Resonance From the Past to the Future:Mythological Metaphors in Chinese Science Fiction Films

This paper is centered on the extent to which contemporary Chinese science fiction is related to ancient Chinese mythologies according to the previous scholarly discussion and how these ancient mythologies are utilized specifically in the futuristic narratives of modern Chinese science fiction.By referring to academic dialogues,this paper argues that ancient mythologies can be recreated in modern science fiction and create modern mythologies in futuristic narratives to present or deal with modern human fears.Based on this argument,this paper then continues to explore what kinds of modern mythologies science fiction might deliver.The Chinese film The Wandering Earth(2019)will be discussed in terms of its mythological symbols and metaphors.This paper proposes a new approach through which to reconnect past stories with futuristic narratives and builds a frame in which to contextualize ancient mythologies in contemporary Chinese culture.

On William Gibson and Cyberpunk Science Fiction

Cyberpunk science fiction movement was triggered by William Gibson, and this SF genre refocuses on the impacts of technology on human and society. This tradition was abandoned by the New Wave SF with its interest on formal experiment. Cyberpunk SF is tinted with punk attitude for its rebellion against technological control and information control. With its criticism on postmodern society, cyberpunk science fiction has attracted postmodern critical attention.

Criticism on the Critical Approaches in J. Hillis Miller's Fiction and Repetition:Seven English Novels

Fiction and Repetition is and will remain a distinguished deconstructionist guide of literary criticism. However, after detailed and systematic research, I also find some shortcomings in this important academic work: Firstly, written in the metaphysical language, Fiction and Repetition can never succeed in escaping the logocentrism and binary opposition inherent in this language.Secondly, based on Saussure's argument on langue, the monograph's view of indeterminacy of literary work's meaning is theoretically correct but practically inadequate. Last but not the least, Miller's proposal on repetition also has some limitations. By taking into account both the work's merits and demerits, we can gain a more comprehensive outlook on Miller's idea of repetition as well as the deconstruction theory of literary criticism in general.

Science-fiction Color in Gulliver's Travels

Jonathan Swift' s novel Gulliver' s Travels was and is continuing to delight by readers of all ages,not only because its satire,a more important point is that its color of science-fiction brings readers into a world of colorful imagination and exaggerated plot.Science-fiction color of prophecy reflected in traffic,weirdness in politics and hyperbole in the characters.All these factors are analyzed according to the original version of the Gulliver' s Travels.

A Comparative Perspective on Characterization in Classical Chinese Fiction

As an important aspect of fiction or narrative in general,characterization has long been a popular object for scholarly enquiries in literary studies. However,the well-known distinction into direct and indirect characterizations discursively formulated in Western literary theory may not be capable of accommodating various forms of characterization in other literatures and cultures. This article sets out to summarize and discuss the distinctive approaches to characterization in classical Chinese fiction in the triple purpose of complementing the binary distinction in the West,introducing the indigenous Chinese literary theory to Western readers,and facilitating their reading and understanding of Chinese fiction.

A Playing Game——On the Relationship between Fiction & Reality in Continuityof Parks

In postmodernist novel, the explanation of the relationship between fiction and reality is a distinctive feature, known as a playing game. In Continuity of Parks, the "game" is played through the application of colors, settings, props, etc. with the plots' evolution. It is helpful to appreciate the postmodernist novel by analysing the relationship.

Genre Fiction; Science Fiction; The Quest for Utopia

This paper will discuss the difference between genre fiction and mainstream fiction, the difference between science fiction and other fields of genre fiction, and in particular, the philosophical use of science fiction in our search for a better world. All genres used to be called ″romance″ to distinguish them from ″true″ novels. There were arguments about it in Hawthorne’s The House of Seven Gables and in a heated exchange between H.G. Wells and Henry James. I will talk about this difference. All genre fiction pays attention to the external world, but science fiction is the only one of them that looks forward by being grounded in the present. Is science fiction really a genre? There are some doubts. Science fiction is not about science per se, but about the philosophy of science:the study of the external world and its relation to man. It is ideal for ″thought experiments.″ By exploring possible futures, we cannot only examine our present world, but can see ways in which it can be improved. Hence, science fiction is the search for, if not utopia, then at least a better world. This paper will also discuss the ideas of Kim Stanley Robinson, Ursula K. Le Guin, and others in their search for a better future.

Doctors’Dilemma in Auspicious Pulse Diagnosis Represented in Ming-Qing Fiction

Auspicious pulse diagnosis/pregnancy diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine involves such issues as medical skills,narrative skills,family decency,and ethics.It is an excellent case for the exploration of ethical dilemmas in traditional Chinese medical practice.The early classical medical texts such as Su Wen(Basic Questions)and Ling Shu Jing(Spiritual Pivot Canon)provide a principle-based ethical guide for doctor-patient communication,while popular fiction such as Hong Lou Meng(A Dream of Red Mansions),Yu Mu Xing Xin Bian(Stories:Entertain to Enlighten),and Feng Yue Meng(Courtesans and Opium)in the Ming and Qing dynasties present literary examples for solving ethical dilemmas.This article will analyze these texts from three perspectives.First,the doctors in the text were subject to gender order and other delicate etiquette and customs,therefore were unable to make the diagnosis without embarrassing the patients and jeopardizing family decency.Second,the narrator tends to attribute pregnancy misdiagnosis to three reasons:incomplete patient information,doctors’poor narrative competence,and doctors’corrupted medical ethics.Finally,the Ming-Qing fiction proposes three methods to solve this moral dilemma:clear pulse reading,tactful speech,and taboo challenging.This discussion of moral dilemmas in pregnancy diagnosis in traditional Chinese medical practice can be used as a reference for the localization of narrative medicine.

An Analysis of Fictional Dialogues of Love in a Fallen City in the Light of Relevance Theory

Although literary works are imaginary,they are based on careful observations of the real world.The fictional world is an imitation of the real world.So there is a strong similarity between them.The character utterances in fictions may be artificial in reality,but they are true in fictions.Therefore,pragmatic theories also have validity for literary interaction in theory.The au thor analyzes the fictional dialogues in Eileen Chang' s novel——Love in a Fallen City under the framework of the communica tion model based on Relevance Theory.In the academic field,Relevance Theory has been applied to explain a wide range of phenomena in translation,stylistics,phonology,and English teaching.However,the researches on mass communication discourse are still on the development.

The“going global”of Chinese Fantasy Fiction through the Internet:Using I Shall Seal the Heavens on Wuxiaworld.com as an Example

In the 21st century,Chinese online fantasy fiction is gaining popularity overseas.Lai Jingping,a Chinese-American widely known online as RWX,inspired by the popularity of his translation of a Chinese fantasy fiction,Coiling Dragon,established a website called Wuxiaworld.com to disseminate Chinese fantasy culture.Now it has become the largest website in the world to translate these kinds of works.This paper,in order to explore the advantages of Wuxiaworld.com,examines the translation landscape and its trends as presented on this website,and further analyzes the translation of fiction and interactive platforms using I Shall Seal the Heavens,one of the stories on the website,as an example.Our study,through text analysis and data collection,found that Wuxiaworld.com is good at hyperlink-aided translations,and has translation awareness based on the analysis of covers,synopses and glossaries;foreignization is the main translation strategy when it comes to the fantasy terms in I Shall Seal the Heavens,while annotation in text as well as hyperlinks in the forms of text,pictures and music are adopted for cultural compensation;interactive platforms,such as comments,forums and announcements,are conducive to improving translation quality and stimulating readers’enthusiasm for these translations and Chinese culture.

Black Atlantic or Black Athena?Black Atlantic or Black Athena?——Neo-slave Narratives in Contemporary Fiction

Neo-slave narratives avoid being tied to origins by the apronstrings of the past, or being appropriated ahistorically, by a deliberate formal attempt to muddy all notions of origins. Tactics include deliberately misleading intertextuality; ″time-loop paradox″; time travel; anachronism; and the deliberate erasure of the historical record, using the conventions of genre to undermine the assumption that in the globalised marketplace all consumers are equal and all cultures available for consumption.

Science Fiction as a Manifestation of Culture in America

Culture is broadly viewed as all the human activities that define us as a species. ″Sturgeon’s Law″ (that 90% of everything is inferior) is introduced to defend the study of fiction, and science fiction in particular, in higher education as a way of understanding ourselves better, and perhaps improving the world through the increased understanding of tomorrow’s leaders. Several ways of reading particular works of science fiction are examined, like providing historical contexts for readers, close reading and structural analysis, and application of theories based on particular ideologies or from other disciplines in the social and political sciences (such as feminist theory, Marxist theory, psychological theory, etc.). A conclusion is drawn that for literary analysis, a hybrid methodology, one devised individually for each text, works best.

The Art of Combining History and Fiction

SIMON Sebag Montefiore is tall, lean and full of energy. Born in London in 1965, he is one of the world’s best-selling authors of history and fiction. The celebrated historian is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

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.

A Stylistic Analysis of Hemingway＇s News and Fiction Writing

Literature about Hemingway＇s writing style has been fully explored in the past 80 years, while his style has not yet been well probed into from the perspective of corpus-based stylistics. This paper focuses on the analysis of his writing style as a news reporter and as a literary writer in order to investigate whether there exists some links between the two or whether his training as a reporter has any effect on his writing as fiction writer. By employing a corpus-based stylistic approach, the paper analyzes in great details Hemingway＇s early news writing in Kansas City Star （ 1917-1918） and his later fiction writing in the novella The Old Man and the Sea （1952）. The stylistic features at lexical level are explored quantitatively in both writings via statistical data. The paper concludes that Hemingway＇s writing style has his own heritage. The style in his early news articles does find its way into his later fiction writing. There do exist certain similarities in the choices of lexical items and phrasal expressions. It also indicates that a further exploration on their syntactic, rhetorical, and discourse levels is needed ira fuller picture of Hemingway＇s writing style is to be unveiled.

Swallow anything and everything, seek difference and truth-The considerati on ondevelopment of post-modern Chinese medicine

Our country enters a new era of post-modernity, highconcept and large data technology, which includes threemain features. Firstly, it’s vital to combine science withhumanities. Medical humanities gradually fade away andreductionism in science field need to reform, concept ofholism also should be reacquainted. Secondly, peopleshould pay more attention to the evolution ofanthropological ontology, focus emphasis on the relevantstudies, and make their persistent efforts toward the realworld. Finally, based on the excellent and characteristicculture of the Chinese nation, absorbing other culture indifferent nationalities and regions will be moremeaningful, this kind of integrated approach also presentsmassive advantages for us.

“The Impression of Reality”： Fiction and Testimony in Dostoevsky＇s Notes

Truth of fiction might sound like a paradox, at least within the Platonic doxa. But perhaps there is no truth without fiction; Plato＇s own myths would testify to this necessary combination of ＂history＂ and ＂story＂ （histoire, storia, Geschichte, etc.）. Still, it might be not enough simply to affirm the necessity of fictional narrative for an historical account. In some cases, it would be difficult to accept a fictional aspect of historical testimony. Jorge Semprdn claims, on the other hand, that only fiction is able to communicate a traumatic, ＂unbearable＂ experience such as the one of prison camps. He refers to the work of Fyodor Dostoevsky as his model. My paper analyzes this testimonial aspect of Dostoevsky＇s Notes, especially the Notes from a Dead House. It shows, the particularity of this work, which combines an intense personal experience with a fictional elaboration, a quasi-novelistic setting, plot, and characters. I claim that in a sense such a combination might be considered as a model for literature in general, for its testimonial value, for its truth.

A Pragmatic-Stylistic Analysis of Fictional Dialogues in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Short Story“Come Rain or Come Shine”

This study investigates the applicability and effectiveness of pragmatic-stylistic analysis in fictional dialogues.Taking Kazuo Ishiguro’s short story“Come Rain or Come Shine”in Nocturnes:Five Stories of Music and Nightfall as a case study,a detailed analysis of four fictional dialogues in this story has been conducted in the light of the cooperative principle,the im/politeness theory,and the turn-taking theory.The study has shown that pragmatic-stylistics offers a useful analytical tool in guiding readers to stylistically read character speech forms and interpret textual cues in conversation so as to gain a better insight into the characters’traits,their power relationships as well as the acceleration and deceleration in the narrative development.