政治作品充当美国书展主角

美国书展又回到华盛顿，这就意味着政治家和政治有关作品在即将来临的展会上又要充当主角了。“直面媒介”的主持人蒂姆·拉塞特和其由兰登书屋出版的最新图书《我们祖先的智慧》（Wisdom of Our Fathers）启动了本届美国书展（5月18日开办）。

政治艺术的涵义、结构及功能

政治艺术概念是建立在艺术概念基础之上的。艺术本质上是一种审美活动,因此,政治艺术也是一种审美活动,其涵义也应当从政治审美的角度加以界定。从政治艺术的结构来说,它是由政治技术、政治行为、政治审美和政治作品等4个方面构成。政治艺术以其特有的方式在政治生活领域中发挥着重要的作用。

Representation of London as the Centre of Power, Hopes and Fears in Naipaul＇s The Mimic Men

London, one of the most popular settings in literature, is portrayed in many literary works not only as the centre of power, dreams, expectations, and fears, but also as the city of plurality and multiplicity of cultures. Considering V. S. Naipaul＇s The Mimic Men （1967） in terms of the depiction of London, what comes to the fore is that Naipaul＇s own background has an undeniable impact upon his illustration of London. Naipaul, as an in-between individual belonging to his hometown Trinidad and also to England, where he received his education, has experienced a metaphorical colonization due to his inner conflicts because of his hybridity. In this sense, in The Mimic Men, he creates his character Ralph Singh, who is struggling with the social and political forces and trying to find a place not only in his own country on the Caribbean Island of Isabella, but also among the English in London as a politician. In the novel, London is regarded as the city of freedom and hopes as well as the city of disillusionments and hopelessness. Therefore, in this paper, hybridity, otherness in London, and the influence of Naipaul＇s own biography upon his portrayal of London in The Mimic Men will be explored.

Are There Tea Parties on Mars？ Business and Politics in Science Fiction Films

This paper will apply a politically oriented description-critique paradigm developed from the works of Whitehall and Grewell that offers a way to examine works of popular culture, particularly Mars-based science fiction films. Because of the unique nature of these films, primarily which they are set in a future and distant world, they allow us to explore the socio-political landscape in which they were created from a remove that does not exist in ＂real-world＂ based works. Specifically we will be examining the governing power （in any particular Mars-based science fiction film） that might be either wielded by business interests or governmental interests. Although it is possible to have both a strong government and a strong business in a society, in many Mars-based science fiction films, government and business seem to represent two sides of a continuum. The stronger the business power structure in the film, the weaker the governmental power structure, and vice-versa.

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.

Science and Sensibility： A Restudy of Snow＇s ＂The Two Cultures＂ in The Masters

Charles Percy Snow declared his influential Rede Lecture, ＂The Two Cultures＂, in 1959. In his famous lecture, he told us that the most powerful revolutionary force in the world today is science, science is essentially progressive, and the scientific culture is also a newer one. So Snow, after excluding scientific culture from the whole culture, calls the rest of the whole culture traditional culture. In his opinion, science is more important than humanities. All these ideas are faithfully reflected in his earlier literary work The Masters （1972b）. Snow＇s favor toward men of sciences in the novel is self-evident. ＂The Masters, therefore, may be considered as a political science novel rather than as a political novel＂. It was the Industrial Revolution which created our sensibility

The Radical Character of Art and the Pedagogical and Political Value of the ＂Sublime＂ in Adorno＇s Aesthetic Theory

The critical nature of artwork is owed, according to Adorno, to the fact that it opposes its assimilation by reason and that it does not yield to the imposition of its established principles. This character which Heidegger, too, through a paradoxical convergence with Adorno, and in opposition to Lukacs, recognizes as its ontological component, permits the work of art to represent a force of resistance to dominance in general, in the prospect of the salvation of a humanized society. As such, it makes possible the radical rejection of political and, pertinent to it, pedagogical activity, when converted into primarily authoritiarian activity. Such a responsibility does art assume, according to Adorno, when it represents a spirituality, which is embodied in exemplary fashion both in the work of art itself, making the experience of the sublime possible, and in the aesthetic of the sublime, which is concentrated intensively on whatever remains unapproachable through concepts. In this way, we could say that the aesthetic of the sublime is converted into ＂first philosophy,＂ in the sense that it provides the rule for every theoretical approach. Concurring with this reading of Adorno, we consider how the sublime, as shown in the context of his aesthetic theory, is governed, furthermore, by a paideutic principle of exceptional significance, which we must necessarily activate through aesthetic education, so that western man may understand that he must uproot himself from the nihilistic social context in which he lives, rupturing the delusion of his omnipotence. In a world governed by a permanent crisis of democracy in public and private life, since the weakening of political imagination unites with the retreat from political ethos and an generalization of the unprecedented will for dominance, we consider this aesthetic theory to be exceptionally essential and useful to us both as pedagogical theory and as political theory, since it allows us to understand that the experience of the sublime through art is in opposition to this condition of destruction, and indeed represents the ideal of justice.