Observation, Critique and Rationality

Author: Yao Xinyong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This is not a collection of sociocultural criticism, nor is it a conventional academic monograph. The texts included in this book are broadly divided into four parts: Part I, Politics, Society, and Culture; Part II, Modernity, Ethnicity, and the Nation; Part III, Literature; Part IV, Intellectuals. The content of Part I can be further divided into three sections: first, an analysis of the diversity of ideological relationships in contemporary Chinese society; second, several critiques of social injustice; and third, reflections on the "constitutionalist" aspirations of the 1990s. Part II includes both an examination and analysis of the discourse on modernity in the intellectual circles of the 1990s, as well as an exploration of the disciplinary transformations of "Chinese ethnic literature" and the debates among Chinese intellectuals about "Chinese identity" in the context of globalization. Together, these form multifaceted manifestations of the identity crisis in Chinese sociocultural identity during the transitional period. Part III is titled "Literature." As the name suggests, the focus of this part is more concentrated on the analysis of literary phenomena and literary works. Part IV is titled "Intellectuals." Although the vast majority of the content examined in this book relates to intellectuals, this part directs itself more directly to the intellectuals of contemporary China.