From Symbol to Culture: Julia Kristeva’s Fascination with the Chinese Language

Abstract

Kristeva has a close relationship with China. Not only has she obtained a degree in Chinese and been active in the “China Period” of Tel Quel, but she has also focused on the Chinese language, thought, and culture in both her academic research and her literary work. Kristeva’s early concern with Chinese primarily revolved around linguistics and semiotics. Influenced by the Chinese language, she proposed theories such as “logique poétique” and “le paragramme semiology.” After the 1970s, Kristeva began to introduce psychoanalytic and feminist perspectives into her research, focusing on understanding the Chinese language from the standpoint of Chinese thought, culture, and historical traditions and considering Chinese as a “tonal language.” Since the 1990s and especially in the 21st century, Kristeva further explored the potential for dialogue between Chinese and European cultures within the context of their “encounter.” Thus, Kristeva’s fascination with the Chinese language has become a prominent case of Western practice in the mutual learning between Chinese and Western literary theories.