1 IntroductionThe great paradox of our times lies in the fact that people are becoming more and more intransigent about their cultural identity while the crossing of cultural frontiers is a daily practice. How could w...1 IntroductionThe great paradox of our times lies in the fact that people are becoming more and more intransigent about their cultural identity while the crossing of cultural frontiers is a daily practice. How could we reconcile the necessity of going beyond one＇s own limited horizon with the urge for keeping up one＇s own identity？ People have always been living in separate communities ever since there was human society and the merge of small communities into larger ones seems to be a constant process in history. While nation-building, the most significant merge so far, has been frequently realized in iron and blood all over the world, we would earnestly hope that the emerging of the contemporary world community could be effectuated in a more rational and peaceful way.展开更多
The transcultural communication that characterizes our times needs to be carried out in a few commonly shared languages and this requirement has sharpened the awareness about uneven language status. While defenders of...The transcultural communication that characterizes our times needs to be carried out in a few commonly shared languages and this requirement has sharpened the awareness about uneven language status. While defenders of minor languages frequently make use of such concepts as ecosystem, human rights, capital, power, imperialism, etc. To express alarm at the spread of the English language in the present world, researchers tend to forget that these concepts applied to languages are only metaphors which, taken at their face value, would conceal the non- exclusive nature of language as a communicative instrument. A question is raised as to whether we should go beyond an essentially nationalist perception of language inherited from the nineteenth century.展开更多
Joseph Conrad'classic novella Heart of Darkness has been the object of a controversy,and harsh condemnations were formulated against the work.Notably,it was targeted as an example of colonialist as well as racist ...Joseph Conrad'classic novella Heart of Darkness has been the object of a controversy,and harsh condemnations were formulated against the work.Notably,it was targeted as an example of colonialist as well as racist prejudice and prominent author like Achebe and influential theorists like Eagleton and Said have launched far reaching criticisms again this work long considered as part of modern literary canon.This paper argues that these criticisms failed to demonstrate their relevance as literary analysis and ignored crucial features of the novella as a work of art.If we put the story in the context of its creation and read the text in the way as Conrad intended much of the accusations would appear superficial and wide of the mark.Moreover,it is argued that literary figures should be judged by themselves for their aesthetic values as literary creation and not as prototypes of some social category.The specificity of a literary work lies in the fact that it is fundamentally different from political and sociological discourse.展开更多
文摘1 IntroductionThe great paradox of our times lies in the fact that people are becoming more and more intransigent about their cultural identity while the crossing of cultural frontiers is a daily practice. How could we reconcile the necessity of going beyond one＇s own limited horizon with the urge for keeping up one＇s own identity？ People have always been living in separate communities ever since there was human society and the merge of small communities into larger ones seems to be a constant process in history. While nation-building, the most significant merge so far, has been frequently realized in iron and blood all over the world, we would earnestly hope that the emerging of the contemporary world community could be effectuated in a more rational and peaceful way.
文摘The transcultural communication that characterizes our times needs to be carried out in a few commonly shared languages and this requirement has sharpened the awareness about uneven language status. While defenders of minor languages frequently make use of such concepts as ecosystem, human rights, capital, power, imperialism, etc. To express alarm at the spread of the English language in the present world, researchers tend to forget that these concepts applied to languages are only metaphors which, taken at their face value, would conceal the non- exclusive nature of language as a communicative instrument. A question is raised as to whether we should go beyond an essentially nationalist perception of language inherited from the nineteenth century.
文摘Joseph Conrad'classic novella Heart of Darkness has been the object of a controversy,and harsh condemnations were formulated against the work.Notably,it was targeted as an example of colonialist as well as racist prejudice and prominent author like Achebe and influential theorists like Eagleton and Said have launched far reaching criticisms again this work long considered as part of modern literary canon.This paper argues that these criticisms failed to demonstrate their relevance as literary analysis and ignored crucial features of the novella as a work of art.If we put the story in the context of its creation and read the text in the way as Conrad intended much of the accusations would appear superficial and wide of the mark.Moreover,it is argued that literary figures should be judged by themselves for their aesthetic values as literary creation and not as prototypes of some social category.The specificity of a literary work lies in the fact that it is fundamentally different from political and sociological discourse.
