Self-discipline and External Discipline: Some Theoretical Issues in the Debates of Modern Contemporary Chinese Literature

Author: Qian Zhongwen, Liu Fangxi, Wu Zilin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: This book primarily addresses a long-standing issue in China's literary theory that has sparked debate for nearly a century, undertaking preliminary clarification and exploration. Due to the vast number of issues, the book selects only those closely related to the current development of literary theory for study. These include long-standing controversies over literary concepts, the tradition and inheritance of poetry, as well as the debate between the refined and the popular. There are also recent disputes over language and image, the world and the nation, literary theory and "cultural studies." The book combines historical analysis with theoretical discussion, grounded in rich historical materials, to describe the cultural and historical origins of the issues raised. At the same time, it focuses on theoretical interpretation, contextualized within the current era of global cultural development, with the modern demands of cultural construction as its guiding principle. It weaves through the ideas of literary autonomy and heteronomy, as well as their coordination, discoordination, and even transgression, to offer new interpretations of the issues, express the authors' perspectives and insights, and describe certain new developments and trends in the evolution of literary theory, thereby contributing to the ongoing construction of literary theory.