Innovative Teaching Research on Literary Theory and Criticism

As a core compulsory course for English majors majoring in teacher education,Literary Theory and Criticism plays an important role in enhancing text understanding,cultivating critical thinking,and shaping correct values in the future development of students.Influenced by traditional teaching ideas,students have many difficulties when learning this course,such as insufficient theoretical understanding,inadequate ability improvement,and not enough investment in course learning.In response to the above issues,this course focuses closely on the fundamental task of“cultivating virtue and nurturing people”,relying on modern information technology and introducing research methods of digital humanities.This course uses“7C”teaching mode under the“three-level integration”,in which“teaching”and“education”are carried out synchronously,and“teacher”and“student”are developed together,in order to greatly enhance students’learning participation and course satisfaction.

International Politics of Western Literary Theory:Literary Theory as Doctrine and as Discipline

European literary criticism was rapidly transformed into literary theory through the United States after Rene Wellek and Austin Warren’s textbook Theory of Literary Theory by Harcourt,Brace and Co.(1949).Within a short period of time,American new criticism,European psychoanalysis,semiotics,structuralism,hermeneutics,deconstructivism,and so on,as well as the western Marxism,feminism,new historicism,post-colonial criticism,and cultural studies,all the critical methods little referenced to postwar Western ideology and Soviet Ideology,and are even known for their profound criticism of some problems in capitalist society.These intuitively scientific or neutral literary theories flourished during the Cold War years that contained the Soviet Union.During this period,“political correctness”not only influenced the direction of social development in the West,but also directly influenced the academic pattern and the development trend of universities at that time,so that“literary criticism”,which was originally only based on personal experience,benefited and became“literary theory”in the discipline and curriculum system.As a result,the discipline of literary theory,which benefited from the Cold War pattern,is often in conflict with the specific literary theory that transcends ideology.However,the Cold War ended with the failure of the Soviet Union and its socialist realism theory system,and the western literary theory unexpectedly gained full legitimacy like Fukuyama’s“the end of history”.In the post-Cold War era,Western literary critics reasonably expanded the controversial theories and this has become the most concerned topic for 30 years.Thus,the international politics of the disguised Western literary theory was highlighted.Such Western literary theory has been generalized in China in the last 40 years,because Chinese academic yet has not understood the difference between theory as discipline and theory as doctrine,even anti-western in recent years.

On the Aesthetic Wonder and Unity at the Peak of Literary Theory in the Six Dynasties Key

The study found that the classics born during the turbulent Six Dynasties period,starting from Cao Pi’s“The Classics”to“Wen Fu”,“Wen Xin Diao Long”,“Shipin”and other classics,can all be analyzed to have a common origin.Attributes,that is,the philosophical strategy of dualistic isomorphism of explicit and implicit,is also a pattern;it can be proven that this is the philosophical key to interpreting and studying the classics of the Six Dynasties.It not only governs many aesthetic principles and aesthetic methods,but also emphasizes the need to transcend the appearance of current existence,transcend the current utilitarianism,and pay attention to the hidden and non-existent,just like paying attention to dark matter and antimatter in the universe.Pay attention to the origin of Shipin and expand aesthetic horizons;this philosophical secret not only exists in the classics of the Six Dynasties,it has its unity,graphics and vitality,as well as its historical inheritance and continuous operation.Its trajectory marks the context of literary theory and aesthetics;the modern construction of contemporary literary theory must be based on its operating trends.Only by transcending all utilitarianism can we better demonstrate the natural characteristics of Chinese tradition such as nationality.Otherwise,literary theory,aesthetics,and philosophy will not be self-consistent.

Application of Literary Theory in Teaching Literature——A Case Study From ＂Approaching Fiction＂ in China Youth University of Political Studies

For most universities and colleges in China, literary theory is taught at the graduate level of literary studies. Most English teachers think literary theory is such a complex field with jargon-ridden disciplines and concepts that it is often considered as ＂a hot potato＂ in classroom teaching. Based on a case study from ＂Approaching Fiction＂ in China Youth University of Political Studies （CYUPS）, the present paper claims that application of literary theory in teaching literature not only greatly broadens students＇ horizon but also deepens their interpretation and understanding of literary works. With proper selection of teaching material and carefully designed teaching approaches, application of critical theory plays an increasingly important role in the undergraduate literature classroom.

On Ethical Literary Criticism and Game Theory--An Interview with Professor Nie Zhenzhao

In 2014,Huang Kaihong,a professor at School of Foreign Languages and Cultures,Southwest University of Science and Technology,interviewed the Doctoral advisor Professor Nie Zhenzhao during the period of his academic visiting to Central China Normal University.As early as in 2005,Huang Kaihong conducted an interview with Professor Nie Zhenzhao on the topic of the general introduction of ethical literary criticism.So around 11 years later,the second interview mainly covers not only the ethical literary criticism theory,but the game theory and the relationship between them as well.Professor Nie thinks whether the game theory can be applied to literature research is still under discussion.The theory of ethical literary criticism is a kind of methodology based on science and it can get the attention of literary critics at home and abroad,which is because it fits the practical needs of literary criticism,draws the literary criticism away from only emphasizing criticism genres and the research of criticism terms,and pays attention to the true nature of the literary text in literature research.After consulting Professor Nie Zhenzhao about some related questions from the perspective of game theory.Huang Kaihong gets some significant information concerning literature research and understands the latest core terms and the concrete application method of ethical literary criticism,especially the relationship between the instructing and aesthetic functions of literature.

On the Innovation of Literary Theory in China

China＇s rise has increased concerns about innovation in China＇s indigenous literary theory. How to create theories with a ＂China style＂ and global influence has become a serious challenge for the development of contemporary Chinese literary theory. Three strategies are noteworthy in meeting this challenge. First, ＂amateurism in professionalism＂ can be used to offset the constraints of increasing disciplinization and professionalization in literary theory. Second, critical rationality needs to be cultivated among researchers and in institutional forms in order to alter the present lack of rational and vigorous debate, criticism and dialogue. Third, we need to reconstruct ＂grand narratives,＂ so as to make a unique contribution to the world in terms of universal values, meanings and ethics through transforming and advancing traditional Chinese thought.

The Reconstruction of Chinese Literary Theory:Environment and Resources

A common symptom of the blanket coverage of Western literary theory was the way Chinese intellectuals ＂kept harping on Greece,＂ to the neglect of their own literature＇s distinctive features. Even worse were attempts to force Chinese literature into the Procrustean bed of Western literary propositions. How can Chinese literary theory be used more effectively to interpret native literature and culture, or Chinese experience？ How can it throw off Western theoretical models and become a component of the Chinese nation＇s own narrative？ Reconstruction of the discourse system of Chinese literary theory must be a high priority. It is a complex project, one that necessarily entails stepping on to the discourse platform of modernity, accepting various kinds of open dialogue, and thence envisioning a new form of discourse system set amid multilayered overlapping perspectives and even the challenge of different ideas.

Rethinking the Modern Transformation of Classical Chinese Literary Theory

Though it is not new, the topic of the modem transformation of classical Chinese literary theory still holds profound significance for China＇s current efforts in carrying forward the essence of classical literary theory and constructing a new literary theory that conforms to the spirit of our times. Today, Chinese scholars have to handle two traditions： one is the classical literary scholarship up to the 19th century, distant in time and space from today; the other is the modern tradition that started in the early 20th century. These two traditions involve not only rupture and heterogeneous change but also continuity and partial homogeneous preservation. Taking our stand on the modem and contemporary tradition, we should consciously pursue research on classical literary theory, using modem consciousness to scrutinize, reorder, discover, select, interpret, activate and absorb its finer elements, those that are still vital, so as to creatively promote its modem transformation and further integrate it as an organic component of the construction of modem Chinese literary theory. Over the past two or three decades, Chinese scholars have been advancing this great project in a systematic and solid way, achieving gratifying progress. We must strengthen our efforts and make further progress with this great undertaking.

The Benign Interaction among Literary Creation, Criticism and Theory from the Perspective of Bottom Writing： Taking ＂Tu Ziqiang＇s Personal Sorrow＂ as an Example

The heated conversations about Fang Fang＇s ＂Tu Ziqiang＇s Personal Sorrow＂ among the author, readers and critics are a typical example of the bottom literature which emerged in the 1990s. Starting with the controversies aroused by the novella, this paper discusses the relationships among literary creation, criticism and theory in the bottom writing. The problem of the social bottom is not only an economic or political problem, but also such a complicated cultural problem that has attracted increasing attention in the field of human science. As it were, around the problem of the bottom class, a new public field integrating different kinds of writing forms and various theoretical materials is formed. The Benign interaction among literary creation, criticism and theory will both benefit to the overall development of literature and provide resources for the theoretical construction.

Comparative Criticism beyond Eurocentrism:In Search of the Untranslatables of Literary Theory

While the study of world literature is often seen as escaping the boundaries of eurocentrism-albeit with the need for constant revision and self-critique-a truer overcoming would involve another sort of anthologization,namely,of world theory and criticism.World literature should go beyond being a reified collection of translated texts,to become an exploration and comparison of the different ways of thinking about literature and aesthetics in different parts of the world.Barbara Cassin's Vocabulaire Europeen des philosophies:Dictionnaire des intraduisibles provides a possible model in this regard.The untranslatability of critical terms from different traditions is generative of new meanings due to the repeated efforts to translate and to compare non-synonymous terms with each other.This essay examines the untranslatability and comparability of several different terms from Asian aesthetic traditions.

Metaphysical Violent Hermeneutic Misreading of Confucian Literary Theory

This essay examines the Daoist metaphysical masters＇ hermeneutic misreading of the Confucian classics during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Applying the concept of misreading as the theoretical guideline, we will first analyze the three important supporting columns of Confucian literary theory： the importance of virtue/morality, the authority of literary sages and the ontology of the classics, and then we will examine the metaphysical masters＇ subversion of the Confucian classics by misreading with their Daoist literary theory and concepts. In their hermeneutic misreading of the Confucian classics, the metaphysical masters in fact fused the original concepts of the Confucian classics with their contemporary Daoist hermeneutics, and the result of such a fusion is that the original meanings as the signified parted from the signifiers--the texts of the classics themselves--and were turned into repositories of contemporary Daoist meanings. In such a hermeneutic misreading, the Daoist theorists forced the Confucian theory and its ontology to gloomily withdraw from the cultural center, and gradually took the spotlight on the historical stage of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. In their open attitudes and flexible system, the metaphysical theorists constructed an age of enlightenment for the development of literary theory. With their hermeneutic misreading, the metaphys- ical literary theorists indeed broke through the world of Confucianism, won the right of expression, and voluntarily moved toward the self-fulfillment of their own system in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

Play Theory and Literature:An Interview With Professor Massimo Verdicchio

In the following is an article of dialogue between Professor Massimo Verdicchio and Professor Huang Kaihong.Professor Huang Kaihong,along with the help from Professor Wang Jinlong,carried out the interview on the topic of the relation between play theory and literature with Professor Massimo Verdicchio.On the one hand,Professor Huang Kaihong points out that play theory has been stemmed and developed from game theory but pushed forward a further step in its application to the analysis of literary works,while Professor Massimo Verdicchio regards play theory just as another approach to the appreciation of literary works.Both Professors agree on that literary works can be analyzed and appreciated from different perspectives,and they also discussed about something concerning the ethics in literature.The article ends with the correspondence via email between Professor Massimo Verdicchio and Professor Huang Kaihong on exchanging more personal opinions towards play theory’s crucial issues.

Culturally-loaded Chinese Discourse of Gu-qin and Its Inspiration to Translation——Based on a Maxim from a Chinese Classics The Roots of Wisdom

Inspired by one of the maxims in a Chinese classics entitled The Roots of Wisdom,the present paper borrows the typical culturally-loaded Chinese discourses of Gu-qin — "stringed lute" and "non-stringed lute"—to add to the literary translation terminology and to enrich some Chinese literary translation theories.On the basis of analyzing some related theories in linguistics,pragmatics,aesthetics and communication which show different perspectives relevant with the study of translation,the present paper offers a new angle to illustrate how the Chinese discourses of Gu-qin,rich in cultural implications,can best describe translation and bring new vigor and vitality into the diversity and further expansion of the field of translation research.

A poetics of“Wind in a Box”

This essay is a re-application of the language codes of Roland Barthes and Jonathan Culler’s concept for Structuralist Poetics.The approach I use explores the codes demonstrated in Barthes’well-known text,S/Z with slight modifications for their application to poetry.The concepts borrowed from Mr.Culler are from his book of the same title:Structuralist Poetics:Structuralism,Linguistics and the Study of Literature(Cornell University Press,1975).Culler’s main argument is that there must be other,un-attempted strategies combined with conventional approaches in literature of that time period.His answer to this problem was to develop a set of linguistic-based concepts to compensate for the reader in the analysis of literary works.I have applied in this essay my approach based on Culler’s methodology and the language codes of Roland Barthes:semantic,symbolic,cultural-referential,actional and hermeneutic.I apply Culler’s concepts to a reading of poetry followed by an application of the language codes as a further development of my work in revitalizing this never-before applied method.

On the Development of a Chinese Discourse in Literary Studies Based on Current Practice

There are two mistaken tendencies in the development of a Chinese literary discourse in academia. One is the ＂red dancing shoes＂ phenomenon, where scholars run helter- skelter after the latest developments in Western literary theory; the other is the ＂bound feet＂ phenomenon, where tradition-bound scholars believe that tradition must be kept unchanged and that Chinese literary theory should be cleansed of all alien elements. Neither approach is desirable. Contemporary Chinese literary theory should be grounded in present realities and should distinguish between substance and function. ＂Substance＂ has to consist of China＇s present literary creation and critical practice; only thus can we appropriate Western and traditional Chinese literary theories in the service of today＇s needs, and make the ancient serve the modern and the foreign the Chinese. This will enable us to develop a literary discourse that is both contemporary and Chinese.

Ground of a Theory:The Language Codes of Roland Barthes and American Critical Structuralism

This paper is an application of Johnathan Culler’s Structuralist Poetics from 1975 combined with the language codes of Roland Barthes which he developed in his study of S/Z to the close reading of poetry.Culler’s main argument is that there must be another strategy combined with all major approaches in Structuralist thought in that time period.His answer to this problem was to develop a set of strategies or concepts to compensate for the reader in the analysis of literary works.I outline in this essay my approach based on the language codes of Roland Barthes:semantic,symbolic,cultural-referential,actional and hermeneutic.After a brief discussion of my understanding and contextualization of Structuralism today for this particular genre application,I apply the concepts to a reading of the famous William Carlos Williams’poem,"The Red Wheelbarrow"as a test-case application of the concepts.

Whither East-West Comparative Literature? One Recent Answer from China

Comparative literature,as a discipline,has been in selfdoubt and crisis since its birth.Various scholars give different answers to its tendency and future.With the growth of East-West comparative literature research in East Asia,Chinese School of Comparative Literature proposed its own answer to it.In response to James St.André’s review essay'Whither East-West Comparative Literature?Two Recent Answers from the U.S.',this paper focuses on a new answer from Cao Shunqing’s work The Variation Theory of Comparative Literature,aiming to explore the two focuses of this new platform:one is the heterogeneity,and the other is the variation,which are different from French comparatism based on influences and American part based on analogies.On this basis this article tries to have a dialogue with imagology study of variation theory and sinicization of Western literary theory in Cao’s works.By highlighting the heterogeneity and variation,Chinese scholars seek to promote crosscivilization communication based on maintaining and developing the uniqueness of different literatures and civilizations,thus building a harmonious world without uniformity.

Remembering Raymond Williams:His Theoretical Heritage to China’s World Literature and Culture Studies

Raymond Williams,the eminent British Marxist literary theorist,was introduced to China in the late 1980s.and his theories have since been increasingly attractive to China’s literary and cultural studies.He not only touched upon some of the fundamental issues of Marxist literary theory,such as ideology,culture,hegemony and aesthetics,but also developed it with his dynamic construction of a sort of cultural materialism,thus bridging between Marxist socio-historical and aesthetic criticism and cultural and linguistic factors.While literary and cultural theory is in decline in the West,Williams’s legacy is still appreciated in international circles,which ought to be cherished and inherited by us Chinese scholars in our studies of world literature and culture.

A DISSOLVED-POINT STUDY ON LOCALIZATION & GLOBALIZATION OF ENGLISH TEACHING

The paper regards young adult literature (YAL) as a dissolved-point between localization and globalization of English teaching, and discusses (1) whether the western YAL teaching theories, methods and teaching materials accord with Chinese actual situation well or not, (2) if YAL reading is an effective way for creating life-long readers, and (3) why and how to teach YAL. Based on YAL learning and teaching practice, the author uses Soter's YAL theories and alternative approaches, try to clarify three relationships: YA-YAL; adult literature-YAL-children's literature; classics-YAL balance. And put forward three ways for books selection and three reading patterns to YAL teaching.