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Reflecting 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 understanding of human civilization.
The book will be essential reading for scholars and students of Comparative Literature, Chinese Studies, and all those who are interested in cross-cultural communication and Chinese culture in general.
List of contents
1. 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
About the author
YUE Daiyun is a distinguished, award-winning professor at Peking University, China. She specializes in comparative literature and has dozens of highly influential publications in the field of comparative culture and beyond.
Summary
Reflecting 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.
