Reinhold Niebuhr’s intellectual journey in the 1930’s away from the idealism of liberal Protestantism and the optimism of the Social Gospel toward the more sober understanding of Christian realism involved,among oth...Reinhold Niebuhr’s intellectual journey in the 1930’s away from the idealism of liberal Protestantism and the optimism of the Social Gospel toward the more sober understanding of Christian realism involved,among other things,a rejection of pacifism.While conceding that the use of force in international relations is morally perilous,Niebuhr saw the utopianism of the pacifist position“to be nothing more than a capitulation to tyranny”.Martin Luther King Jr.encountered Niebuhr’s Moral Man and Immoral Society and other works in seminary a generation later.While he found much to praise in Niebuhr’s analysis,ultimately he rejected Niebuhr’s critique.Nevertheless,in spite of King’s very public embrace of Gandhi’s pacifism,one finds in King’s practice of non-violent resistance substantial engagement with Niebuhr’s ideas.展开更多
The British Raj provides a deep and rich case to study the implementation（s） of real-world political utopias. It fits with the definition of political utopian theory wherein the system was a reactionary attempt to s...The British Raj provides a deep and rich case to study the implementation（s） of real-world political utopias. It fits with the definition of political utopian theory wherein the system was a reactionary attempt to solve contemporary systemic problems. As an imperial project aimed at civilising the native population and creating a good life for both them and the British officials stationed there, it is an embodiment of the utopian quest for an ideal and perfectible society. In this paper, the author examines how this attempt at utopia extended into the private sphere through the impact the British Raj had on gender through clothing. Gender was specifically seen as an embodiment of cultural, national, and even religious values, which provided a powerful tool for a narrative of the colonial Self against the pre- or anti-colonial Other. Clothing is a powerful inherent representation of identity and the narrative of the Raj, as well as the counter-narrative of independence, relying heavily on acceptability in clothing. shaping notions of masculinity and femininity by controlling展开更多
Many critics of Percy Bysshe Shelley have construed Shelley’s “poetry” as a sort of transcendental, mental mechanism through which a more fundamental improvement of human life than immediate political reforms can b...Many critics of Percy Bysshe Shelley have construed Shelley’s “poetry” as a sort of transcendental, mental mechanism through which a more fundamental improvement of human life than immediate political reforms can be made possible. In this view of Shelley’s poetry, the values that poetry would bring about are condescendingly set up against the general public’s down-to-earth wish to improve their immediate life conditions, and therefore, the utopian vision implicit in Shelley’s poetic practice is founded on an exclusion of intellectually and economically unqualified readers. Given these critical assessments, this essay attempts to argue that Shelley’s poetic writings include significant elements that contradict the assumption implied in the view that intellectual elites take an absolute, exclusive position in giving rise to Shelley’s utopian publicity. In more detail, this essay will argue that Shelley’s utopian publicity proposed and embodied in his poetic writings is predicated on his ideal (and practical in many cases) aim toward a realization of a public sphere that espouses free circulations of various positions and embraces voices of people from all the classes.展开更多
Through examining Zhou Zuoren＇s ideal of new village and Lin Yutang＇s novel Unexpected lsland, this article analyzes modem Chinese utopian imaginations inspired by Zhuangzi＇s spirit, which complements what has been...Through examining Zhou Zuoren＇s ideal of new village and Lin Yutang＇s novel Unexpected lsland, this article analyzes modem Chinese utopian imaginations inspired by Zhuangzi＇s spirit, which complements what has been lacking in the modem utopian dream--individual spiritual liberation that resists any despotism of humanity and a more tolerant and multifaceted cultural mentality that fights against the unification of thought.展开更多
Minjian has become an important concept in recent scholarly research. It is widely used by scholars to indicate specific social and cultural spaces existing beyond the control of state power, therefore, minjian social...Minjian has become an important concept in recent scholarly research. It is widely used by scholars to indicate specific social and cultural spaces existing beyond the control of state power, therefore, minjian social-cultural spaces are more often than not marginal and peripheral. In the field of performing arts, minjian theatre refers to performances produced by private theatre companies as opposed to state-run groups. These private companies or grass-root groups, without the interference of the government, produce artistic expressions that reflect current social reality to a certain extent. For a long time, the study of minjian theatre has been framed as forms of resistance against the ideology propagated by state-run theatres. Based on this paradigm, this paper, through the case analysis of Shanghai minjian theatre companies, attempts to illuminate the production mechanism and developmental process of minjian theatres. In so dong, this paper will explore the aesthetic and social-political values of minjian theatres.展开更多
Focusing on dystopian literature, which deals with social aspects, and by contrasting two of the most conspicuous novels among dystopian fictions, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World, the study aims at revealing ...Focusing on dystopian literature, which deals with social aspects, and by contrasting two of the most conspicuous novels among dystopian fictions, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World, the study aims at revealing the manifold patterns of the totalitarian society depicted in these two novels and how these patterns affect on human society. This research highlights two approaches, respectively asceticism and epicureanism, in Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World, and the author will help to argue that chronologically, the society in Nineteen Eighty-Four is the beginning of the imaginary totalitarian world, which will be terminated with the other in Brave New World.展开更多
Based on detailed textual analysis, the article argues that Wang Anyi brings the abstract idealism of the second-generation of PRC into a productive collision with its concrete Other--from its parents＇ generation to ...Based on detailed textual analysis, the article argues that Wang Anyi brings the abstract idealism of the second-generation of PRC into a productive collision with its concrete Other--from its parents＇ generation to the resilient national bourgeoisie to quotidian sensuousness embodied by the world of its female counterpart. In so doing, as the author seeks to show, the novel presents a compelling narrative of the self-education, growth, and formation of the generation of the Cultural Revolution without reducing it to ideological stereotypes rampant in China after 1976. While delving into the structure and style of fiction, the article takes as its focus the confrontation between abstraction and concreteness; Self and Other; superstructure and infrastructure, or social consciousness and social existence, at a philosophical level in order to construct a phenomenology of the experience of post-revolutionary Subjectivity.展开更多
The time-travel genre of Chinese Internet literature combines old mythological motifs with contemporary science fiction approaches to create a narrative line in which the protagonist travels through time, undergoes a ...The time-travel genre of Chinese Internet literature combines old mythological motifs with contemporary science fiction approaches to create a narrative line in which the protagonist travels through time, undergoes a series of trials, discovers new worlds, and realizes an idealized life. Borrowing Foucault＇s theory of utopian bodies and heterotopias and taking Tianxia Guiyuan＇s female-oriented Intemet novel Empress Fuyao as its exemplary case, this study analyzes how time-travel fiction uses time travel in order to image a ＂utopia＂ and what kind of ＂new world＂ is projected by this utopia, In the process, this paper will simultaneously examine the relationship between utopia and twenty-first century China＇s new media literature.展开更多
In this essay I engage with Fredric Jameson＇s theoretical works and ideas, especially his concept of national allegory, and examine their possibilities and limits for use in literary analysis of Modem Chinese Literat...In this essay I engage with Fredric Jameson＇s theoretical works and ideas, especially his concept of national allegory, and examine their possibilities and limits for use in literary analysis of Modem Chinese Literature. In particular, I examine the themes of the nation and the passage of time in the works of Yu Dafu, Lao She, Xiao Hong, and Zhao Shuli and argue for evidence of a historical development from cyclical narrative to messianic and utopian linear time in their novels. While Yu Dafu＇s ＂Sinking＂ （Chenlun） and Lao She＇s Camel Xiangzi （Luotuo Xiangzi） both display a desire to break free from cyclical time and narration, the narratives fold back into themselves. In contrast, Xiao Hong＇s The Field of Life and Death （Shengsi chang） mediates between two different temporal schemes and marks a transition to the linear developments prevalent in Socialist Realist novels such as Zhao Shuli＇s Sanliwan Village （Sanliwan）. While Jameson＇s earlier works on Realism, Marxism, and the ＂Political Unconscious＂ all provide valuable insight into Modem Chinese Literature and the novels mentioned, Jameson＇s engagement with Chinese authors has also opened up new ways of examining Chinese literature.展开更多
An Expo carbon-neutral concept community hopes toinspire low-carbon explorations There’s only one pavilion at the 2010 Expo with walls that illuminate, edible tableware and chairs made from use doil barrels. It’s al...An Expo carbon-neutral concept community hopes toinspire low-carbon explorations There’s only one pavilion at the 2010 Expo with walls that illuminate, edible tableware and chairs made from use doil barrels. It’s also the same展开更多
Beijing’s last surviving high-rise commune finds itself stranded by time In 1959, the late Beijing-born writer Shi Tiesheng, then a primary school second grader, was enthralled by his teacher’s descriptions of the i...Beijing’s last surviving high-rise commune finds itself stranded by time In 1959, the late Beijing-born writer Shi Tiesheng, then a primary school second grader, was enthralled by his teacher’s descriptions of the idyllic life residents in a ninestory building展开更多
文摘Reinhold Niebuhr’s intellectual journey in the 1930’s away from the idealism of liberal Protestantism and the optimism of the Social Gospel toward the more sober understanding of Christian realism involved,among other things,a rejection of pacifism.While conceding that the use of force in international relations is morally perilous,Niebuhr saw the utopianism of the pacifist position“to be nothing more than a capitulation to tyranny”.Martin Luther King Jr.encountered Niebuhr’s Moral Man and Immoral Society and other works in seminary a generation later.While he found much to praise in Niebuhr’s analysis,ultimately he rejected Niebuhr’s critique.Nevertheless,in spite of King’s very public embrace of Gandhi’s pacifism,one finds in King’s practice of non-violent resistance substantial engagement with Niebuhr’s ideas.
文摘The British Raj provides a deep and rich case to study the implementation（s） of real-world political utopias. It fits with the definition of political utopian theory wherein the system was a reactionary attempt to solve contemporary systemic problems. As an imperial project aimed at civilising the native population and creating a good life for both them and the British officials stationed there, it is an embodiment of the utopian quest for an ideal and perfectible society. In this paper, the author examines how this attempt at utopia extended into the private sphere through the impact the British Raj had on gender through clothing. Gender was specifically seen as an embodiment of cultural, national, and even religious values, which provided a powerful tool for a narrative of the colonial Self against the pre- or anti-colonial Other. Clothing is a powerful inherent representation of identity and the narrative of the Raj, as well as the counter-narrative of independence, relying heavily on acceptability in clothing. shaping notions of masculinity and femininity by controlling
文摘Many critics of Percy Bysshe Shelley have construed Shelley’s “poetry” as a sort of transcendental, mental mechanism through which a more fundamental improvement of human life than immediate political reforms can be made possible. In this view of Shelley’s poetry, the values that poetry would bring about are condescendingly set up against the general public’s down-to-earth wish to improve their immediate life conditions, and therefore, the utopian vision implicit in Shelley’s poetic practice is founded on an exclusion of intellectually and economically unqualified readers. Given these critical assessments, this essay attempts to argue that Shelley’s poetic writings include significant elements that contradict the assumption implied in the view that intellectual elites take an absolute, exclusive position in giving rise to Shelley’s utopian publicity. In more detail, this essay will argue that Shelley’s utopian publicity proposed and embodied in his poetic writings is predicated on his ideal (and practical in many cases) aim toward a realization of a public sphere that espouses free circulations of various positions and embraces voices of people from all the classes.
文摘Through examining Zhou Zuoren＇s ideal of new village and Lin Yutang＇s novel Unexpected lsland, this article analyzes modem Chinese utopian imaginations inspired by Zhuangzi＇s spirit, which complements what has been lacking in the modem utopian dream--individual spiritual liberation that resists any despotism of humanity and a more tolerant and multifaceted cultural mentality that fights against the unification of thought.
文摘Minjian has become an important concept in recent scholarly research. It is widely used by scholars to indicate specific social and cultural spaces existing beyond the control of state power, therefore, minjian social-cultural spaces are more often than not marginal and peripheral. In the field of performing arts, minjian theatre refers to performances produced by private theatre companies as opposed to state-run groups. These private companies or grass-root groups, without the interference of the government, produce artistic expressions that reflect current social reality to a certain extent. For a long time, the study of minjian theatre has been framed as forms of resistance against the ideology propagated by state-run theatres. Based on this paradigm, this paper, through the case analysis of Shanghai minjian theatre companies, attempts to illuminate the production mechanism and developmental process of minjian theatres. In so dong, this paper will explore the aesthetic and social-political values of minjian theatres.
文摘Focusing on dystopian literature, which deals with social aspects, and by contrasting two of the most conspicuous novels among dystopian fictions, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World, the study aims at revealing the manifold patterns of the totalitarian society depicted in these two novels and how these patterns affect on human society. This research highlights two approaches, respectively asceticism and epicureanism, in Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World, and the author will help to argue that chronologically, the society in Nineteen Eighty-Four is the beginning of the imaginary totalitarian world, which will be terminated with the other in Brave New World.
文摘Based on detailed textual analysis, the article argues that Wang Anyi brings the abstract idealism of the second-generation of PRC into a productive collision with its concrete Other--from its parents＇ generation to the resilient national bourgeoisie to quotidian sensuousness embodied by the world of its female counterpart. In so doing, as the author seeks to show, the novel presents a compelling narrative of the self-education, growth, and formation of the generation of the Cultural Revolution without reducing it to ideological stereotypes rampant in China after 1976. While delving into the structure and style of fiction, the article takes as its focus the confrontation between abstraction and concreteness; Self and Other; superstructure and infrastructure, or social consciousness and social existence, at a philosophical level in order to construct a phenomenology of the experience of post-revolutionary Subjectivity.
文摘The time-travel genre of Chinese Internet literature combines old mythological motifs with contemporary science fiction approaches to create a narrative line in which the protagonist travels through time, undergoes a series of trials, discovers new worlds, and realizes an idealized life. Borrowing Foucault＇s theory of utopian bodies and heterotopias and taking Tianxia Guiyuan＇s female-oriented Intemet novel Empress Fuyao as its exemplary case, this study analyzes how time-travel fiction uses time travel in order to image a ＂utopia＂ and what kind of ＂new world＂ is projected by this utopia, In the process, this paper will simultaneously examine the relationship between utopia and twenty-first century China＇s new media literature.
文摘In this essay I engage with Fredric Jameson＇s theoretical works and ideas, especially his concept of national allegory, and examine their possibilities and limits for use in literary analysis of Modem Chinese Literature. In particular, I examine the themes of the nation and the passage of time in the works of Yu Dafu, Lao She, Xiao Hong, and Zhao Shuli and argue for evidence of a historical development from cyclical narrative to messianic and utopian linear time in their novels. While Yu Dafu＇s ＂Sinking＂ （Chenlun） and Lao She＇s Camel Xiangzi （Luotuo Xiangzi） both display a desire to break free from cyclical time and narration, the narratives fold back into themselves. In contrast, Xiao Hong＇s The Field of Life and Death （Shengsi chang） mediates between two different temporal schemes and marks a transition to the linear developments prevalent in Socialist Realist novels such as Zhao Shuli＇s Sanliwan Village （Sanliwan）. While Jameson＇s earlier works on Realism, Marxism, and the ＂Political Unconscious＂ all provide valuable insight into Modem Chinese Literature and the novels mentioned, Jameson＇s engagement with Chinese authors has also opened up new ways of examining Chinese literature.
文摘An Expo carbon-neutral concept community hopes toinspire low-carbon explorations There’s only one pavilion at the 2010 Expo with walls that illuminate, edible tableware and chairs made from use doil barrels. It’s also the same
文摘Beijing’s last surviving high-rise commune finds itself stranded by time In 1959, the late Beijing-born writer Shi Tiesheng, then a primary school second grader, was enthralled by his teacher’s descriptions of the idyllic life residents in a ninestory building
