In this essay,I suggest that the study of comparative literature is subject to the same distorting pressures as the study of the Orient.“Comparativism,”as I call it,is like orientalism:both a description and a disto...In this essay,I suggest that the study of comparative literature is subject to the same distorting pressures as the study of the Orient.“Comparativism,”as I call it,is like orientalism:both a description and a distortion.Constructing its critique in the process of comparing,it inherits deep foundations of historical,cultural,and geographical prejudgment.As with Said's orientalism,the cornerstone of this construction is West-Eastern(and North-Southerm)patermalism,but it is far from the only building block:other obstacles include predetermined views of genre,medium,and even language.There is lttle,in fact,that is not grist to the will of Western-educated critics.Eastern comparative methodologies,however,are no more innocent of power struggles than their Western counterparts;for one thing,the structural role of empire is shared by both West and East.Simply replacing one hemisphere with another will hardly recalibrate our critical compasses;wherever we are looking from,partiality of perspective is inevitable.The question,then,is whether comparativism constructs itself diversely in diverse circumstances,or whether its prejudices remain essentially the same despite the changing details of time and place.It is a matter,in other words,of the old comparative contest between similarity and difference.What do we talk about when we talk about comparing?展开更多
Scarlett and Bai Liusu,the protagonists of American literary classic Gone with the Wind and Chinese modern literary work Love in a Fallen City,are two distinct women images in the history of world literature.Their fem...Scarlett and Bai Liusu,the protagonists of American literary classic Gone with the Wind and Chinese modern literary work Love in a Fallen City,are two distinct women images in the history of world literature.Their female consciousness can be discovered throughout both works.This paper attempts to make a comparative study between the two heroines,by analyzing their female consciousness which is primarily expressed in the pursuit of love,money and independence,as well as their personalities and destiny.The study discovers that although Scarlett and Bai Liusu experience similar awakening process,their endings are different.The democratic Western culture allows Scarlett to grow up into a rebellious new woman;by contrast,thousands of years of Chinese feudal society decide that Bai Liusu’s female consciousness is not thorough enough.展开更多
文摘In this essay,I suggest that the study of comparative literature is subject to the same distorting pressures as the study of the Orient.“Comparativism,”as I call it,is like orientalism:both a description and a distortion.Constructing its critique in the process of comparing,it inherits deep foundations of historical,cultural,and geographical prejudgment.As with Said's orientalism,the cornerstone of this construction is West-Eastern(and North-Southerm)patermalism,but it is far from the only building block:other obstacles include predetermined views of genre,medium,and even language.There is lttle,in fact,that is not grist to the will of Western-educated critics.Eastern comparative methodologies,however,are no more innocent of power struggles than their Western counterparts;for one thing,the structural role of empire is shared by both West and East.Simply replacing one hemisphere with another will hardly recalibrate our critical compasses;wherever we are looking from,partiality of perspective is inevitable.The question,then,is whether comparativism constructs itself diversely in diverse circumstances,or whether its prejudices remain essentially the same despite the changing details of time and place.It is a matter,in other words,of the old comparative contest between similarity and difference.What do we talk about when we talk about comparing?
文摘Scarlett and Bai Liusu,the protagonists of American literary classic Gone with the Wind and Chinese modern literary work Love in a Fallen City,are two distinct women images in the history of world literature.Their female consciousness can be discovered throughout both works.This paper attempts to make a comparative study between the two heroines,by analyzing their female consciousness which is primarily expressed in the pursuit of love,money and independence,as well as their personalities and destiny.The study discovers that although Scarlett and Bai Liusu experience similar awakening process,their endings are different.The democratic Western culture allows Scarlett to grow up into a rebellious new woman;by contrast,thousands of years of Chinese feudal society decide that Bai Liusu’s female consciousness is not thorough enough.
