A controversial concept in reading ＂third-world literature,＂ Fredric Jameson＇s ＂national allegory＂ has more often been refuted or approvingly appropriated than properly understood. Taking the ＂national allegory...A controversial concept in reading ＂third-world literature,＂ Fredric Jameson＇s ＂national allegory＂ has more often been refuted or approvingly appropriated than properly understood. Taking the ＂national allegory＂ as a convenient theoretical category describing the content of ＂third-world literature＂ misses Jameson＇s underlying problematic, i.e. his concern about ＂third-world literature＂ as an immanent deconstructive force leading to the breaking down of chains of signification of capitalist culture. Insofar as the functional concept of the ＂national allegory＂ is concerned, one must read ＂nation＂ not as a term designating a substantial entity, but as an ＂allegory＂ in itself. To read ＂third-world literature＂ through the lens of a ＂national allegory＂ thus means to deterritorialize the third world from its substantial determinants in terms of traditional geo-politics. Rather, ＂third-world literature＂ in its deconstructive force is toward what Jean-Luc Nancy calls the inoperative community.展开更多
In this essay I engage with Fredric Jameson＇s theoretical works and ideas, especially his concept of national allegory, and examine their possibilities and limits for use in literary analysis of Modem Chinese Literat...In this essay I engage with Fredric Jameson＇s theoretical works and ideas, especially his concept of national allegory, and examine their possibilities and limits for use in literary analysis of Modem Chinese Literature. In particular, I examine the themes of the nation and the passage of time in the works of Yu Dafu, Lao She, Xiao Hong, and Zhao Shuli and argue for evidence of a historical development from cyclical narrative to messianic and utopian linear time in their novels. While Yu Dafu＇s ＂Sinking＂ （Chenlun） and Lao She＇s Camel Xiangzi （Luotuo Xiangzi） both display a desire to break free from cyclical time and narration, the narratives fold back into themselves. In contrast, Xiao Hong＇s The Field of Life and Death （Shengsi chang） mediates between two different temporal schemes and marks a transition to the linear developments prevalent in Socialist Realist novels such as Zhao Shuli＇s Sanliwan Village （Sanliwan）. While Jameson＇s earlier works on Realism, Marxism, and the ＂Political Unconscious＂ all provide valuable insight into Modem Chinese Literature and the novels mentioned, Jameson＇s engagement with Chinese authors has also opened up new ways of examining Chinese literature.展开更多
When Western left-wing movement suffered setbacks in reality,its practical experience transformed into a method of text interpretation.However,rare people would ask,how could political practice revive in discourse pra...When Western left-wing movement suffered setbacks in reality,its practical experience transformed into a method of text interpretation.However,rare people would ask,how could political practice revive in discourse practice?This article aims to analyze its transition through the example of Fredric Jameson’s aesthetic application of Mao Zedong’s thoughts.The influence is manifested in three ways:First,the influence of theory—variation through the journey of the text;second,the influence of practice—transformation through the extraction of the context;third,the application of Maoism—to reserve the signifier but convert the signified.In Jameson’s view,Mao Zedong’s thoughts and practice became the focus of theorists and an idealized“otherness”.展开更多
In 1952, the federal government was called upon to investigate the comic book industry in order to determine if reading comic books influenced juvenile delinquency. The United States could not afford to look weak from...In 1952, the federal government was called upon to investigate the comic book industry in order to determine if reading comic books influenced juvenile delinquency. The United States could not afford to look weak from any angle; the idea of Communist nations exploiting moral weakness of any kind was frightening to many. However, the Soviets were already aware of moral issues on the American home front that were affecting the health of the nation, such as civil rights, sexism （sexual confusion）, a rise in fascism, and juvenile delinquency. This study will discuss the investigation of the comic book industry as the sole contributors to juvenile delinquent issues, as Fredric Wertham charged in his book Seduction of the Innocent. In addition, this study focuses on the ways in which Entertaining Comics （EC） pushed the envelope and challenged Cold War standards of ideal middle class values. Their creative resistance led to the federal investigation which nearly destroyed the comic book industry. Through these investigations, the federal government re-defined the first amendment as it applied to this type of media as a way to curtail what they believed was the Soviet Union＇s efforts to use our own literature as a propaganda tool for their people.展开更多
Stephen Greenblatt who first introduces the term“New Historicism”,for these years has gradually entered the mainstream from the edge of the academic and has influenced many fields fundamentally.For Greenblatt,the re...Stephen Greenblatt who first introduces the term“New Historicism”,for these years has gradually entered the mainstream from the edge of the academic and has influenced many fields fundamentally.For Greenblatt,the relationship between society and literature,politics and poetics,is the key to the study of Cultural Poetics.Therefore,in the thesis of“Towards a Poetics of Culture”,he debated with Jameson,considering him asalien,and taking the contemporary China as an argument in order to demonstrate that the functional distinctions between politics and poetics should be separated.Moreover,he deemed that these two must be adjusted in order to adapt to each other.If we learn from the methodology of New Historicism that focuses on contexts and interpretation patterns,we will find that the divergence of their views can be eventually traced back to the theoretical,political and ideological differences.展开更多
文摘A controversial concept in reading ＂third-world literature,＂ Fredric Jameson＇s ＂national allegory＂ has more often been refuted or approvingly appropriated than properly understood. Taking the ＂national allegory＂ as a convenient theoretical category describing the content of ＂third-world literature＂ misses Jameson＇s underlying problematic, i.e. his concern about ＂third-world literature＂ as an immanent deconstructive force leading to the breaking down of chains of signification of capitalist culture. Insofar as the functional concept of the ＂national allegory＂ is concerned, one must read ＂nation＂ not as a term designating a substantial entity, but as an ＂allegory＂ in itself. To read ＂third-world literature＂ through the lens of a ＂national allegory＂ thus means to deterritorialize the third world from its substantial determinants in terms of traditional geo-politics. Rather, ＂third-world literature＂ in its deconstructive force is toward what Jean-Luc Nancy calls the inoperative community.
文摘In this essay I engage with Fredric Jameson＇s theoretical works and ideas, especially his concept of national allegory, and examine their possibilities and limits for use in literary analysis of Modem Chinese Literature. In particular, I examine the themes of the nation and the passage of time in the works of Yu Dafu, Lao She, Xiao Hong, and Zhao Shuli and argue for evidence of a historical development from cyclical narrative to messianic and utopian linear time in their novels. While Yu Dafu＇s ＂Sinking＂ （Chenlun） and Lao She＇s Camel Xiangzi （Luotuo Xiangzi） both display a desire to break free from cyclical time and narration, the narratives fold back into themselves. In contrast, Xiao Hong＇s The Field of Life and Death （Shengsi chang） mediates between two different temporal schemes and marks a transition to the linear developments prevalent in Socialist Realist novels such as Zhao Shuli＇s Sanliwan Village （Sanliwan）. While Jameson＇s earlier works on Realism, Marxism, and the ＂Political Unconscious＂ all provide valuable insight into Modem Chinese Literature and the novels mentioned, Jameson＇s engagement with Chinese authors has also opened up new ways of examining Chinese literature.
文摘When Western left-wing movement suffered setbacks in reality,its practical experience transformed into a method of text interpretation.However,rare people would ask,how could political practice revive in discourse practice?This article aims to analyze its transition through the example of Fredric Jameson’s aesthetic application of Mao Zedong’s thoughts.The influence is manifested in three ways:First,the influence of theory—variation through the journey of the text;second,the influence of practice—transformation through the extraction of the context;third,the application of Maoism—to reserve the signifier but convert the signified.In Jameson’s view,Mao Zedong’s thoughts and practice became the focus of theorists and an idealized“otherness”.
文摘In 1952, the federal government was called upon to investigate the comic book industry in order to determine if reading comic books influenced juvenile delinquency. The United States could not afford to look weak from any angle; the idea of Communist nations exploiting moral weakness of any kind was frightening to many. However, the Soviets were already aware of moral issues on the American home front that were affecting the health of the nation, such as civil rights, sexism （sexual confusion）, a rise in fascism, and juvenile delinquency. This study will discuss the investigation of the comic book industry as the sole contributors to juvenile delinquent issues, as Fredric Wertham charged in his book Seduction of the Innocent. In addition, this study focuses on the ways in which Entertaining Comics （EC） pushed the envelope and challenged Cold War standards of ideal middle class values. Their creative resistance led to the federal investigation which nearly destroyed the comic book industry. Through these investigations, the federal government re-defined the first amendment as it applied to this type of media as a way to curtail what they believed was the Soviet Union＇s efforts to use our own literature as a propaganda tool for their people.
文摘Stephen Greenblatt who first introduces the term“New Historicism”,for these years has gradually entered the mainstream from the edge of the academic and has influenced many fields fundamentally.For Greenblatt,the relationship between society and literature,politics and poetics,is the key to the study of Cultural Poetics.Therefore,in the thesis of“Towards a Poetics of Culture”,he debated with Jameson,considering him asalien,and taking the contemporary China as an argument in order to demonstrate that the functional distinctions between politics and poetics should be separated.Moreover,he deemed that these two must be adjusted in order to adapt to each other.If we learn from the methodology of New Historicism that focuses on contexts and interpretation patterns,we will find that the divergence of their views can be eventually traced back to the theoretical,political and ideological differences.
