Description
Book SynopsisReflecting on the clash of civilizations as its point of departure, this book is based on a series of sixteen of the author's interconnected, thematically focused lectures and calls for new perspectives to resist imperialistic homogeneity.
Situated within a neo-humanist context, the book applies interactive cognition from an Asian perspective within which China can be perceived as an essential other, making it highly relevant in the quest for global solutions to the many grave issues facing humankind today. The author critiques American, European, and Chinese points of view, highlighting the significance of difference and the necessity of dialogue, before, ultimately, rethinking the nature of world literature and putting forward interactive cognition as a means of reconciliation between cultures. Chinese culture, as a frame of reference endowed with traditions of harmony without homogeneity, may help to alleviate global cultural confrontation and even reconstruct the understa
Trade Review
"This splendid and deftly translated book gives us a deep understanding of the development of comparative literature as it learned to embrace the many literatures of the world, and it explores the role of Chinese culture in using Taoist insights to illuminate the critical issues of the ever-modernizing twenty-first century. It is sure to become an essential text in this still evolving discipline."
Leo Damrosch, Professor of Harvard University
"Professor Yue Daiyun is one of the founders and pioneering figures of contemporary Chinese comparative literature. Chinese Thought in a Multi-cultural World is an insightful selection of her essays written at the turn of the century which is characterized by her unique cross-cultural perspective and border-writing style. It has indeed witnessed and promoted the rise of the Chinese School of comparative literature in the international academic community."
Wang Ning, Distinguished University Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
"Committed to cross-cultural quest with global vision, Professor Yue Daiyun has made the Chinese voice heard in the globalized, polyphonic world, and contributed enormously to the development of comparative literature in China."
Ji Jin, Professor of Soochow University, China
Table of Contents1. The Context of the Times: The Clash of Civilizations and the Future 2. The Neo-Humanism for the Twenty-first Century 3. The Transformation of the Post-Modernist Ethos and a New Platform for Literary Studies 4. The American, European, and Chinese Dreams: An Example of Cultural Transformation 5. Thoughts on Comparative Literature and World Literature 6. Interactive Cognition: The Case of Literature-Science Interaction 7. Interactive Cognition and Mutual Interpretation 8. Difference and Dialogue 9. Chinese Culture and the Reconstruction of World Culture 10. The Interpenetration of Sinology and Guoxue 11. The Three Phases of the Development of Comparative Literature 12. “The Death of Comparative Literature” and Its Regeneration 13. The Beginning and Early Development of Comparative Literature in China from 1900 to 1910 14. Where to, Where from, and When: The Quest of Wang Guowei 15. The Enquiries of Lu Xun in His Early Years 16. Zhu Guangqian and His Contribution to Comparative Literature in China
