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"Zhang, Longxi"
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Parallelism and Antithesis: Structural Principles in the Mind and in Literature from a Chinese Perspective
Roman Jakobson famously defined poetry as pivoting on the metaphorical axis with parallelism as a major feature, and James Kugel argues that parallelism is the defining feature of biblical poetry. The parallel structure – including its variations of symmetry and antithesis – is crucial for classical Chinese poetry. In drawing on both Chinese and Western critical views on the symmetrical structure of parallelism and antithesis, this paper will explore the relationship between the cognitive and linguistic correlation in the formation of parallel structure in literary language, particularly poetry, and argue for the basis of parallelism as deeply embedded in the mind and manifested in literary expressions.
Journal Article
The Hermeneutic Circle, Textual Integrity, and the Validity of Interpretation
In both China and the West, there is an emphasis on the literal sense as the basis of all interpretations. By discussing the hermeneutic circle, the textual integrity, and the connection of the theological tradition from Augustine to Aquinas and Luther with contemporary literary theory, this essay comments on the various concepts and argues for the importance of the plain or literal sense of the text for valid interpretation.
Journal Article
الأمثولة والتأويل : قراءة الأدب المعتمد في الشرق والغرب /
يتناول كتاب (الأمثولة والتأويل : قراءة الأدب المعتمد في الشرق والغرب) والذي قام بتأليفه (جانغ لونغزي) في حوالي (480) صفحة من القطع المتوسط موضوع (الأدب المقارن الصيني والغربي) مستعرضا أبرز المحتويات التالية : مصداقية الفهم العابر للثقافات، الفصل الثاني : المعتمد والتأويل الأمثولي، الفصل الثالث : التأويل والأيديولوجيا، الفصل الرابع : الرؤيا اليوتوبية شرقا وغربا، الفصل الخامس : الخاتمة القراءة والسياسة.
Book
Allegoresis
Why is it that a text, particularly a canonical text, is often said to contain a meaning different from what it literally says? How did allegorical readings arise and develop? By looking at such examples as Jewish and Christian interpretations of theSong of Songsand traditional Chinese commentaries on the Confucian classicBook of Poetry, Zhang Longxi discusses allegorical readings from a broad perspective that bridges the usual East/West cultural divide and examines their social and political implications. His approach is wide-ranging, cross-cultural, and cross-disciplinary, exploring allegoresis with regard to religion, philosophy, and literature.
In his inquiry into allegory and allegorical interpretation, Zhang examines the idea of a self-explanatory text of the Bible as conceived by Augustine, Aquinas, and Luther; discusses the importance of the literal basis of textual interpretation; and takes up the question of moral responsibility and political allegiance. Zhang, who regards utopia as an allegory of social and political ideas, explores how utopian visions vary in their Chinese and Western expressions, in the process commenting on contemporary literary theory and political readings of literature past and present.
Why is it that a text, particularly a canonical text, is often said to contain a meaning different from what it literally says? How did allegorical readings arise and develop? By looking at such examples as Jewish and Christian interpretations of the Song of Songs and traditional Chinese commentaries on the Confucian classic Book of Poetry, Zhang Longxi discusses allegorical readings from a broad perspective that bridges the usual East/West cultural divide and examines their social and political implications. His approach is wide-ranging, cross-cultural, and cross-disciplinary, exploring allegoresis with regard to religion, philosophy, and literature. In his inquiry into allegory and allegorical interpretation, Zhang examines the idea of a self-explanatory text of the Bible as conceived by Augustine, Aquinas, and Luther; discusses the importance of the literal basis of textual interpretation; and takes up the question of moral responsibility and political allegiance. Zhang, who regards utopia as an allegory of social and political ideas, explores how utopian visions vary in their Chinese and Western expressions, in the process commenting on contemporary literary theory and political readings of literature past and present.
eBook
Cosmopolitanism and Global Ethics
Embracing all humanity as one’s own is the core of the modern idea of cosmopolitanism, but the present time with rising tribalism, populism, racism, and narrow-minded nationalism is not propitious for cosmopolitanism. At a time like this, the cosmopolitan effort to see cultures and peoples as close to one another rather than absolutely different becomes all the more important. The comparative study of different cultures and literatures may promote a cosmopolitan stance, and from a comparative perspective, we may draw some ideas from the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius for a theory of global ethics.
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Journal Article
Re-conceptualizing China in our Time: From a Chinese Perspective
China as a concept had not been put under much scrutiny and challenge until the recent postmodern and postcolonial theoretical discourse on nation and nationhood, and the radical scepticism about tradition and homogeneity. Some scholars have questioned whether China could have been a nation state before there was any nation state in Europe, and others have challenged the very notions of China and Chineseness. How do the Chinese themselves respond to such scepticism and challenge? How does one re-conceptualize China at the present time? By drawing on recent debates on such important issues, this essay tries to find some answers and offers some views from a Chinese perspective, while fully engaging Western theoretical discourses, to attempt an international dialogue and meaningful exchange.
Journal Article
Cross-cultural Translatability: Challenges and Prospects
In our quest of a new paradigm for cultural or cross-cultural understanding, we must first take a look at the very concept of a paradigm, as Thomas Kuhn expounded in his celebrated book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and the related concepts of incommensurability and untranslatability. Kuhn’s concepts have a significant influence on social sciences and the humanities, and they put an overemphasis on the difference and the impossibility of communication among different groups and cultures. Such a tendency has led to the fragmentization of the social fabric and the resurgence of a most tenacious tribalism. This essay launches a critique of such concepts and argues for the possibility and validity of cross-cultural understanding, and proposes world literature as an opportunity to embrace cross-cultural translatability as the first step towards a new paradigm in the study of different cultures in our globalized world today.
Journal Article
\The Pale Cast of Thought\: On the Dilemma of Thinking and Action
In his Theses on Feuerbach , Karl Marx famously formulated the principle of a philosophy of revolutionary action that the point is to change the world, not to interpret it. The critique of pure thinking and philosophizing has a long tradition in philosophical thinking itself, and the problem of hasty action without thinking through possible consequences and implications can be equally futile and even dangerous. Thus we face the dilemma of thinking and action, interpretation and its rivals. By looking into a variety of exemplary cases, including a Monty Python episode, Shakespeare’s Hamlet , and Tom Stoppard’s play Professional Foul , this essay explores the different aspects of this dilemma and offers comments on the pros and cons of the various positions in the debate. In the final analysis, the opposition of thinking and action is found to be mutually implicated, not a rigid dichotomy.
Journal Article