Through reading two creatively translated stories by the Zhou brothers, Lu Xun＇s （Zhou Shuren） ＂The Soul of Sparta＂ （Sibada zhi hun, 1903） and Zhou Zuoren＇s ＂The Chivalrous Slave Girl＂ （Xia niinu, 1904）, t...Through reading two creatively translated stories by the Zhou brothers, Lu Xun＇s （Zhou Shuren） ＂The Soul of Sparta＂ （Sibada zhi hun, 1903） and Zhou Zuoren＇s ＂The Chivalrous Slave Girl＂ （Xia niinu, 1904）, this paper takes a close look at the intellectual trend in the first decade of the twentieth-century China of constructing strong and heroic women as the emblem of national power while rendering men as powerless. By focusing on a foreign heroine with traditional Chinese virtues, both translations creatively Sinicized and feminized the foreign power in the original tales. At the same time, male characters, prospective readers of the stories, and even authors themselves were marginalized, diminished, and ridiculed vis-a-vis the newly constructed feminine authority. Comparing this form of cultural masochism to other literary masochisms in modem China analyzed by Rey Chow and Jing Tsu respectively, this paper endeavors to excavate a hybrid model of nationalist agency grounded in the intertwined relationship of race, gender and nation. In my analysis, Gilles Deleuze＇s discussion on masochism is utilized as a heuristic tool to shed light on the revolutionary potential embedded in the ＂strong women, weak men＂ complex in the 1910s. I argue that the cultural masochism in late Qing represents one of the earliest attempts of the Chinese intellectuals to creatively use Chinese traditional gender cosmology to absorb the threat of Western imperialism and put forward a hybrid model of nationalist agency.展开更多
In this paper I will re-contextualize Lu Xun＇s early thought, as evidenced in his lengthy classical-style essays, which are concerned with issues in literature, philosophy, politics and aesthetics during an era when ...In this paper I will re-contextualize Lu Xun＇s early thought, as evidenced in his lengthy classical-style essays, which are concerned with issues in literature, philosophy, politics and aesthetics during an era when China was facing profound cultural changes. Part of their significance lies in the way they provide us with an unabashed glimpse at what Lu Xun set out to accomplish, early on, in his new-found literary career. Although they are mainly the product of his final Lehrjahre （years of study） in Japan, the fact that he chose to include the two longest of them in the very first pages of his important 1926 anthology Fen （The grave） indicates that he considered the views expressed therein neither too immature nor too pass- to reprint at the height of his career as a creative writer. In fact, he wrote that one of his reasons for doing so was that a number of the literary figures and issues treated in these essays had, ironically, taken on an increased relevance for China ＂since the founding of the Republic.＂ The central concern of all the essays turns on questions of cultural crisis and transition. What I propose to do in this paper is to re-examine the essays within the context in which they first appeared, i.e., the expatriate Chinese journal Henan, then published in Tokyo as an unofficial organ of the anti-Manchu Tongmenghui （Revolutionary Alliance）.展开更多
This article analyzes two literary works by the Czech writer, Julius Zeyer （1841-1901）, and Lu Xun （1881-1936） by elaborating upon two different myths concerning the Archer Hou Yi. These myths were presented by th...This article analyzes two literary works by the Czech writer, Julius Zeyer （1841-1901）, and Lu Xun （1881-1936） by elaborating upon two different myths concerning the Archer Hou Yi. These myths were presented by the missionary and Sinologist William Frederick Mayers in The Chinese Reader＇s Manual： A Handbook of Biographical, Historical, Mythological and General Literary References （1874）, and other Chinese sources. Zeyer highlighted the first myth, which was connected with the Emperor Yao and showed Hou Yi shooting arrows at the nine suns appearing together in the heavens, and Lu Xun preferred the second myth, where the Archer Yi rebelled against the Emperor Tai Kang, whom he drove from the Capital, and later was killed by Han Zhuo. The myth of Chang E who flew to the moon is described only by Lu Xun.展开更多
The extent of Lu Xun＇s identification with the cause of the revolutionists who worked to bring about the 1911 Revolution has been the subject of debate among scholars ever since the year after his death when his brot...The extent of Lu Xun＇s identification with the cause of the revolutionists who worked to bring about the 1911 Revolution has been the subject of debate among scholars ever since the year after his death when his brother Zhou Zuoren emphatically denied his membership in the Guangfu Hui. The scholars who think he did join （and actively participate in） that revolutionary organization rely on attributions to Lu Xun by third parties who conversed with him late in his life, but Lu Xun never actually addressed this question in his written or published works and, despite his student-teacher relationship with Zhang Taiyan （and therefore by inference the Tokyo and Zhejiang branches of the Guangfu Hui）, no one has ever brought forth archival evidence to support the claim of his membership. Here I will examine the classical-style poetry Lu Xun wrote before and after the event in order to gauge through first-hand evidence his disposition toward the Republican revolution and the historic transition it signaled for China.展开更多
This article begins by articulating a new perspective on the translation of Chinese poetry, arguing that the most important of the three well-known ＂difficulties＂ in the translation of Chinese poetry outlined by Yan...This article begins by articulating a new perspective on the translation of Chinese poetry, arguing that the most important of the three well-known ＂difficulties＂ in the translation of Chinese poetry outlined by Yan Fu 严复 （1854-1921）--namely, faithfulness （xin 信）, conveyance （da 达）, and elegance （ya 雅）--should in fact be the one that is least often discussed, da. The author principally interprets da as ＂conveying＂ the mood and then the meaning of the original work into the target language. This position is then illustrated by specific examples from Lu Xun＇s （1881-1936） emotive and highly allusive classical-style poetry, engaging issues regarding its annotation, exegesis, and translation which have arisen in Chinese literary and scholarly circles. The author suggests that since the deployment of affective images has often been designated as an essential and distinguishing characteristic of Chinese poetry, the translation of Chinese poetry into Western languages must make an effort to engage with the original images--not simply resorting to paraphrases or substitutions--and concludes that poetry in translation can and does have important and lasting effects on the literature of the target language.展开更多
At the end of the 1950s,Shanghai region of China carried out the Lu Xun Medal Reading Campaign and the Red Flag Reading Campaign one after another,aiming to guide young people to read good books and cultivate a positi...At the end of the 1950s,Shanghai region of China carried out the Lu Xun Medal Reading Campaign and the Red Flag Reading Campaign one after another,aiming to guide young people to read good books and cultivate a positive interest in life through reading,which is a gentle and constant form of ideological education.Based on the historical materials collected by Shanghai Archives,the author investigated the background,development,main links,and effects of the reading movement.The research shows that the reading movement has promoted young peoples political awareness,broadened their knowledge horizons,and promoted the formation of a good social atmosphere.展开更多
Thousands of years ago,texts appeared on animal bones,bronzes,bamboo slips,and silk brocades before they were written on paper.But now these ancient Chinese texts have a new container.In December 2023,a research team ...Thousands of years ago,texts appeared on animal bones,bronzes,bamboo slips,and silk brocades before they were written on paper.But now these ancient Chinese texts have a new container.In December 2023,a research team from Nanjing Agricultural University has rolled out Xunzi,a large language model(LLM)and XunziChat in association with Gulian,a professional ancient Chinese text publisher.展开更多
Lu Xnn situated himself at the crossroads of agricultural tradition and modernist inception during the tumultuous Republican period. As a result, fraught with his affection towards his origins and aiming to register h...Lu Xnn situated himself at the crossroads of agricultural tradition and modernist inception during the tumultuous Republican period. As a result, fraught with his affection towards his origins and aiming to register his modernist sensibilities, he widely scattered various animals throughout his fiction and essays. However, more scholarly attention should be paid to the theoretical interpretations of these nonhuman historical and affective agencies and they deserve to be regarded as unique references to the social and political representations of the Republican era. This paper analyzes how Lu Xun represents animal images and discusses the relationship between animality and humanity in his writings. Employing eco-criticism and Foucauldian bio-politics, I argue that the animalistic reading of ＂A Madman＇s Diary＂ contrasts with the conventional cannibalistic reading and marks a revolutionary beginning to Lu Xun＇s concern towards animality and humanity. Later echoing with the social Darwinism popular at the time, Lu Xun invests more nuanced affects in three different categories of animals through which he contemplates domestication, vulnerability, and self-definition. Finally, I argue that by inventing a discourse of animality and humanity, Lu Xun casts his pioneering gaze on Chinese morality, modern subjectivity, and the natural environment.展开更多
The Diary of A Madman （Kuangren r/j/）, Lu Xun＇s first well-known short stoW and the alleged first modem short stow in vernacular Chinese, is famous for its first-person narrative by an intellectual that is sufferin...The Diary of A Madman （Kuangren r/j/）, Lu Xun＇s first well-known short stoW and the alleged first modem short stow in vernacular Chinese, is famous for its first-person narrative by an intellectual that is suffering from a persecution complex. As acknowledged by Lu Xun himself and argued by most scholars, this short stoW was influenced by Gogol＇s homonymic short stow, but has developed more profound melancholy and indignation. However, as my paper demonstrates, this perspective neglects the role of Japan as an intermediary in the transculturation of madness. First, Lu Xun＇s initial encounter with Gogol＇s Diary of A Madman was through his reading of Futabatei Shimei＇s translation in the Japanese magazine Ky6mi. Second, the framed narrative and contrasting styles of Lu Xun＇s short stow, which are not features of Gogol＇s, might also be due to the inspiration from the Japanese genbun itchi movement in the Meiji period. Third, and most importantly, cannibalism, a major theme in Lu Xun＇s Diary of A Madman, was arguably shaped by the heated discussion in Japan on national character and cannibalism. My paper will trace the double origin of the depiction of madness and cannibalism in Lu Xun＇s work and illustrate the importance of the role of Japan in the transculturation of the stow of a madman.展开更多
The historical role of the prominent Chinese writer, social activist and thinker Lu Xun （1881-1936）, is difficult to overestimate. His works influenced social change within China and became recognized internationall...The historical role of the prominent Chinese writer, social activist and thinker Lu Xun （1881-1936）, is difficult to overestimate. His works influenced social change within China and became recognized internationally. For these and other reasons, he was of particular interest in the Soviet Union. Since 1932, his works have been published in numerous editions in Russian and have received a great deal of scholarly attention in the Soviet Union. Such unprecedented attention was initially based on the idea that he held similar revolutionary sentiments to those prevailing in the Soviet Union. Later, from the second half of the 1960s to the early 1970s, the ideological disagreements between the Soviet Union and China influenced the direction of Lu Xun studies in the Soviet Union. Soviet leader Khrushchev called for peaceful coexistence with the capitalist West, while Mao Zedong stressed the universal character of the proletarian revolution. Lu Xun was highly respected in both the USSR and China, and thus became an influential tool in this polemic. But, for Soviet scholars, this renewed focus on Lu Xun offered an opportunity to provide a new perspective on the writer＇s works. This paper analyzes how the Sino-Soviet split influenced Russian academics＇ positions on Lu Xun. The focus is on the three main points of contention in the ideological disagreements between the PRC and the USSR. First, Soviet critics focused on the psychological aspects and individualism in the Lu Xun＇s works. Second, a special focus on humanistic elements in the writer＇s ideas can be seen as a result of the Soviet disagreement with the Cultural Revolution＇s period. Third, by pointing to the internationalist aspects of Lu Xun＇s writings, Soviet scholars attempted to expose the Sinocentric political attitudes of the ruling circles in China.展开更多
Although the notion of the new woman in modern China has received much scholarly consideration, her usually illiterate rural sister has not received nearly as much critical attention. With the exception of Lu Xun＇s i...Although the notion of the new woman in modern China has received much scholarly consideration, her usually illiterate rural sister has not received nearly as much critical attention. With the exception of Lu Xun＇s iconic Xianglin sao--from his 1924 story ＂Zhufu＂ （The New Year＇s Sacrifice）--almost no depictions of traditional women have been critically appraised in current scholarship. This seems unfortunate when such women can be considered to be both the opposite of and the raw material from which the new woman would spring. This article seeks to begin to address this question by juxtaposing Xianglin sao with another more unfamiliar May Fourth depiction of a rural woman： Liuyi jie （from Bing Xin＇s story of the same name）. By situating Liuyi jie and Xianglin sao firmly within the family structure, the resulting comparison of both stories reveals the structural obstacles that inhibited traditional women from becoming fully active subjects in the new China. The comparison also shows how the May Fourth project established a new woman, one capable of ushering in a newly modern China, whose very existence relies on the discursive silencing of old-style women unable to make this modern transition.展开更多
Critics have observed that memory is an important theme in Lu Xun＇s writings. At the same time, memory--more precisely a struggle over the shaping of cultural memory--is a vital component of the iconoclastic May Four...Critics have observed that memory is an important theme in Lu Xun＇s writings. At the same time, memory--more precisely a struggle over the shaping of cultural memory--is a vital component of the iconoclastic May Fourth Movement with which Lu Xun is strongly associated. This article examines the ways in which several of Lu Xun＇s creative writings and memoirs depict memory and its transmission. I argue that, 1） These texts suggest the importance of objects as mnemonic devices that aid the transmission of memory, 2） The agency of the receiver is key in interpreting these texts and in transmitting them onward, and 3） That Lu Xun posits the texts he creates as such mnemonic objects that serve to transmit his interpretation of cultural and personal memory to his readers. Lu Xun＇s texts thus implicate the reader in the author＇s project of transmitting onward his reinterpretation of the past in the hope of redeeming China. Examining these mechanisms of memory transmission I conclude that for Lu Xun redemption lies not in a transcendent future but in reexamining the past.展开更多
In both Lu Xun＇s ＂The New Year＇s Sacrifice＂ （1924） and Shirley Jackson＇s ＂The Lottery＂ （1948）, a woman is made a sacrificial victim by her village community, one symbolically and one literally. Using the tw...In both Lu Xun＇s ＂The New Year＇s Sacrifice＂ （1924） and Shirley Jackson＇s ＂The Lottery＂ （1948）, a woman is made a sacrificial victim by her village community, one symbolically and one literally. Using the two stories as my cross-cultural examples, I ponder the connection between the failure of sympathy and patriarchal sacrificial logic, and ask what literature can do to help create the condition of possibility for moral agency.展开更多
文摘Through reading two creatively translated stories by the Zhou brothers, Lu Xun＇s （Zhou Shuren） ＂The Soul of Sparta＂ （Sibada zhi hun, 1903） and Zhou Zuoren＇s ＂The Chivalrous Slave Girl＂ （Xia niinu, 1904）, this paper takes a close look at the intellectual trend in the first decade of the twentieth-century China of constructing strong and heroic women as the emblem of national power while rendering men as powerless. By focusing on a foreign heroine with traditional Chinese virtues, both translations creatively Sinicized and feminized the foreign power in the original tales. At the same time, male characters, prospective readers of the stories, and even authors themselves were marginalized, diminished, and ridiculed vis-a-vis the newly constructed feminine authority. Comparing this form of cultural masochism to other literary masochisms in modem China analyzed by Rey Chow and Jing Tsu respectively, this paper endeavors to excavate a hybrid model of nationalist agency grounded in the intertwined relationship of race, gender and nation. In my analysis, Gilles Deleuze＇s discussion on masochism is utilized as a heuristic tool to shed light on the revolutionary potential embedded in the ＂strong women, weak men＂ complex in the 1910s. I argue that the cultural masochism in late Qing represents one of the earliest attempts of the Chinese intellectuals to creatively use Chinese traditional gender cosmology to absorb the threat of Western imperialism and put forward a hybrid model of nationalist agency.
文摘In this paper I will re-contextualize Lu Xun＇s early thought, as evidenced in his lengthy classical-style essays, which are concerned with issues in literature, philosophy, politics and aesthetics during an era when China was facing profound cultural changes. Part of their significance lies in the way they provide us with an unabashed glimpse at what Lu Xun set out to accomplish, early on, in his new-found literary career. Although they are mainly the product of his final Lehrjahre （years of study） in Japan, the fact that he chose to include the two longest of them in the very first pages of his important 1926 anthology Fen （The grave） indicates that he considered the views expressed therein neither too immature nor too pass- to reprint at the height of his career as a creative writer. In fact, he wrote that one of his reasons for doing so was that a number of the literary figures and issues treated in these essays had, ironically, taken on an increased relevance for China ＂since the founding of the Republic.＂ The central concern of all the essays turns on questions of cultural crisis and transition. What I propose to do in this paper is to re-examine the essays within the context in which they first appeared, i.e., the expatriate Chinese journal Henan, then published in Tokyo as an unofficial organ of the anti-Manchu Tongmenghui （Revolutionary Alliance）.
文摘This article analyzes two literary works by the Czech writer, Julius Zeyer （1841-1901）, and Lu Xun （1881-1936） by elaborating upon two different myths concerning the Archer Hou Yi. These myths were presented by the missionary and Sinologist William Frederick Mayers in The Chinese Reader＇s Manual： A Handbook of Biographical, Historical, Mythological and General Literary References （1874）, and other Chinese sources. Zeyer highlighted the first myth, which was connected with the Emperor Yao and showed Hou Yi shooting arrows at the nine suns appearing together in the heavens, and Lu Xun preferred the second myth, where the Archer Yi rebelled against the Emperor Tai Kang, whom he drove from the Capital, and later was killed by Han Zhuo. The myth of Chang E who flew to the moon is described only by Lu Xun.
文摘The extent of Lu Xun＇s identification with the cause of the revolutionists who worked to bring about the 1911 Revolution has been the subject of debate among scholars ever since the year after his death when his brother Zhou Zuoren emphatically denied his membership in the Guangfu Hui. The scholars who think he did join （and actively participate in） that revolutionary organization rely on attributions to Lu Xun by third parties who conversed with him late in his life, but Lu Xun never actually addressed this question in his written or published works and, despite his student-teacher relationship with Zhang Taiyan （and therefore by inference the Tokyo and Zhejiang branches of the Guangfu Hui）, no one has ever brought forth archival evidence to support the claim of his membership. Here I will examine the classical-style poetry Lu Xun wrote before and after the event in order to gauge through first-hand evidence his disposition toward the Republican revolution and the historic transition it signaled for China.
文摘This article begins by articulating a new perspective on the translation of Chinese poetry, arguing that the most important of the three well-known ＂difficulties＂ in the translation of Chinese poetry outlined by Yan Fu 严复 （1854-1921）--namely, faithfulness （xin 信）, conveyance （da 达）, and elegance （ya 雅）--should in fact be the one that is least often discussed, da. The author principally interprets da as ＂conveying＂ the mood and then the meaning of the original work into the target language. This position is then illustrated by specific examples from Lu Xun＇s （1881-1936） emotive and highly allusive classical-style poetry, engaging issues regarding its annotation, exegesis, and translation which have arisen in Chinese literary and scholarly circles. The author suggests that since the deployment of affective images has often been designated as an essential and distinguishing characteristic of Chinese poetry, the translation of Chinese poetry into Western languages must make an effort to engage with the original images--not simply resorting to paraphrases or substitutions--and concludes that poetry in translation can and does have important and lasting effects on the literature of the target language.
文摘At the end of the 1950s,Shanghai region of China carried out the Lu Xun Medal Reading Campaign and the Red Flag Reading Campaign one after another,aiming to guide young people to read good books and cultivate a positive interest in life through reading,which is a gentle and constant form of ideological education.Based on the historical materials collected by Shanghai Archives,the author investigated the background,development,main links,and effects of the reading movement.The research shows that the reading movement has promoted young peoples political awareness,broadened their knowledge horizons,and promoted the formation of a good social atmosphere.
文摘Thousands of years ago,texts appeared on animal bones,bronzes,bamboo slips,and silk brocades before they were written on paper.But now these ancient Chinese texts have a new container.In December 2023,a research team from Nanjing Agricultural University has rolled out Xunzi,a large language model(LLM)and XunziChat in association with Gulian,a professional ancient Chinese text publisher.
文摘Lu Xnn situated himself at the crossroads of agricultural tradition and modernist inception during the tumultuous Republican period. As a result, fraught with his affection towards his origins and aiming to register his modernist sensibilities, he widely scattered various animals throughout his fiction and essays. However, more scholarly attention should be paid to the theoretical interpretations of these nonhuman historical and affective agencies and they deserve to be regarded as unique references to the social and political representations of the Republican era. This paper analyzes how Lu Xun represents animal images and discusses the relationship between animality and humanity in his writings. Employing eco-criticism and Foucauldian bio-politics, I argue that the animalistic reading of ＂A Madman＇s Diary＂ contrasts with the conventional cannibalistic reading and marks a revolutionary beginning to Lu Xun＇s concern towards animality and humanity. Later echoing with the social Darwinism popular at the time, Lu Xun invests more nuanced affects in three different categories of animals through which he contemplates domestication, vulnerability, and self-definition. Finally, I argue that by inventing a discourse of animality and humanity, Lu Xun casts his pioneering gaze on Chinese morality, modern subjectivity, and the natural environment.
文摘The Diary of A Madman （Kuangren r/j/）, Lu Xun＇s first well-known short stoW and the alleged first modem short stow in vernacular Chinese, is famous for its first-person narrative by an intellectual that is suffering from a persecution complex. As acknowledged by Lu Xun himself and argued by most scholars, this short stoW was influenced by Gogol＇s homonymic short stow, but has developed more profound melancholy and indignation. However, as my paper demonstrates, this perspective neglects the role of Japan as an intermediary in the transculturation of madness. First, Lu Xun＇s initial encounter with Gogol＇s Diary of A Madman was through his reading of Futabatei Shimei＇s translation in the Japanese magazine Ky6mi. Second, the framed narrative and contrasting styles of Lu Xun＇s short stow, which are not features of Gogol＇s, might also be due to the inspiration from the Japanese genbun itchi movement in the Meiji period. Third, and most importantly, cannibalism, a major theme in Lu Xun＇s Diary of A Madman, was arguably shaped by the heated discussion in Japan on national character and cannibalism. My paper will trace the double origin of the depiction of madness and cannibalism in Lu Xun＇s work and illustrate the importance of the role of Japan in the transculturation of the stow of a madman.
文摘The historical role of the prominent Chinese writer, social activist and thinker Lu Xun （1881-1936）, is difficult to overestimate. His works influenced social change within China and became recognized internationally. For these and other reasons, he was of particular interest in the Soviet Union. Since 1932, his works have been published in numerous editions in Russian and have received a great deal of scholarly attention in the Soviet Union. Such unprecedented attention was initially based on the idea that he held similar revolutionary sentiments to those prevailing in the Soviet Union. Later, from the second half of the 1960s to the early 1970s, the ideological disagreements between the Soviet Union and China influenced the direction of Lu Xun studies in the Soviet Union. Soviet leader Khrushchev called for peaceful coexistence with the capitalist West, while Mao Zedong stressed the universal character of the proletarian revolution. Lu Xun was highly respected in both the USSR and China, and thus became an influential tool in this polemic. But, for Soviet scholars, this renewed focus on Lu Xun offered an opportunity to provide a new perspective on the writer＇s works. This paper analyzes how the Sino-Soviet split influenced Russian academics＇ positions on Lu Xun. The focus is on the three main points of contention in the ideological disagreements between the PRC and the USSR. First, Soviet critics focused on the psychological aspects and individualism in the Lu Xun＇s works. Second, a special focus on humanistic elements in the writer＇s ideas can be seen as a result of the Soviet disagreement with the Cultural Revolution＇s period. Third, by pointing to the internationalist aspects of Lu Xun＇s writings, Soviet scholars attempted to expose the Sinocentric political attitudes of the ruling circles in China.
文摘Although the notion of the new woman in modern China has received much scholarly consideration, her usually illiterate rural sister has not received nearly as much critical attention. With the exception of Lu Xun＇s iconic Xianglin sao--from his 1924 story ＂Zhufu＂ （The New Year＇s Sacrifice）--almost no depictions of traditional women have been critically appraised in current scholarship. This seems unfortunate when such women can be considered to be both the opposite of and the raw material from which the new woman would spring. This article seeks to begin to address this question by juxtaposing Xianglin sao with another more unfamiliar May Fourth depiction of a rural woman： Liuyi jie （from Bing Xin＇s story of the same name）. By situating Liuyi jie and Xianglin sao firmly within the family structure, the resulting comparison of both stories reveals the structural obstacles that inhibited traditional women from becoming fully active subjects in the new China. The comparison also shows how the May Fourth project established a new woman, one capable of ushering in a newly modern China, whose very existence relies on the discursive silencing of old-style women unable to make this modern transition.
文摘Critics have observed that memory is an important theme in Lu Xun＇s writings. At the same time, memory--more precisely a struggle over the shaping of cultural memory--is a vital component of the iconoclastic May Fourth Movement with which Lu Xun is strongly associated. This article examines the ways in which several of Lu Xun＇s creative writings and memoirs depict memory and its transmission. I argue that, 1） These texts suggest the importance of objects as mnemonic devices that aid the transmission of memory, 2） The agency of the receiver is key in interpreting these texts and in transmitting them onward, and 3） That Lu Xun posits the texts he creates as such mnemonic objects that serve to transmit his interpretation of cultural and personal memory to his readers. Lu Xun＇s texts thus implicate the reader in the author＇s project of transmitting onward his reinterpretation of the past in the hope of redeeming China. Examining these mechanisms of memory transmission I conclude that for Lu Xun redemption lies not in a transcendent future but in reexamining the past.
文摘In both Lu Xun＇s ＂The New Year＇s Sacrifice＂ （1924） and Shirley Jackson＇s ＂The Lottery＂ （1948）, a woman is made a sacrificial victim by her village community, one symbolically and one literally. Using the two stories as my cross-cultural examples, I ponder the connection between the failure of sympathy and patriarchal sacrificial logic, and ask what literature can do to help create the condition of possibility for moral agency.
