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Cultural Studies in Modern China pp 133–180Cite as

Analysis of the System

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Abstract

The Chinese academic circles made deeper reflections on the Chinese literary theory (or the study of literature and arts) during the late 1990s and the early 21st century, as post-modernism and Cultural Studies (the discussion of “Aestheticization of Everyday Life”, in particular) rose in China. Chinese literary theorists began to make reflections on a number of issues, including the expansion of literary theory, literary aesthetics and autonomy, and the relationship between literary theory (intellectuals included) and reality. This chapter investigates these issues one by one.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Aestheticization of Everyday Life” may be an independent topic. However, it came into vision in China when Cultural Studies rose in the country. Therefore, we see it as an integral part of Cultural Studies in modern China. As for the discussion of “Aestheticization of Everyday Life”, see Chapter XIII in Tao Dongfeng (ed.), Literary Thoughts and Cultural Topics in Modern China, Beijing: Peking University Press, 2008 and Chapter XXIII in Tao Dongfeng and He Lei, A Critical Study of Contemporary Chinese Literary and Cultural Theories (1949–2009), Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 2011.

  2. 2.

    About the discussions of “Aestheticization of Everyday Life” in aesthetics, see Ai Xiumei, “Textual Research of ‘Aestheticization of Everyday Life’”, Journal of School of Chinese Language and Culture, Nanjing Normal University, 2004 (3); Sang Nong, “The Value Issue in the Debates of ‘Aestheticization of Everyday Life’: A Defend of ‘New Principles of Aesthetics’”, Wenyi Zhengming (Debates in Literature and Arts), 2006 (3); Ling Jiyao, “A Reflection on the Studies of ‘Aestheticization of Everyday Life”, Journal of Southeast University (Philosophy and Social Science), 2007 (6); and Pang Zengyu and Li Yueting, “Theory and Practice: A Critical Study of ‘Aestheticization of Everyday Life’”, Social Science Front), 2006 (4).

  3. 3.

    See Wu Wenwei, “A Summary of the Symposium on Chinese Literary Theories 1949–1999”, Literary Review, 2000 (4).

  4. 4.

    Chen Xiaoming, “Is Literature Disappearing or a Ghost?”, Questions (Vol. 1), Beijing: Central Compilation & Translation Press, 2003.

  5. 5.

    Yu Hong, “Death of Literature and Sprawling of Literariness”, Literature & Art Studies, 2002 (6).

  6. 6.

    However, opinions vary on to what extent literary studies should expand. Those differences are left out in this section, as they are not the key issues. See Ouyang Youquan, “Expanding Boundary of Literature and Arts and Shifting Origin of Literary Theory”, Journal of Langfang Teachers’ University, 2007 (4); Ouyang Youquan, “Paradigms, Boundary and Media of Literary Studies”, Wenyi Zhengming (Debates in Literature and Arts), 2011 (7); Jin Yuanpu, “A Reconstructed Narration: A Reflection on Literature and Arts in Modern Days”, Literature & Art Studies, 2005 (7); and Yang Ling, “On the Paradigms Turning from Literary Studies to Cultural Studies”, Journal of Capital Normal University (Social Sciences Edition), 2008 (5).

  7. 7.

    Jin Yuanpu, “A Reconstructed Narration: A Reflection on Literature and Arts in Modern Days”, Literature & Art Studies, 2005 (7).

  8. 8.

    Tong Qingbing, “‘Aestheticization of Everyday Life’ and ‘Boundary Overstepping’ of Literature and Arts”, The Journal of Humanities, 2004 (5).

  9. 9.

    Zhu Liyuan & Zhang Cheng, “The Boundary of Literature Is the Boundary of Literature and Arts”, Academic Monthly, 2005 (2).

  10. 10.

    Hao Chunyan, “Moving Boundaries and Battle Fields of Literature and Arts”, Eastern Forum, 2005 (4).

  11. 11.

    Hu Youfeng, “Literary Theory: Current Crisis and Countermeasures”, Social Sciences in Guangdong, 2008 (6).

  12. 12.

    See also Lu Yang, “A Reiteration of Cultural Studies”, Wenyi Zhengming (Debates in Literature and Arts), 2010 (17); Wang Fengzhen, “Relationship Between Cultural Studies and Literary Studies”, The Frontier of Literature, 2000 (1).

  13. 13.

    Tao Dongfeng, “A Reflection on College Courses of Literature and Arts”, Literary Review, 2001 (5).

  14. 14.

    Wang Yuanxiang, “Culturalism and Aestheticism in Theories of Literature and Arts”, Literature & Art Studies, 2005 (4).

  15. 15.

    Su Hongbin, “Arising of Cultural Studies and the Future of Literary Theories”, Literature & Art Studies, 2005 (9).

  16. 16.

    Lu Wenbin, “Save Literary Criticism Out: To Lead It Back to Literature”, Wenyi Zhengming (Debates in Literature and Arts), 1998 (1).

  17. 17.

    The debate over this topic is not that fierce, as the academic circles basically reach an agreement that literary studies and intellectuals should be actively involved in and make response to reality. This section mainly reviews the ideas of scholars of Cultural Studies, such as Tao Dongfeng.

  18. 18.

    Li Chunqing, “Literary Theory Building in the Context of Cultural Studies”, Seeking Truth, 2004 (6).

  19. 19.

    Huang Zhuoyue, “From Cultural Studies to Literary Studies: Issues to Be Reclarified”, Seeking Truth, 2004 (6).

  20. 20.

    See both articles in Literature & Art Studies, 2004 (1).

  21. 21.

    See Tao Dongfeng, “Aestheticization of Everyday Life and the Reconstruction of Literary Sociology”; Chen Xiaoming, “After the Fractures and Re-bridging of History: A Reflection on Modern Literature and Arts”; Cao Weidong, “Identity Discourse and Reflections of Literature and Arts”; and Gao Xiaokang, “From Cultural Criticism Back to Academic Research”, Literature & Art Studies, 2004 (1).

  22. 22.

    Also see “The Reconstruction of the Political Lens of Literary Theories”, Wenyi Zhengming (Debates in Literature and Arts), 2008 (1); and “On the Public Sphere and Publicness of Literature”, Wenyi Zhengming (Debates in Literature and Arts), 2009 (5).

  23. 23.

    The Public’s Literary Theories: The Reconstruction of Political Criticism, Fuzhou: Fujian Education Press, 2008; Literary Theory and Public Discourse, Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 2012.

  24. 24.

    As for how to look at the position of Cultural Studies in the disciplinary structure, see Jin Yuanpu, “Cultural Studies: An Interdisciplinary Science”, Social Science Front, 2005 (1); and Luo Gang & Meng Dengying, “Cultural Studies and Anti-scientific Knowledge Practice”, Literature & Art Studies, 2002 (4).

  25. 25.

    Tao Dongfeng, Cultural Studies: the West and China (Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press, 2002), p. 3.

  26. 26.

    Zhou Xian, “Cultural Studies: Why and How?”, Literature & Art Studies, 2007 (6). However, Chinese scholars have mainly drawn inspirations from Western resources concerning the idea of anti-disciplinary or non-disciplinary Cultural Studies. Tao Dongfeng quotes Grossberg, During, Turner and Hall in his Cultural Studies: the West and China, stating that Cultural Studies that is not a discipline aims to rebel against the disciplinary structure. See Tao Dongfeng, Cultural Studies: the West and China, pp. 3–5.

  27. 27.

    Dai Jinhua, “Postscript” in Cultural Heroes: Cultural Studies at the Turn of the Century (Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2000), pp. 325–326.

  28. 28.

    Website: http://www.ucs.org.cn.

  29. 29.

    See Sun Xun, “Urban Cultural Studies: A Global Frontier Discipline”, Guangming Daily, 13 September 2005.

  30. 30.

    Also see “Urban Culture Center of Shanghai Normal University”, Jiangxi Social Sciences, 2005 (3).

  31. 31.

    The objectives of the postgraduate program are the same, except being less strict.

  32. 32.

    Wang Xiaoming, “Three Headaches in Cultural Studies: A Case Study of Program in Cultural Studies in Shanghai University”, Journal of Shanghai University, 2010 (1).

  33. 33.

    Wang Xiaoming, “Three Headaches in Cultural Studies: A Case Study of Program in Cultural Studies in Shanghai University”, Journal of Shanghai University, 2010 (1).

  34. 34.

    Website: http://www.bjcs.edu.cn/cn.

  35. 35.

    See the ICS’s website: http://www.bjcs.edu.cn/cn.

  36. 36.

    See documents issued by the National Office of Academic Degrees (NOAD) of the State Council and the General Office of Ministry of Education (MOE), such as Opinions on the Autonomous Setup of Sub-disciplines and Specialties under the First-level Disciplines for Doctoral Degrees (NOAD [2002] No. 47), Circular on the Registration of the Autonomously-setup Sub-disciplines and Specialties under the First-level Disciplines for Doctoral Degrees (NOAD [2002] No. 84), Measures for the Setup and Management of Disciplines for Academic Degrees and Talent Raising, Regulations for the Autonomous Setup of Second-level Disciplines for Doctoral/Master’s Degrees and Postgraduate Programs, Circular on the Autonomous Setup of Second-level Disciplines for Doctoral/Master’s Degrees and Postgraduate Programs (NOAD [2011] No. 12) and Circular on the Autonomous Setup of Second-level Disciplines (NOAD [Informal Letter] No. 20120301). Source: MOE’s website: http://www.moe.gov.cn.

  37. 37.

    According to Professor Lu Yang, the program was set up in 2007. However, the program hadn’t been found in the catalog of programs until 2008.

  38. 38.

    Tao Dongfeng et al. (eds.), “Preface” in Cultural Studies (Vol. I) (Tianjin: Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences Press, 2000), pp. 4–5.

  39. 39.

    Ibid.

  40. 40.

    For example, the journal dedicates the fourth volume to the problems in education; see Wang Xiaoming & Cai Xiang (eds.), “Afterword” in Refeng Xueshu (Hot Wind Academic), Vol. 4 (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2008), p. 332.

  41. 41.

    Wang Xiaoming & Cai Xiang (eds.), “Afterword” in Refeng Xueshu (Hot Wind Academic), Vol. 1 (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2008), p. 264.

  42. 42.

    Wang Xiaoming & Cai Xiang (eds.), “Afterword” in Refeng Xueshu (Hot Wind Academic), Vol. 3 (Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2009), p. 320.

  43. 43.

    In this sense, the current institutional system in China is even more favorable to Cultural Studies than that in Birmingham University was. Back then, professors from other colleges and departments of Birmingham University even wrote a letter in joint names, to oppose the establishment of the Center for Cultural Studies.

  44. 44.

    In some universities, there are elective courses concerning Cultural Studies open to all the students. The lecturers may come from the department of Chinese language and literature (or the college of liberal arts) or the Cultural Studies program.

  45. 45.

    http://www.xici.net/d24587698.htm.

  46. 46.

    http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5dcf517401012yah.html.

  47. 47.

    http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5dcf51740101cucl.html.

  48. 48.

    http://wxy.shu.edu.cn:8080/MainPage/MoreCourse.asp.

  49. 49.

    Website: http://www.cul-studies.com/.

  50. 50.

    The PCS’s official website: http://wxy.shu.edu.cn:8080/MainPage/ViewLecture.asp?vType=会议.

  51. 51.

    Lu Yang, “Necessity of Cultural Studies”, Journal of Jilin Normal University, 2009 (3).

  52. 52.

    Lu Yang & Wang Yi, An Introduction to Cultural Studies, p. 16.

  53. 53.

    For commentaries on this book, see Ma Ling, “A ‘Mission Impossible’: A Review on An Introduction to Cultural Studies Co-authored by Lu Yang and Wang Yi”, Teahouse For Sociologists (Vol.18), Jinan: Shandong People’s Publishing House, 2007.

  54. 54.

    Wang Yichuan, “Cultural Studies into Classrooms”, Wenhui Book Review, 30 May 2008.

  55. 55.

    Lu Yang the editor-in-chief stresses this in “Postscript”.

  56. 56.

    For the comments on this textbook, see Chi Baodong, “Cultural Studies and College Literary Education: A Commentary on An Introduction to Cultural Studies Edited by Lu Yang”, Research on Marxist Aesthetics, 2012 Vol. 15 (1).

  57. 57.

    “Foreword” in Zeng Jun (ed.), A Guide to Cultural Criticism (Shanghai: Shanghai University Press, 2008), pp. 1–2.

  58. 58.

    Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2004 (1st edition), 2005 (reprinted) and 2009 (2nd edition). The two editions are quite different in content and chapter titles. For instance, chapters of “Films” and “Television” (in 1st edition) are changed into “Film Culture” and “Television Culture” (in 2nd edition); and “Image Culture” (in 1st edition) into “Visual Culture” (2nd edition), to adapt to the recognized expressions. The content is arranged in a more concise and compact way. The following comments on the book are basically based on the latest edition.

  59. 59.

    Nanning: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2008 (1st edition) and 2012 (2nd edition). This textbook was listed among the Choicest Textbooks of Beijing in 2009.

  60. 60.

    Beijing: Tsinghua University Press, 2011. The book is a Textbook for Liberal Education for Universities and Colleges.

  61. 61.

    Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2009.

  62. 62.

    Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press, 2011.

  63. 63.

    “Preface” in Mo Linhu, A New Thought of Mass Culture, p. 3.

  64. 64.

    As for the comments on this textbook, see Wei Jianliang, “A New Collection of Mass Culture Theories: A New Breakthrough in the Teaching of Mass Culture Theories”, China Reading Weekly, Page 006, 23 May 2012.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Humanities, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China

    Dongfeng Tao

  2. School of Chinese Language and Literature, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Lei He

  3. School of Chinese Language and Literature, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China

    Yugao He

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  1. Dongfeng Tao
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  2. Lei He
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Correspondence to Dongfeng Tao .

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Tao, D., He, L., He, Y. (2017). Analysis of the System. In: Cultural Studies in Modern China. Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development Path. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5580-5_3

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