Mirror of Enigma and Mirror of Magic: Textual Evidence for Setting the Ground of East-West Comparative Literature

ZHANG Longxi

Volume 2 Issue 4

Mar. 2021

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ZHANG Longxi. Mirror of Enigma and Mirror of Magic: Textual Evidence for Setting the Ground of East-West Comparative Literature[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2019, 2(4): 601-613.

Citation:

ZHANG Longxi. Mirror of Enigma and Mirror of Magic: Textual Evidence for Setting the Ground of East-West Comparative Literature[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2019, 2(4): 601-613.

ZHANG Longxi. Mirror of Enigma and Mirror of Magic: Textual Evidence for Setting the Ground of East-West Comparative Literature[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2019, 2(4): 601-613.

Citation:

ZHANG Longxi. Mirror of Enigma and Mirror of Magic: Textual Evidence for Setting the Ground of East-West Comparative Literature[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2019, 2(4): 601-613.

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Mirror of Enigma and Mirror of Magic: Textual Evidence for Setting the Ground of East-West Comparative Literature

ZHANG Longxi

City University of Hong Kong

Received Date: 2019-09-02
Publish Date: 2021-03-09

Abstract

Abstract

Given the huge linguistic, cultural, historical, and social differences between the East and the West, what constitutes the ground for comparison poses a serious challenge to any comparative work. For Chinese-Western comparative studies, it is very important not just to make theoretical claims, but to establish the validity of comparison through a display of concrete examples as textual evidence to reveal the comparability of different literary traditions. Without textual evidence, comparisons may sound empty and unconvincing, and jumping from abstract concepts to jargon-laden obscurantism only reduces the value of comparative literature and damage its respectability. Through discussion of the comparability of a concrete image—that of the mirror—this essay will show the importance of textual evidence as methodologically meaningful for East-West comparative studies.
- Chinese-Western comparative literature,
- textual evidence,
- concrete images,
- mirror,
- methodology

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References(53)

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