Browse by:



Displaying: 1-20 of 21 documents


1. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Shunqing Cao, Lu Zhai

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
In "The Variation of Chinese Literature and the Formation of World Literature" Shunqing Cao and Lu Zhai discuss how Chinese works of literature entered other countries' literary circles through variation, and became an essential part of world literature. Both ancient Chinese literature and contemporary Chinese literature have undergone textual circulation, language translation and cultural filtering before becoming part of world literature, all of which are the reasons why literary variation occurs. According to Cao and Zhai, the occurrence of variation is a key factor for Chinese literature to become world literature, and an important foundation for the formation of world literature. A country's literature absorbs the characteristics of other countries' literature through variation, thus adapting to the cultural background and reading habits of other countries' readers in terms of language and style, in order to enter the world literature market. Variation may lead to a certain loss of nationality in literary works, and result in significant differences from the original texts. However, the formation of world literature does not come at the cost of eliminating nationality; variation facilitates the formation of world literature.

2. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Yina Cao

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
This paper analyzes the processes of cross-lingual, transnational, and cross-cultural communication and interaction of world literary classics. The author argues that world literary classics are actually the result of the variation of the exchanges between various “ethnic” literatures. Comparative literature is essentially a discipline of scholarly study of the synchronic developments of literature and culture. Although scholars have long recognized the perspective of variation in diachronic development, there has been less attention to variation in synchronic development. The formation of world literary classics is also closely related to the synchronic development of literature. Thus, variation studies in comparative literature not only reveal the perspective of cultural innovation but also find creativity in the variation of cultural and literary communication as well as innovation in the variation of literary interpretation.

3. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Simon C. Estok

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The topics of Anthropocene literature have a perceived global relevance that is greater than that of literature in any other period in history, and Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People, Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance, and Paulo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl show this clearly. These books hit common global registers, at once dealing with issues such as urbanization, corporate capitalism, and climate change as common concerns while vigorously valuing and affirming cultural heterogeneity. The topics of these novels virtually guarantee their position as world literature. Sinha, Mistry, and Bacigalupi offer hope rather than doom-and-gloom on topics that are of pressing global concern. In the process, they reveal that Anthropocene fiction has, by its very topicality, a propensity to being world literature, whatever the greatness or weakness of its national origin. Theorizing about world literature thus needs to grapple more decisively than it has with what cli-fi and Anthropocene fiction offer.

4. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Guo Wei

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
In "Literary Variation of Indian Buddhist Stories in Chinese 志怪 (Zhiguai) Novels," Wei Guo discusses Buddhist Sutra scriptures which have been a reservoir of inspiration for Zhiguai novels since their first introduction in Chinese literature. Buddhist texts were less relevant for the "documentary" tradition of Chinese literature owing to their rough structure, vague context, and lack of a sense of history and reality, since they were originally intended as texts of didacticism. Hence, in order to integrate these exotic literary materials with local aesthetic concepts, Chinese writers explored creative adaptations including the addition of adding detail, linguistic embellishments, and the endowment of each story with specific narrative scenes in terms of character, place, and time. Guo argues that Indian Buddhist stories have been remolded in Zhiguai novels and transformed from imaginary religious literature into figurative and documentary literature whereby the convergence of the source texts with the target texts shows the processes of formation of world literature(s).

5. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Maximiliano E. Korstanje

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
Classic Edward Said´s term Orientalism was widely applied to those narratives and story-telling oriented to deride, subordinate and domesticate the “Non-Western Other”. Over centuries, Europe has developed an imperial matrix that is finely enrooted in an uncanny long-dormant paternalism where “the Other” was treated as a child to educate. The European expansion was ultimately feasible according to two combined factors. The knowledge productions by the hands of scientists occupied a great position in the entertainment of global readerships, and of course, the literary fiction embodied in the figure of travel writing. This literary genre was mainly marked by the presence of a European adventurer who launched to colonize an unknown (uncivilized) world. Travel writings spoke us of the native language of travelers who interrogated furtherly the natives. The present paperwork centers on what Derrida dubbed as “the axiom of hospitality” which means the power of language to control and domesticate the “Other”. The lingua franca not only represents the language of empire but also from the lords. In this way, world Language plays a leading role in giving a great cosmology of the surrounding world as well as legitimating the imperial expansion.

6. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Shuo Qiu

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
Through an analysis of the work of the Yi (彝) poets, Aku Wuwu, Jidi Majia, and Jimu Langge, this paper discusses the significance of Yi literature in translation, circulation, and production, with an additional focus on the development of minority literature in the context of world literature. A variety of factors enable the translation of ethnic minority literature, including the content and characteristics of the literature itself, the cultural ideologies and literary values of societies, and the personal motivations of authors and translators. In turn, the translation and distribution process introduce the unique experiences of the minority subject into the realm of world literature. Presenting ethnic minority literature in various forms, including recitation performance and multimedia, these Yi poets enhance the range of sensory experiences for readers while drawing attention to poetic traditions and enriching the ways in which world literature circulates. Moreover, the travels of ethnic minority writers introduce new cross-cultural writing and advances world literature’s ideals of prosperity, equality, and freedom. In sum, Yi literature represents a global development of ethnic minority literature as “anthropological literature” that enriches the content of world literature.

7. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Shunqing Cao, Shuaidong Zhang

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
If we inspect closely the works that ascend to world literature from the peripheral, David Damrosch’s well-recognized argument that “world literature is writing that gains in translation” may need some revision, because apparently translation is not the sole factor that decides the formation of world literature. Translated works do not necessarily represent the best part in one national literature. Damrosch’s overemphasis on translation differences and untranslatability in world literature tends to overlook the syncretism of heterogeneous literatures: The influence of Roman Empire on Indian Buddhism, the influx of elements from Indian, Arabic, and Persian stories into European writers’ creation, the genres of China’s ancient literature influenced by Buddhism, etc. Furthermore, a great deal of Chinese idioms and allusions appearing in Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese literatures provide us a general view of how world literature forms through exchange and syncretism. On this account, Damrosh’s argument may be reformulated as “world literature is writing that gains in variation.” Variation reflects the ability to absorb otherness and then to create something new. Meanwhile, the perspective of literary syncretism will help us reasonably distinguish world literature and national canons.

8. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Qing Yang

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
In "Canonization and Variations of Shakespeare's Work in China," Qing Yang discusses the role of cross-linguistic and inter-cultural variations with regard to William Shakespeare's intercultural travel and canonization in China. In the context of globalization, Shakespeare's texts outside Western cultures undergo cross-national, cross-linguistic and inter-cultural variations in the process of translation. From a symbol of Western powers and cultures to a bearer of Confucianism, a fighter for the survival of the nation during the anti-Japanese struggle, and to a literary master with abundant possibilities of interpretation and adaption today, Shakespeares (in the plural to indicate the multiple texts of Shakespeare) change and vary in modern and contemporary China. The inter-cultural communication of Shakespeare with clear markings of Chinese culture and history progresses through variation. Yang argues that it is the paradigm of Shunqing Cao’s variation theory central to the formations of world literature(s) that has facilitated the canonization of Shakespeare’s work in China.

9. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 2
Peina Zhuang, Jie Zhang

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
In "On Variations of the Classical Chinese Literary Genre terminchinesescript (Fu) in Literary History," the authors analyze the representation of the classical Chinese literary genre Fu, or namely, rhapsode, in Chinese literary histories compiled in English. A unique classical literary genre, Fu commonly appears in classical Chinese literature as well as in aesthetics and philosophy, thus constituting an important part in Chinese literature in all periods from ancient to contemporary. However, Fu falls outside the quartered-division of modern western stylistics, so is bound to cause problems in the compilation of a literary history in the Anglophone literary culture, as is the case in Sinology. This paper argues that variations caused in the translation of the name Fu and its configuration set-up in the English context have resulted in the under exploration of its full meanings in existing relevant studies, which necessitates future research for the sake of substantially changing the peripheral status of Chinese literature in the arena of world literature.

10. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Jiang Sun

view |  rights & permissions | cited by

11. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Gongzhong Li

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
As a traditional term used in ancient Chinese, shiehwui社會 mainly implied the gatherings and meetings related to folk festivals for the worship of and making offerings to shie社, the gods of soil. The manifestation of shiehwui frequently was the target of condescension or outright condemnation from the government or Confucian elites. During the early dissemination of the western concept of society into China, one factor that facilitated its entry was the Christian missionaries’ knowledge of traditional Chinese shie and hwui會, especially the secret societies, which they applied to their translations from English into Chinese. When the modern concept of shakai (written as 社會, the same Chinese characters), formulated in Japan, was imported into Chinese at the turn of the 20th century, it became blended with the old word of shiehwui, and found a connection to the daily life experience of the lower classes in traditional China. As a result, the new concept of shehui in modern China possesses two kinds of connotations. On the one hand, it points toward the new direction of historical changes. On the other hand, it still retains the associations of condescension, dissatisfaction and anxiety that inform the perspective of the ruling class toward this term.

12. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Dongmu Li

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The term guominxing (国民性, national character) is undoubtedly an important term in both the history of modern thought and the history of modern vocabulary. However, it seems that the term has never been specifically explored as an object of study in the field of lexical history whereas in the field of intellectual history, the emphasis has often been on the ideas represented by the term as opposed to the term itself, which is in fact marginalised. This article focuses on the Chinese word guominxing, examining both the process of its production and dissemination as well as its current usage, in order to reveal its significance for the history of modern intellectual exchanges between China and Japan and the history of modern Chinese thought.

13. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Liwei Chen

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
This article first describes how the classical Chinese word diguo 帝国 was used in Japan as a translation of the Dutch language and thus into English, and then looks at the establishment and use of the term Diguo zhuyi (imperialism) in Japan. Finally, it describes how the Chinese language media in Japan, the Qingyi Bao, was quickly converted into a Chinese concept by translating the Japanese newspaper.

14. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Tianna Xu

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
This paper aims to discuss the concept of class in the works of Liu Shipei, a Chinese revolutionary intellectual. When discussing the ethnic revolution of Manchuria, Liu first included class in the description of Chinese system, ethics and Chinese society. After he crossed to Japan and accepted the anarchist revolutionary ideas of hardliners, he used class as a broad synonym for hierarchical society and various inequalities. After understanding and recognizing the Marxist class struggle thought, Liu turned his attention to China. Liu started from the issue of Chinese people’s livelihood to find the subject and object of China’s anarchic class revolution. Class became the concept carrier of his narration of class revolution, and its semantic domain was further expanded. Through the analysis, we can see that Liu’s understanding and use of the concept of class is closely related to his revolutionary ideas, and changes accordingly.

15. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Longhu Cao

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The spread of “capitalism” from West to East not only brought knowledge of an economic model but also offered nations a new path for development. This expansion was met by the rise of the socialist revolutionary movement, which aimed to overthrow the capitalist political and economic system. This article examines the concept of “capitalism” in the context of the debate on socialism. By studying the elaborations of Ziben zhuyi (capitalism) by its proponents and opponents, as well as the debate-related expressions proposed by later scholars in different contexts, this study reflects on the politicization of “capitalism”, the complexity of its meaning, and the degree of political ideology in its implementation. Based on the analysis of relevant papers on the debate, it concludes that (1) as a highly politicized concept, “capitalism” reflects intellectuals’ assumptions regarding China’s future and the evolution of its political ideologies; (2) “capitalism” has a complicated conceptual connotation, and it is necessary to consider its many aspects to present the full picture of what people think about it; and (3) the degree of capitalist ideology varies in different periods and contexts.

16. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Hongjun Liu

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
This paper focuses on how Chinese intellectuals discussed and researched rainbows in late Ming and early Qing Dynasty. Many of them considered the rainbow as a phenomenon that occurred under certain conditions of sunshine and raindrops, which could be described with terms related to qi (气) of yin/yang (阴/阳). Some of them had the knowledge of duplicating rainbows by “spraying water opposite to the sun”. There were also popular conceptions that rainbow was a sign of salaciousness and rainbow could siphon water, both of which had a long history in Chinese context. Scholars also discussed other phenomena similar to rainbow such as solar halo, lunar halo, parhelion and parselene. Those discussions were not held in wider society, yet they were the sign of how Chinese intellectuals rationalized their research into natural philosophy.

17. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Jianhua Wang

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
In October 1940, the government of the Shaanxi-Ganjiang-Ningxia Border Region used Yan’an County as the center for trying out the Latinxua Sin Wenz Movement for winter schools. It went through three stages: experimentation, promotion, and reformation. Faced with insurmountable difficulties, the Education Department quietly terminated the project in 1943. The foremost reason why the Communist Party promoted this project was to remove the obstacle posed by Chinese characters for eliminating illiteracy. Despite problems such as ignorance of the officials, uncultured teachers, resistance from intellectuals, subjective and unrealistic beliefs, the Latinxua Sin Wenz Movement in border regions of China could not be ignored since it brought out the tension between popular culture and nationalism.

18. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Haizhou Wang

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The proclamation Banbiantian (半边天 Half the Sky), which was proposed during the Mao era, is a vivid and straightforward appellation of women in new China that has gained popularity in national and folk discourses over the past seven decades. This article disassembles this term into three elements — quotation marks, Banbian (半边 Half), and tian (天 Sky) — to conduct a political phenomenological analysis. By exploring and sorting reports related to Banbiantian in Renmin ribao, this article reflects on changes in relation to status and role of women in the Mao era on the basis of three findings. Firstly, the quotation marks make Banbiantian a symbol of women’s actual experience and ideal image while playing a role in enhancement and guidance. Secondly, Banbian indicates the equal ratio of men and women and symbolizes the dynamic adjustment in determining equal rights, demonstrating equal capabilities, and improving equal status. Thirdly, tian is the scope of women’s liberation. Through women’s participation in public labor and political activities, coupled with balanced national and regional coordination, its scope continues to expand, extending from the family to society and the country.

19. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Guowei Shen

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
After entering the 20th century, great changes have taken place in the Chinese language, especially in terms of vocabulary. This change is not a simple increase in the number of words, but reflects a paradigm shift. The change involves not only nouns, but also a large number of verbs and adjectives, which this article calls “modern reconstruction of vocabulary system”. This article argues that the realization of scientific narration based on the consistency of words and texts is the fundamental motivation of language modernization; the reconstruction of Chinese vocabulary system can be basically completed in a short period of time, mainly due to the language contact within the cultural circle of Chinese characters in East Asia, which is also an important driving force for the rapid two character transformation of Chinese vocabulary. This paper gives a bird’s-eye view of the nature, new concepts and new forms of lexicalization, especially the interaction between Chinese and Japanese vocabulary.

20. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 19 > Issue: 1
Xi Peng

abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
Eastern Learning (Dongxue 东学), which is an important part of modern new learning, refers to the Western natural science and socio-political thought that was assimilated by Japan from the end of 19th century to the beginning of 20th century. From the end of Ming Dynasty to the period before and after the revolution of 1911, China’s intake of new learning went through four stages. In the first three stages, a large number of Western books translated into Chinese were also introduced into Japan, which became the basic literature and language medium of Japanese Dutch studies, English Studies and later the whole foreign studies. At the beginning of the 20th century, exiles, students studying in Japan and Japanese teachers introduced Eastern Learning into China, which had a profound impact on China’s modernization process. Eastern Learning is a new learning system with East Asian characteristics constructed by China and Japan in the process of Western Learning (Xixue 西学) spreading to the East.