Volume 1, Issue 2

Whether Western theories can be employed to interpret Chinese literary texts and whether such interpretation is valid are two different propositions. Starting from an analysis of the relationship between Qu Yuan’s Lisao and Romanticism, in this paper, the thesis that “Qu Yuan is a Romantic” is thought to be a pseudo-proposition owing to its over-interpretation on Qu Yuan and his works, resulting in its invalidity. In order to achieve effective elucidation, it is necessary to change the statement from “Qu Yuan is a Romanticist” to “Qu Yuan and Romanticism” on the ground that we can neither deny the interpretability of Chinese texts via Western theory nor assert that “Qu Yuan is a Romanticist.”

Being one of the most influential science fiction writers of the 20th century, Philip K. Dick (1928–82) was acclaimed as the “most brilliant Sci-Fi mind on any planet.” Thanks to the influential English translation by Richard Wilhelm (1873–1930) and Cary F. Baynes (1883–1977) published in 1950, the I Ching (or Yijing ; Book of Changes ), the ancient Chinese philosophical/religious classic and divinatory text, has transcended cultural borders, leaving a lasting impact on Western society against the backdrop of the counterculture hippy movement of the 1960s. With an extraordinary enthusiasm for the I Ching , Dick experimented creative use of the I Ching in the process of writing his best-selling novel The Man in the High Castle (1962), marking its debut in American fiction. Through a critical textual analysis of the novel, this paper attempts to unearth deeper levels of motifs by discovering the underlying symbolisms of the I Ching incorporated in the narrative, with special references to two related Hexagrams Kan (䷜ Abyss) and Kun (䷮ Oppression). Dick took full advantage of the multifaceted dimensions of their symbolisms to develop characterization and fictional plots, particularly foregrounding the core themes of universal anxiety and oppression.

In 17th- and 18th-century Europe, the biblical myth of the Tower of Babel was still very much alive. People wondered what this original language of mankind, lost for millennia as a result of divine punishment, might be. When, in the final years of the 17th century, Louis XIV and Colbert decided to launch a Jesuit mission, and the Jesuits were promoted to “Mathematiciens du Roi” (King’s Mathematicians), Europe, and France in particular, discovered China and, of course, its millennia-old language, based on a writing system resembling hieroglyphics and thus reminiscent of ancient Egypt, the debate between scholars, theologians and philosophers took on new momentum.

“Miss Sophia’s Diary” 莎菲女士的日記, Ding Ling’s 丁玲 (1904–1986) debut on the literary stage in 1928, made her a nationally recognized figure. The first-person narrative and diary form of this iconic text is most representative of May Fourth intellectuals’ incessant quest for modernity and a modern selfhood through self-conscious experimentation with forms and genres.Yet previous scholarship on “Miss Sophia’s Diary” paid little attention to the use of “I” as well as the formal and generic characteristics of the diary form. Drawing on the sociolinguistic theory on the intersubjective, social and performative nature of the “I,” existing discussions of formal features of the diary, and a poststructualist reading of autobiography as a figure that precedes and produces the self, this paper examines the use of “I” and the formal and generic features of the diary form. It is my contention that the formal and generic multiplicity of the diary narrative written in the first-person perspective problematizes subject formation and attests to the difficulty and even impossibility of representing the self and rendering it intelligible. The formal and generic multiplicity produces a performative, fragmented and contradictory selfhood, which in turn resists any fixed subject position. This paper reveals not only the limits of the autonomous, bounded selfhood modeled on Western Enlightenment epistemology but also the complicated processes of how the concepts of the self and subjectivity, as discursive constructs, are contested and negotiated in particular historical and social conditions.

The portrayal of Du Fu in the English-speaking world has evolved from biographical studies to literary research since the 1920s. Over the past century, experts’ evaluations of Du Fu have shifted from simple commendation or criticism to a more complex and nuanced understanding of him as a flesh-and-blood figure. The relationship between Du Fu’s image and his poetry has undergone transformations from “poetry as the man” to “separation of poet and poetry” and finally to “unity of poet and poetry.” In terms of research methodology, it has evolved from adhering to the traditional poetics of “mutual verification between poetry and history” to interpreting the construction of Du Fu’s image from the perspective of New Historicism. Research-wise, there has been a shift from emphasizing definiteness to embracing indeterminacy. These developments which are largely overlooked by the existing scholarship on the topic have accompanied the entire process of the formation, deconstruction, and reconstruction of Du Fu’s image in the English-speaking world. The scholars and translators have not only continually updated the understanding of Du Fu’s image but have also resonated with domestic studies of Du Fu, providing a diverse methodological reference for the construction of Du Fu’s poetics. Furthermore, they have significantly promoted the dissemination of Du Fu and his poetry in the English-speaking world.

“Xiao-cui” (小翠), a short story in Pu Songling’s Liaozhai Zhiyi (聊齋誌異), which tells the story of a fox spirit Xiao-cui, who marries Wang Yuan-feng, the foolish son of her mother’s benefactor, and solves a series of problems for the Wang family. In the text, Yuan-feng and Xiao-cui are referred to as the simple-minded boy and the crazy girl respectively. In exploring the manifestations, causes, and treatments of Xiao-cui’s and Yuan-feng’s madness, this paper nonetheless argues that their madness is not a psychiatric illness, but rather is constructed by culture and society,” for Yuan-feng’s insanity is manifested in his ignorance of sex and gender, and Xiao-cui’s madness is manifested in her extraordinary words and deeds that do not conform to Confucian rituals. Applying close reading and transcultural research method and drawing on Michel Foucault’s knowledge of madness as well as Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar’s idea of the “madwoman,” this paper emphasizes that madness is the response to the oppressive structures of Chinese feudal society’s patriarchal and monarchical systems. And the treatment for such madness is not confinement but rather an escape from oppressive environments.

Cheng Lin and his translation The Four Books , the first complete English translation of The Four Books by a Chinese translator, are less-known to the world due to China’s tumultuous years. The paper, employing textual research method, conducts an in-depth case study of the paratexts of the translated version in order to reveal the paratextual values in translation and global dissemination, in the hope of providing theoretical approach and translation experience for Chinese Classics’ international communication.

Boesman and Lena , a play by Athol Fugard in 1969, explores the socio-political landscape of apartheid-era South Africa. The story centres on Boesman and Lena, a couple who are forcibly displaced from their home due to apartheid laws. This article examines how Fugard navigates the complexities of coloured history within South African modernity rather than through the lens of post-colonial discourse. It investigates Fugard’s use of modern theatre techniques, particularly his adaptation of Brecht’s Leichtigkeit, to portray the intricacies of human existence and societal tensions in his plays. Furthermore, the article discusses that Fugard’s effort offers a unique perspective on reconciling contrasting traditions within modern theatre. Further in his Fanonian anatomy of the psychology of coloured individuals, his theatre provides a remarkable narrative of South African modernity by depicting coloured people as a spectral experience of South African history and their shared humanity as a significant ideology that equals the Black Consciousness Movement.