Comparative Literature In China Research Articles

TIẾP NHẬN VÀ ỨNG DỤNG LÍ THUYẾT VĂN HỌC SO SÁNH Ở TRUNG QUỐC QUA CÁC THỜI KÌ

Based on the historical stages of the development of Chinese comparative literature, taking the establishment of the Chinese society of comparative literature in 1985 as a comparative point, this paper is a systematic study of the database of Chinese Comparative Literature and relevant historical events. On this basis, it summarizes the important characteristics of the acceptance and application of comparative literature theory in three stages of development in China: Pre historical period (1906-1949) - nonprofessional period and Externalization period (1949-1985) and Professional and International development period (1985 to present). At the same time, it depicts a vivid picture of comparative literature in China and its current development trend.

Rebirth of Comparative Literature in China from the Perspective of Medio-translatology

In his article "Rebirth of Comparative Literature in China from the Perspective of Medio-translatology," Wei Guo discusses the "rebirth" of Comparative Literature in China from the development of medio-translatology. He argues that, though translation has received wide attention in Comparative Literature, both domestic and foreign, especially in today's globalized world, the proposition of medio-translatology and systematic investigation by Xie Tianzhen and other Chinese scholars constitute an important way forward for translation in Comparative Literature. It makes translation an independent branch in this discipline, which is conducive to ending the longstanding confusions in translation under medio-translatology and translation studies on the whole and addressing certain controversial phenomena in translation as in the case of "creative treason" and the position of "translated literature."

Terminology Translation and the "Rebirth" of Comparative Literature in

In their article "Terminology Translation and the 'Rebirth' of Comparative Literature in China" Peina Zhuang and Huan Pi discuss terminology translation during the rise of Comparative Literature in China. They argue that, while great headway has been made in Comparative Literature here, it is not free from the challenges inherent in terminology translation, an important part in inter-cultural dialogue. Analyzing the status quo in terminology translation from three aspects, namely, the lack of unity, standardization, and accuracy, they argue that more attention should be given to this aspect in the scholarship. In particular, they advocate more concrete empirical research, such as dictionary compilation, so as to avoid disputes on key terms, as a way of promoting the real and sustainable "prosperity" of Comparative Literature.

Towards the Inclusion of Inter-Ethnic Studies in Comparative Literature in China

Towards the Inclusion of Inter-Ethnic Studies in Comparative Literature in China

Interdisciplinary Studies and Comparative Literature in China and the West

In his article Studies and Comparative Literature in China and the West Aaron Lee Moore addresses the arguments on the part of Chinese and Western scholars against and for the full inclusion of interdisciplinary studies within the discipline of comparative literature. Interdisciplinary studies, in general, have been resisted in Chinese scholarship as it once was in the U.S. and other Western countries. Moore discusses the major Chinese arguments for and against interdisciplinary studies in general and interdisciplinary studies within comparative literature. Moore's main argument is that the study of literature by necessity must always cross disciplinary boundaries and the argument that interdisciplinary studies often leads to amateurism is indefensible. Further, Moore highlights the benefits of interdisciplinary studies within comparative literature in the West and the potential benefits of a wider range of interdisciplinary studies in Chinese scholarship

From “Faithfulness, Expressiveness, and Elegance” to “Creative Treason” —A Brief Analysis of Variations in Cross- Languages in Pa Chin’s Cold Nights

The phenomenon of variation is common in texts of different literatures and cultures. For the development of Comparative Literature in China, in order to break through the linguistic barriers between Eastern and Western civilizations, the Chinese Professor Cao Shunqing develops the Variation Theory of Comparative Literature in 2005. The Variation Theory of Comparative Literature is a valuable integration of all contemporary disciplines. It ranges from transnational variation studies, cross-language variation studies, cross-cultural variation studies, cross-civilization variation studies, to the images of “otherness” studies, etc. The paper is trying to analyze Pa Chin’s novel Cold Nights of bilingual format in Chinese and English from the perspective of creative treason in cross-language variation studies from three aspects: domestication and foreignization translating method of translator’s individualized translation; mistranslation and omissions; abridged translation compilation and adaptation. Based on the original translation principle as “Faithfulness, Expressiveness, and Elegance”, the paper tries to search for the variations in cross-languages in the literary translation and its deep hidden causes from the aspects of language, culture, history, and local custom in Pa Chin’s Cold Nights.

The Development and Changes of Comparative Literature in China

This thesis explores the origin, development and changes of comparative literature theories. The focus is on the definition of comparative literature in China and the adoption of comparative literature theories in practical usage. Key words: Comparative literature; Development and changes; China Resume: Cette these explore l'origine du developpement et de l'evolution des theories de la litterature comparee. L'accent est mis sur la definition de la litterature comparee en Chine et a l'adoption des theories de litterature comparee de l'utilisation pratique. Mots cles: La litterature comparee; Le developpement et les changements; de la Chine

Ralph Cohen, New Literary History , and Literary Studies in China

n the history of literary studies, as well as in the humanities more generally, there are two sorts of people who influence and push forward the development of literary studies in a particular cultural context: one by means of insightful theoretical thinking, the other by means of organizational ability. I should mention in particular two eminent American literary scholars who have influenced not only my own career as a Chinese scholar of literature, but also literary stud- ies in China more broadly. These two people both have close relations with the prestigious journal New Literary History. Fredric Jameson, one of the advisory editors of the journal, not only influenced my studies on postmodernism in the Chinese context but also helped reroute China's postmodern studies and cultural studies in the 1980s and 1990s with his monumental work on postmodernism. 1 Ralph Cohen, founder of the journal and editor during the past forty years, not only helped reori- ent my own academic career, but more importantly, helped reorient the study of literary theory and comparative literature in China during the last ten years, thanks to the impact of New Literary History as well as the volume he edited, The Future of Literary Theory. About three years ago, when I was attending the fourth Sino-American Symposium on Comparative Literature held at Duke University in 2006, I told Jameson of my desire to see Ralph Cohen. Jameson immediately expressed his gratitude for the considerable help Cohen had given him in the early part of his career. I am sure that many of today's prominent literary scholars are likewise indebted to Cohen. But in this essay, I will first reflect on Cohen's help to me and his unique contribution to literary studies in China before dealing with the remarkable role played by New Literary History.

“Death of a Discipline”?

Starting with questioning Gayatri Spivak's controversial book Death of a Discipline, the present article tries to argue that unlike the case in the United States, comparative literature in China is still very energetic playing a leading role in Chinese-Western cultural and academic exchange and communication. Although, to the author, comparative literature in China did not become an independent discipline until the 1980s, it has been developing so rapidly that it was soon involved in international comparative literature scholarship and has become an important member of the International Comparative Literature Association. Since comparative literature became an independent discipline in mainland China in the 1980s, it has been both combined with “area studies” with its focus on Chinese-Western comparative studies and with the strategy of “crossing borders” and more topics from other disciplines or branches of learning. Even in the age of globalization when many of the other disciplines of the humanities are severely challenged, comparative literature studies in China is still flourishing as it is closely related to or even combined with world literature into one discipline, with many of the internationally discussed theoretic topics “globalized” in the Chinese context.

Western Literary Theories in China: Reception, Influence and Resistance

The recent history of comparative literature in China is closely linked with the appropriation of Western theory by Chinese scholars. In the following we would like to relate some aspects of that history – which very much mirrors the fraught history of China’s relationship with the West – and survey some of the related developments in literary theory and criticism, bearing in mind that one of the problems still facing the introduction of Western theory in China today is the perceived fundamental, or ‘essential’, difference of Eastern and Western thought, and hence of their cultures and literatures. Modern and contemporary Western literary and cultural theories began entering China on a large scale around 1980. Prior to that, the field of literary studies in China had for decades seen political criticism guided and dominated by another vein of Western thought, namely Marxist theory, which reached its ultra-‘Left’ extreme during the Cultural Revolution that lasted from 1966 to 1976. During that period, literary theory and criticism were treated only as political tools for reinforcing the struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie.2 After the end of the Cultural Revolution, China adopted a policy of economic reform, opening the country up to the outside world. Alongside the flow – if not torrent – of Western capital and commodities, various brands of Western literary theory and criticism entered China. All these schools, whether fashionable (such as feminism, deconstruction, psychoanalysis) or out of fashion (such as New Criticism, phenomenology, structuralist narratology) in the West, were invariably new and contemporary to Chinese scholars. This large-scale introduction into China of Western theories from the 1980s on is primarily to be accounted for by the country’s new-found post-‘Cultural Revolution’ interest in modernity and modernization. The beginnings of China’s

Articles on Comparative Literature in China

Articles on Comparative Literature in China

Comparative Literature in China

In their co-authored article, "Comparative Literature in China," Xiaoyi Zhou and Q.S. Tong present a brief intellectual and institutional history of the discipline. According to Zhou and Tong, main features of the history of comparative literature in China include the fact that as an academic discipline and a mode of intellectual inquiry imported to China from the West in the early twentieth century, the discpline has always been a priori strategically political and the proposition that the development of comparative literature in China is closely related to the formation of China’s literary modernity includes the parallel issue of national identity. Further, Zhou and Tong argue that built upon the politics of national identity construction and the development of modernity, Chinese comparatists tended to remain traditional and adhered up to recent times to scholarly practices of traditional comparative literature. Thus, the said ideological background indeed determines some of the concerns Chinese scholars in their analysis of Chinese-foreign cultural relationships inquire into and the authors present the argument that this situation produced scholarship of lesser rigour. Ultimately, Zhou and Tong argue for a redirection of Chinese comparative literature into a more culture-oriented and less traditional comparative literature in China, similar to the situation of the discipline in the West.

Comparative Literature in China

Comparative Literature in China