Volume 18, Issue 1, 2021

Chao WangPages 7-22 ABSTRACT In “Comparative Literature, Variation Theory, and a New Construction of World Literature(s)” Wang Chao discusses Shunqing Cao’s “variation theory” as a framework in the discipline of comparative literature and its applicability for a new construction of world literature(s). Wang argues that Goethe’s concept of world literature can be expanded and developed […]

Peina ZhuangPages 23-40 ABSTRACT In “On Variations of Classical Chinese Literary Theory for a Framework of Global Literary History” Peina Zhuang discusses texts of classical Chinese literary theory as a reservoir for philosophical reflections on literary art. The aesthetics of Chinese literature originate in Confucianism and Taoism and hence represent an important background for any

Yina CaoPages 41-54 ABSTRACT In “Cross-cultural Communication and Cultural Variation” Yina Cao discusses the concept of “cultural variation” (Cao Shunqing) as an extension of the discipline of comparative literature. She argues that the concept of cultural variation explains many problems in the field of cross-cultural communication while it can also provide a unique research perspective

Shunqing Cao, Xin ChenPages 55-70 ABSTRACT In “Formations of World Literature(s) and Shaw’s The Man of Destiny in Chinese and Japanese Translation” Shunqing Cao and Xin Chen expand Franco Moretti’s dictum that “world literature is not an object, it’s a problem” to elaborate that the concept of world literature(s) is in some sense a problematic

Yi Li, Qian XiaoyuPages 71-79 ABSTRACT In “The Xueheng School (学衡派), Babbitt’s New Humanism, and the May Fourth Movement (五四新文学运动)” Li Yi discusses modern Chinese literary history. On the one hand, it is known that scholars have been discussing key figures of the May Fourth Movement by positioning the Xueheng School to the opposite side

Weidong ZhouPages 81-94 ABSTRACT In “Cultural Variation and Cultural Creation in Chinese Biographical Writing and Carnegie’s Work” Weidong Zhou discusses the impact on Chinese biographical writing via biographies written in Chinese and translated from English about Andrew Carnegie’s life and work. The interpretation of Carnegie’s philanthropy includes Chinese traditional cultural concepts such as “righteousness,” “cause

Yiping WangPages 95-108 ABSTRACT In “World Literature, Industrialization, and the Two Faces of Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction” Yiping Wang discusses contemporary Chinese science fiction against the backdrop of the influence of world literature and the development of industrialization in China. Wang argues that two sides represented respectively by Liu Cixin and Han Song constitute the

Miaomiao WangPages 109-121 ABSTRACT In “Worlding World Literatures and Coetzee’s Disgrace” Miaomiao Wang explores the concept of world literature(s) as world-making activity, which gains in elliptical refraction, translation, and mode of reading. With the example of J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace, Wang illustrates cultural variations between the original English text and the Chinese translation of Disgrace through

Steven Tötösy de ZepetnekPages 123-138 ABSTRACT In “Peripheralities: ‘Minor’ Literatures, Women’s Literature, and Adrienne Orosz de Csicser’s Novels” Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek discusses events surrounding Adrienne Orosz de Csicser’s (1878-1934) work. For the contextualization of the events Tötösy de Zepetnek employs his own framework of “comparative cultural studies” here applied to “minor literatures” (i.e., peripheral)