Zhang contributed to the two significant features in The Blue Lotus:raising a voice against injustice in the contemporary Sino-Japanese conflict, and breaking the established framework of cultural stereotypes. It shows that the collaborators' in-depth conversation about different cultures and civilizations functioned not only to provide new knowledge, but also to facilitate an understanding from others' perspectives, with a further analysis of the comic itself to verify this impact. Created on the foundation of a cross-cultural dialogue, this comic in turn became a medium to promote the idea of cultural respect and tolerance to readers of Tintin, which is still relevant today.
[Abstract](145) [PDF 22074KB](59)
Searching for the Source of the Mechanical Body in French Thought: From Descartes to La Mettrie to Villiers de L'Isle-Adam
WU Shijueshan
2023, 6(1): 74-87. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236104
Abstract:
“The body” has always been an important topic in Western philosophy and intellectual history. Under the principle of dualism, the body is only a supplement to the soul, and with the continuous development of Western science, it has gradually become a product of mechanistic theory. The mechanistic view of the body has also given rise to various contemporary science fiction narratives that reconstruct the body. This article will outline the development of the mechanistic view of the body in Western thought, especially in French philosophy:from the basic understanding of the body in medieval anatomy to Descartes' core view of "mind-body dualism" in mechanistic theory, to the view proposed by 18th century French doctor La Mettrie that "man is a machine," and finally to the science fiction writing on the mechanistic view of the body in Lilian Adam's novel "Future Eve" in 19th century France. It will explore the preset and impact of the mechanistic view of the body on the future human mind-body relationship and the possible existence of the body in the new era of digital technology.
[Abstract](92) [PDF 855KB](47)
A Comparison of the Road Metaphor in Pre-Qin Chinese Literature and the Hebrew Bible: From Semantics to Concepts
PENG Yinglong
2023, 6(1): 88-110. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236105
Abstract:
German scholar Markus Philipp Zehnder conducted a thorough investigation of the Wegmetaphorik(road metaphor) of the Hebrew Bible(the so-called "Old Testament"),and his research is instructive for reexamining the "Tao" (道) of Chinese culture. By adopting a similar research method,it can be found that the road metaphor in Chinese not only manifests in the word "Tao," but also in all kinds of expressions involving the whole semantic field. A semantic examination will reveal the striking similarity between the road metaphor in pre-Qin literature and the Wegmetaphorik in the Hebrew Bible. The two main types of road metaphor can be named "doing things is going along the way" and "life is a journey,fate is what you encounter," both of which are widely and richly presented in pre-Qin Chinese literature and the Hebrew Bible. The ultimate goal of semantic investigation is to reveal the cultural concept behind it. The road metaphor in pre-Qin Chinese literature and the Hebrew Bible often carries the meaning of value norms,and its two main types can be combined to convey the ideal of "the unity of virtue and happiness." In both pre-Qin Chinese literature and the Hebrew Bible,the sub-metaphor of "doing things is going along the way" involving moral evaluation/ethical norms is the core type. However, the early secularization of Chinese culture and the theistic culture of the Jewish people have led to some differences in the road metaphors,such as the Hebrew Bible's view of the fate of the Israelites as a journey, which has no counterpart in pre-Qin literature. Li Chichang once advocated that Chinese researchers should use cross-text reading of the Bible to their advantage. A cross-text study of the road metaphor in pre-Qin literature and the Hebrew version of Old Testament based on semantic investigation will deepen our understanding of the commonalities and particularities of cultures.
[Abstract](117) [PDF 1149KB](43)
White Guilt and Epic Theatre Elements in Fugard's The Train Driver
MU Yu
2023, 6(1): 111-133. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236106
Abstract:
Athol Fugard is a well-known contemporary liberalist playwright in South Africa. His one-act play, The Train Driver, is a story about the guilt of a white train driver who accidentally hit a black woman who was committing suicide and his journey of searching the woman's tomb at a graveyard in the charge of a black gravedigger. The Train Driver is Fugard's most important piece in the post-apartheid era. It presents liberal whites' sense of guilt, which is the ethical condition that whites cannot escape their conscience in face of the social injustices of apartheid, and continues the artistic expression of reaching reconciliation with reality through moral repentance.It also takes the form of Bertolt Brecht's "Epic Theatre" to reveal the historical predicament in New South Africa after the end of apartheid and then examines white guilt in the neoliberal context.This article focuses on form analysis, which is the "Epic Theatre" elements in The Train Driver. It tries to explain the change in Fugard's perception of white guilt in the post-apartheid era and why he chooses to take the form of an epic theatre to present it. The article shows how the monologue in The Train Driver presents white guilt, and then analyzes the setting of the dialogue, the prologue and epilogue and the alienation effect they create to prevent the audience from identifying with the white man and his guilt. Then, it further indicates the neoliberal issues involved in stage designs, such as the background of the cemetery, the dilapidated dwelling of the black gravedigger, and the sound effects, to demonstrate that the alienation effect of the theatrical form can arouse the audience to think rationally that the death of a black woman is not the fault of the white driver, but the result of the complex neoliberal reality. In this case, the white train driver still blindly bears the guilt,rather than looking into the roots of the tragedy.The article reveals that, in The Train Driver, Fugard transcends his previous understanding of white guilt and changes the method of presentation. He realized that by merely acquiring a sense of guilt and ethical repentance, one cannot reconcile with the social reality. Due to the changes of the times, Fugard chooses the form of epic theatre to arouse the audience to explore the truth behind the phenomenon that the plight of black people has not been changed, thus urging the audience to reconsider the causes of the tragedy in the plight of neoliberalism and seeking a new path of racial reconciliation.
[Abstract](187) [PDF 797KB](52)
Colonial Elites and the Pursuit of Sinology: Literary Translation of Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in Hong Kong(1847-1859)
YI Yongyi
2023, 6(1): 134-156. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236107
Abstract:
The China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and its Transactions in Hong Kong's early days have been neglected for a long time,but they are the earliest academic attempts of British Sinology in China. The society was sponsored by the colonial government,and was chaired by the Governors of Hong Kong. It was initiated with the support of the second governor,sinologist John Francis Davis,and then declined after the departure of the fourth governor,translator John Bowring. The Transaction of the branch reflects the institutional exploration of British Sinology in China for the first time,in which literary translation is a pragmatic tradition that reflects the practical needs of British Sinology. The colonial official status of the three translators inevitably affected their different motives and strategies for translation. The literary re-translation of Daxue by the Chief Magistrate,Charles Batten Hillier,focuses on the cultural diversion strategy of social governance. With the strategy of knowledge archaeology,the Chinese Secretary of the Chief Superintendent,Walter Henry Medhurst,Jr.,translated the Chinese verse on the porcelain from an ancient Egyptian tomb,and participated in the discussion of this topic in the Sinology circle at that time. The Governor of Hong Kong,John Bowring,translated Lin Zexu's poems of exile into English with a liberal and pluralistic strategy,comprehensively introduced the great Chinese statesman and writer to the British by way of combining poetry and history,striving to achieve cultural communication through literary translation and correct Britain's national prejudice against China. By investigating the three literary translation cases involved in the Transaction,it can be seen that the translators of the colonial elite are not only intended to serve colonial governance and participate in Sinology dialogue and imperial intelligence,but also to objectively promote Hong Kong's colonial Sinology into the imperial academic network of the Royal Asiatic Society. In brief,the institutionalization of the knowledge production of literary translation published in the Society's periodical,combined with the translation strategies and Sinology pursuits of the colonial elite,led to a historical understanding of the spread of Chinese literature.
[Abstract](164) [PDF 1219KB](47)
The Bioethics in Science Fiction: Moral Inspiration of Happiness in Brave New World
ZHAO Xiuhong, WU Wenqing
2023, 6(1): 157-170. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236108
Abstract:
Bio-ethical exploration has always been a classic theme of modern science fiction. With the rapid development of life science and medicine, gene editing technology and its potential ethical dilemmas and choices have become the key points of science fiction in recent years. These works have captured the momentum of life science developments and potential risks through topics as "artificial person," "transplants," "laboratory babies," "gene editing," "mind control," and "genetic enhancements," focusing on human gene editing techniques, as well as their strong impact on the traditional way of life and social ethics. Among these, the novel Brave New World by the British writer Aldous Huxley depicts the annihilation of human nature under the grinding influence of money and machine as material desires are satisfied by advances in science and technology, one of the root causes being the weak awareness of bio-ethical consciousness. In a world like this, love and responsibility are lost due to alienated material relationships among people, bio-ethical morality is trampled, and virtue awareness is discarded, all of which may cause inappropriate bio-ethical choices to recur and eventually lead to loss of happiness. In essence, the novel reflects the complex emotions and confused values of people pursuing the American dream in the era of scientism and hedonism after World War Ⅰ. Through the asymmetry of responsibility over freedom, as well as the relationship between the self and the other-following Levina's ethical theory of "the other"—the other takes precedence over the self, with infinite absoluteness and transcendence. The novel serves as an opportunity for moral reflection and demonstrates that confirmation of the self lies in the presence of the other. Only in the process of cultivating responsibility and empathy for the other can self-subjectivity be revealed, materialism and technology be brought into full play as a means to an end, and "the self" and "the present" be transcended to experience the existence of happiness and meaning in life.
[Abstract](181) [PDF 666KB](54)
Writing Outside of the Poetry——An Overview of Research on Contemporary Chinese Poetry Abroad
WANG Guoli
2023, 6(1): 171-181. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236109
Abstract:
The language applied in contemporary Chinese poetry is the product of the Vernacular Movement. Contemporary Chinese poetry cannot break away from the classical poetic tradition; on the other hand, Western poetry also has exerted great influence upon it. So it is the hybrid of both localization and Western influence. It undertook the task of literary revolution and national independence from its beginning. Consequently, poets applied special discourse for a long time.Thus, the research on contemporary Chinese poetry abroad has been conducted from the aspects mentioned above. Stephen Owen's criticism on contemporary Chinese poetry is very influential, he pointed out that we cannot find enchantment in contemporary Chinese poetry because many poets have adopted discourse under the influence of Western languages for the purpose of catering to readers abroad and these poems are translated versions of Western poetry without originality. Michelle Yeh, Rey Chow and other poets have responded to Stephen Owen's criticism on the fact that it's hard to distinguish the influence exerted upon contemporary Chinese poetry by Chinese classical and foreign poetry. Political themes are also the focus of academic research in Western countries, which can be indicated from the research conducted by Wolfgang Kubin and Bonnie S. McDougall. In the 1990s, poetry had been marginalized and some scholars have examined the fate of contemporary Chinse poetry from the perspective of the literary field. Heather Inwood analyzed struggle and conflict among different "fields":mass media and the internet have produced many poets of popular culture; therefore, poetry can be composed by anyone who wants to do so while other poets try their best to maintain the elegance of good taste in poetry with expectations of the definition of poetry from the traditional view and readers' reasonable understanding of poetry.
[Abstract](191) [PDF 964KB](53)
Interviews
Iizuka Yutori in the History of the Discipline of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature in Postwar Japan: An Interview with Professor Iizuka
IIZUKA Yutori, SUN Ruosheng
2023, 6(1): 185-194. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236110
Abstract:
Iizuka Yutori is a professor at Chuo University(Japan), a scholar and translator of contemporary Chinese literature, and was awarded the Chinese Book Special Contribution Award in 2011. Several interviews and studies on Iizuka Yutori in China mainly focus on his view of Chinese literature and translation strategies. This interview focuses on Iizuka in the context of the history of the discipline of contemporary Chinese literature in Japan. From the interview, it is clear that Iizuka's consistent academic interest is in discovering foreign literary influences in Chinese literature. His academic interest has been shaped by two main factors:Iizuka's family education background of extensive involvement in world literature and the liberal academic style of the Chinese Department of Tokyo Metropolitan University.Iizuka has participated in almost all major translation projects of contemporary Chinese literature in Japan. The "teacher-student workshop" pioneered by Takeuchi Yoshimi has provided Iizuka with methodological support for organizing these translation projects. In this way, this interview express Iizuka's contribution to the discipline of contemporary Chinese literature in Japan, providing knowledge for overseas sinology studies and for the exploration of the overseas dissemination of Chinese "New-Era Literature."
[Abstract](184) [PDF 800KB](52)
Book Reviews
ZHANG Longxi.A History of Chinese Literature
WANG Xiao
2023, 6(1): 197-199. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236111
Abstract:
[Abstract](147) [PDF 366KB](49)
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