After the decline of Confucianism: Critical Issues in Chinese Culture

Author: Zhao Yiheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-01-01
Features: This collection primarily gathers literary criticism and cultural research works by Chinese scholars studying overseas. The authors of this series are mostly well-known critics in China who have studied abroad in recent two decades. Due to their identities, subjects, and languages, they conduct research on Chinese literature and culture in overseas academies, which essentially belongs to "peripheral disciplines." However, after obtaining degrees, securing teaching positions, or frequently crossing boundaries, their critical writings become a "peripheral voice" in the domestic academic circles. The periphery can actually or already be the central discourse in theoretical circles. Edward Said also hoped that intellectuals could possess a marginality like that of true exiles. But for the authors of the "Peripheral Criticism Series," the periphery is more of an unavoidable academic reality than a conscious pursuit. The periphery does not signify a rigidly opposing spatial position but rather the critics' navigation and movement between the gaps of the center. Peripheral authors appropriate various theoretical strategies with mixed origins, adjust and organize their textual experiences, and respond to the historical contexts that confront them.