Happiness, as much a poetic as a philosophical, sociological, and psychological concept, has been, through the ages, at the heart of the needs each individual seeks to fulfil. But today, in a world dominated by techno...Happiness, as much a poetic as a philosophical, sociological, and psychological concept, has been, through the ages, at the heart of the needs each individual seeks to fulfil. But today, in a world dominated by technology, driven by productivity and dictated by efficiency, what about Happiness？ Does it feature in works of fiction in any significant way？ May it not have adopted different guises？ ls that ＂duty of happiness＂ that Pascal Bruckner was talking about present in the French novel of the 20th-21th centuries？ And if it is, has its force strengthened or weakened？ This article will discuss the French Novels （of the 20th-21th centuries） that are devoted to or associated with Happiness in a direct or indirect manner. It will contextualize and analyze the transformation of Happiness, within the context of the historical and social events that influenced that period： the Holocaust, consumerism, postmodernism, structural social changes, the various as yet unarticulated new modes of life they created, and so on. To that end, this article will explore the discursive philosophical concept of happiness and its influence on the formation of the French novel. In so doing it will focus on the explicit discourse behind the motifs, the choices made in the process of writing, and the attitudes taken, considering the theme of happiness. Doing so, a significant discussion will be included regarding the paths of happiness, its agents, and the nature of the motifs and metaphors linked to the theme of happiness. The author will also address the dialectical role of the happiness theme in the constitution of an emerging literary discourse reflected in the French novel. By exploring the manifestation of the dogmas, ideas of the intellectual leaders of the 20th century （e.g., Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir, Albert Camus） as well as the ones of the 21th century （e.g., Pascal Bruckner, Andr6 Comte-Sponville, Gilles Lipovetsky） new insights concerning the hybrid nature of the supposedly ＂authentic happiness＂ will be revealed. The author intend to inspect the theme of Happiness around four dialectical axes as a relevant ethical basis for delimiting the various fields of research： （1） Love, passion, and conjugality; （2） Ageing; （3） ＂The experience of everydayness＂; and （4） ＂The era of emptiness＂. Focusing on the narratives, the article takes into account their specificity in the four distinct fields, all connected to existential and ethical issues, Finally, this article will attempt to analyse the assumed role of literature as a conduit of cultural awareness.展开更多
Everyone experiences disambiguous feelings of location, of where the concrete world exists. Artists of every dicipline attempt to recreate this connection to real or ＂imagined communities＂ for their public. How do t...Everyone experiences disambiguous feelings of location, of where the concrete world exists. Artists of every dicipline attempt to recreate this connection to real or ＂imagined communities＂ for their public. How do they do this？ How do they bring about a deep and controled feeling in others for a particular location or imagined place？ By analyzing recollection and setting through objects, iconography, signifiers, and theoretical construct, attended by visual examples, a system of determinate mapping evolves展开更多
The work at hand analyzes the visibility of cultural identity of＂Mexico＂ on the YouTube platform （Retrieved from http：//www.youtube.com）. It is focused on qualitative and quantitative analyses of a sampling of 80...The work at hand analyzes the visibility of cultural identity of＂Mexico＂ on the YouTube platform （Retrieved from http：//www.youtube.com）. It is focused on qualitative and quantitative analyses of a sampling of 80 videos that appear when the word ＂Mexico＂ is applied in various search formats within the site itself. User profile is also analyzed, along with video title, labels, date of upload, length, view count, thematic category, and commentaries. From this sampling of videos, an analysis is made upon the cultural identity of ＂Mexico＂ within a postmodernist framework of multicultural, fragmented, and decentralized identities （Friedman, 1994）, parting from the theory of cultural hybridization （Pieterse, 2004）, and under the logic of a media convergent culture （Jenkins, 2004a）.展开更多
The term ＂ontology＂ is used to describe the nature of reality and demarcates the parameters of existence. An understanding and description of ontology is crucial for academic pursuit as it unveils applicable realiti...The term ＂ontology＂ is used to describe the nature of reality and demarcates the parameters of existence. An understanding and description of ontology is crucial for academic pursuit as it unveils applicable realities, yet it is often disregarded. The general neglect of ontology provided three motivations for this paper： Firstly, the discussion of the ontological underpinnings in research papers is often neglected while the methodology and methods receive extensive review. Secondly, tertiary students in an academic research-writing course face tremendous difficulty to describe the philosophical ideas that support their interpretation of reality and existence. Thirdly, the philosophical underpinnings of contemporary ontological thought are further complicated by the epistemological challenges posed by the tension between modernism and postmodernism. This paper suggests the use of literature （novels） as a relativity accessible platform to initiate the development of ontological thought. Through a close reading of a sample of Dutch novels published during the last decade of the 20th century, three themes were developed to illuminate the nature of postmodem reality and establish a literary-based ontology. The following three themes were developed： reality as fragments of fiction, reality as dream of paradoxes, and reality as plethora of stories. By using literature as source, ontological thought can be developed to illuminate the extent of the realities acknowledged in research projects.展开更多
One of the pressing problems with contemporary peacebuilding research is that much of the analysis focuses on thepractical and technical challenges while paying little attention to the philosophical assumptions of tho...One of the pressing problems with contemporary peacebuilding research is that much of the analysis focuses on thepractical and technical challenges while paying little attention to the philosophical assumptions of those operations.Any understanding of peacebuilding is underpinned by philosophical frameworks as they shape and orient ustowards particular strategies for peacebuilding. This paper makes a philosophical critique of liberal peacebuilding（the mainstream peacebuilding） and explores a postmodern post-liberal hybrid peacebuilding. The analysis claimsneither the categorical rejection of liberal peacebuilding nor the exclusive reliance on locally-orientedpeacebuilding. Rather, the upshot is the need for deconstructing dualistic view of either liberal peacebuilding orlocally-oriented peacebuilding so that both external liberal actors and local actors engage in jointly learning andmutually transformative process wherein both liberal international actors and local actors look beyond peaceconstructed around their narrow and restricted conception and framework to create the meanings of peace that caninterconnect the global and the local.展开更多
This paper focuses on Stephen King＇s （1947-） long-form narratives and attempts at perceiving the elements accounting for his endless success. As the author chooses this title for her paper, she clearly keep in mind...This paper focuses on Stephen King＇s （1947-） long-form narratives and attempts at perceiving the elements accounting for his endless success. As the author chooses this title for her paper, she clearly keep in mind John Barth＇s （1930-） essay. The choice of ＂punning＂ Barth＇s title is made so as to situate ourselves in the wake of postmodernist studies to try and analyze King＇s deconstruction and reconstruction of common ideas, myths, and the Gothic genre, applying them to the contemporary era. The choice of this angle of study is accounted by the fact that the aim is to prove that King has not literarily exhausted himself in spite of his 37 years of writing and is in a constant quest for a renewal of the Gothic genre. The notion of remolding is one of the red threads allowing to weave the intricate cloth of postmodernism. The author will here humbly try to unveil the essential elements perceived in King＇s narratives which allow to qualify him as ＂a postmodern writer＂.展开更多
Throughout Jazz （2004）, Morrison revises language and stakes a generic revolution within her linguistic one. Problematising language, she interrogates its role by disrupting all metaphoric operation and normative op...Throughout Jazz （2004）, Morrison revises language and stakes a generic revolution within her linguistic one. Problematising language, she interrogates its role by disrupting all metaphoric operation and normative operations of traditional Westem narratology, challenging ontological distinction, and undermining a novelistic claim of/for reality. Morrison creates the novel as a parody of itself. As a metafictional object, she （re）visions the fiction with multiple agendas--a means to interrogate the reality of its constitution and to implicate the political consequences inherent in that constitutional process of construction. By creating a series of antagonisms, oppositions, contradictions, equivalences, and intertextualities, Morrison transforms （and transmutes） novelistic ＂hostility＂ into a generic ＂trauma＂ simultaneously rendering it as realistic experience, historic event, personal story, collective memory, narrative device, and psychological phenomena. Exposing trauma by virtue of its linguistic symptoms, Morrison draws attention to the underlying mechanisms, structures, and apparatuses of Western linguistic codes that determine, produce, and maintain the ultimate （un）knowability of the past. This paper will examine all these and how the elliptical tendency of language surfaces the psychological disfigurement of the characters within the form of linguistic codes revealing the metaphorical tendency in Jazz to manifest its own reflective construction （and self-conscious deconstruction）.展开更多
Marxist discourse is subject to incredulity and negative impact under the deconstructionist dissolution of＂totality＂ and negation of historical ＂recta-narrative＂. But the ideological tension of Marxism has constit...Marxist discourse is subject to incredulity and negative impact under the deconstructionist dissolution of＂totality＂ and negation of historical ＂recta-narrative＂. But the ideological tension of Marxism has constituted the theoretical basis of deconstructionist and postmodernist criticism of Capitalism and its culture. Furthermore, it is the radical hope of postmodernism. Within the scope of＂postmodern politics＂, Marxism still boasts critical competence and theoretical reconstruction capabilities under Capitalist global narrative. ＂Deconstructive Marxism＂ contains complex ideological contradictions, on which we should conduct in-depth criticism.展开更多
While over two thousand years apart, Western postmodernism and ancient Chinese philosophy share some extraordinary similarities, especially epistemology wise. For example, they both recognize the role of language in c...While over two thousand years apart, Western postmodernism and ancient Chinese philosophy share some extraordinary similarities, especially epistemology wise. For example, they both recognize the role of language in constructing, and limiting, knowledge and reality. This is because thinkers of different cultures and geographical regions, and of different historical periods, can possibly come up with similar philosophical conclusions when addressing what is commonly known as the ＂human condition＂. The paper will discuss, in general terms, some of the philosophical similarities between postmodemism and classical Chinese philosophy; it will also take a close look at three concepts in Chinese philosophy that register strong affinity with Western postmodernism： namely, change, dialectic, and relativism.展开更多
Donald Barthelme, known as the pioneer ofpostmodernism, is not a serious, straight-ahead writer. He delights in ambiguity, juxtaposition, found texts, old words, old pictures and focused irony. This paper is to apply ...Donald Barthelme, known as the pioneer ofpostmodernism, is not a serious, straight-ahead writer. He delights in ambiguity, juxtaposition, found texts, old words, old pictures and focused irony. This paper is to apply the text analysis to one of his best work The Glass Mountain and explore the reality behind the absurd story and writing style.展开更多
The idea of Cyborg initiates the blurring of frontiers between traditional gender roles in the post-modem era, transforming itself into a politicized entity. William Gibson＇s Neuromancer as an early introducer of the...The idea of Cyborg initiates the blurring of frontiers between traditional gender roles in the post-modem era, transforming itself into a politicized entity. William Gibson＇s Neuromancer as an early introducer of the Cyborg characters tries to dissolve the boundaries through his female characters by balancing the power quota with the help of the non-gendered entity of the Cyborg. According to Donna Haraway, there will be a dawn of new cyborg era causing a gender role reversal. The objective of this paper is to find whether such role reversal is at all possible.展开更多
In this writing, I reconstruct the Principle of Complementarity in Quantum Mechanics, elaborated by Niels Bohr, and the conception of objectivity implied in it （and in Bohr＇s writings）. Then, I connect it with the ...In this writing, I reconstruct the Principle of Complementarity in Quantum Mechanics, elaborated by Niels Bohr, and the conception of objectivity implied in it （and in Bohr＇s writings）. Then, I connect it with the epistemological pragmatism of the philosopher Richard Rorty. My aim is to reinterpret some issues of this quantum description that concern the category of objectivity from the Rortian perspective in a plausible way. This allows me to connect in a positive and a negative sense some quantum （and Bohrian） assumptions to the Rortian perspective, but mainly, it allows to reconsider the framework of scientific objects from the modern perspective to a new pragmatist and anti-essentialist point of view.展开更多
In the first part, the concept of instrumental reason is defended. Although we live in the age of pluralism, in which a tendency prevails to put all types of rationality on the same plane, there is a rationality that ...In the first part, the concept of instrumental reason is defended. Although we live in the age of pluralism, in which a tendency prevails to put all types of rationality on the same plane, there is a rationality that has a unique position： the instrumental rationality. The article then examines Luk^ics＇s roots of this concept and its elaboration by Adomo and Horkheimer. The second part refers to the current transformation of instrumental reason that these authors could not register. Instrumental reason changes so that it can connect several seemingly incoherent elements： postmodern non-objectivity, social and ecological normativity, and reified imperatives of capitalism. This formation is here called over-instrumental instrumental reason. In conclusion, the article deals with the question of how its non-instrumental component to exempt from its instrumental ones.展开更多
A multi-genre and interdisciplinary analysis that compares Sam Shepard＇s classic, Buried Child （1978）, to Mary Shelley＇s Gothic thriller, Frankenstein （2004）. This paper, using a comparative analysis of the tex...A multi-genre and interdisciplinary analysis that compares Sam Shepard＇s classic, Buried Child （1978）, to Mary Shelley＇s Gothic thriller, Frankenstein （2004）. This paper, using a comparative analysis of the texts （a play versus a novel）, argues that Shepard follows Shelley＇s theme and characters in order to frame and create his own even-more modern ＂Prometheus＂, a premise that Shelley borrows to center her novel and to establish the antagonistic origins of her monster-man. Shepard＇s splintered individuals all share a postmodern disillusionment, and as Shelley＇s novel establishes, it is a conflict brought on by an absent or emotionally-removed mother and a brutal father who denies or disavows the ＂child＂ he considers an abomination. Other themes that Shelley and Shepard＇s works have in common include infanticide, incest, a life built on lies, patricide, and an unnatural relationship with Nature.展开更多
The dominant features of the post-war intellectual scene in France were existentialism, phenomenology, and Marxism, as well as efforts to synthesize them. In the 1960s, these theoretical currents had to cope with new ...The dominant features of the post-war intellectual scene in France were existentialism, phenomenology, and Marxism, as well as efforts to synthesize them. In the 1960s, these theoretical currents had to cope with new perspectives and ideas brought to the world of theory by the linguistically-oriented discourse of Saussure＇s structuralism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. Structuralists tried to apply structurally-linguistic model to the humanities and designed the new concept of the language, subjectivity, and society. Levi-Strauss applied the structural-linguistic analysis to the study of myths and family relationships; Lacan developed psychoanalysis based on structuralism; Althusser comes with a structuralist interpretation of Marx. Structuralists attempted to analyse the unconscious codes, rules, and binary oppositions that create the meaning, thus organizing social systems, such as sexual behaviour, fashion, culinary arts, myths, etc. Structures are unconscious, because their product and effects always overlap them. Structuralism therefore does not study individual isolated phenomena, but it moves from the analysis of phenomena that are consciously understood or known to participants in the particular discourse to their ＂unconscious infrastructures.＂ Structuralists always emphasized rigorously scientific status of their theories; at the same time, applying structurally-linguistic concepts on humanities was supposed to help to make them scientific again.展开更多
With the influence ofpostmodernism, ＂Third Generation＂ poetry rushes out of elite literature and makes Chinese new poetry focus on everyday life of common persons. As one of the most important representatives of ＂T...With the influence ofpostmodernism, ＂Third Generation＂ poetry rushes out of elite literature and makes Chinese new poetry focus on everyday life of common persons. As one of the most important representatives of ＂Third Generation＂ poets, HAN Dong has created many distinct postmodernist poems. Rejecting metaphor and symbolization, he takes an oral language of original ecology as his poetical discourse mode to affirm the everyday life of here and now, and then both deconstruct metaphoric and symbolic writing of＂Misty Poetry＂ and construct a writing mode of ＂aestheticization of life＂. HAN Dong＇s poetry can be taken as a kind of construction in deconstruction.展开更多
The article deals with investigating and comparing key modern and postmodern interpretations of St. Francis of Assisi from a philosophical-anthropological perspective. We determine these interpretations to be as foll...The article deals with investigating and comparing key modern and postmodern interpretations of St. Francis of Assisi from a philosophical-anthropological perspective. We determine these interpretations to be as follows： a man of wonder and lover of wisdom, in other words, a true philosopher; hero of all times; defender of the poverty and poor; “champion of liberty”; peace-maker and pacifist; God＇s troubadour; patron of nature and animals. All of these manifestations of St. Francis＇ personality have been enriched by his Christocentrism and joyful vision. Moreover, this can be traced in primary sources and also echoes in the late modern period. Postmodernity not only incorporated similar motives into the cultural space with new focus and accent, but it also put forward some new visions. St. Francis was postulated as God＇s Fool, not so much in the medieval as in the postmodern sense of foolishness and madness as a way of interaction with the absurd and puzzle-like world in which we live. It also reconciles traditional opposition between joy and laughter as inner feelings and outward emotions within the frame of the postmodern Divine Comedy.展开更多
From the academic frontier of modernity and postmodernity, the author aims at exploring the fission between modernity and postmodernity and also the characteristics of postmodern cultural media from a philosophical va...From the academic frontier of modernity and postmodernity, the author aims at exploring the fission between modernity and postmodernity and also the characteristics of postmodern cultural media from a philosophical vantage point. This paper illustrates three aspects of Western modernity： individual modernity, social modernity, and instrumental modernity, and it also clarifies the issues in modernity, starting by explaining three forms of the cultural fission： avant-garde, modernism, and postmodemism. The paper then demonstrates that the rise of postmodemity represents a new transformation and new characteristics of contemporary Western spirit, namely, the collision and compatibility of various concepts, in which popular culture and high culture, mass culture and elite culture, fashion and games as well as noise and silence have constituted an uncanny landscape of cultural media. This eerie landscape displays the indeterminacy of language, culture, art, consciousness, and aesthetics. From the perspective of theoretical innovation, the author proposes that the postmodem cultural media always displays its commodity and instrumentality, plays and entertainment, anti-culture and anti-art, replication and fabrication logically and practically as an outcome of post-industrial society. In conclusion, three critical issues are addressed： personal spiritual belief, the development of mass culture, and aesthetic principles. The postmodern cultural media has deeply influenced traditional culture, aesthetics, and how they are evaluated, resulting in cultural conflicts and a humanistic dilemma in the world of contemporary capitalism.展开更多
In the 1960s and 1970s-as strncturalism, post-structuralism, and literary criticism seeped into history--the ＂linguistic turn＂ or ＂narrative turn,＂ leading to what is known as postmodem philosophy of history, took...In the 1960s and 1970s-as strncturalism, post-structuralism, and literary criticism seeped into history--the ＂linguistic turn＂ or ＂narrative turn,＂ leading to what is known as postmodem philosophy of history, took place in Western philosophy of history. In the past forty years of reform and opening up to the outside world, and especially in the most recent two or three decades, Chinese research on Western postmodem philosophy of history has proceeded from overall review to in-depth research, and then on to reflection, criticism, and even transcendence. Neither the rethinking of historical objectivity and rationality nor the reconstruction of convictions about historical reason can work without the profound insights or theoretical tensions of postmodern philosophy of history.展开更多
文摘Happiness, as much a poetic as a philosophical, sociological, and psychological concept, has been, through the ages, at the heart of the needs each individual seeks to fulfil. But today, in a world dominated by technology, driven by productivity and dictated by efficiency, what about Happiness？ Does it feature in works of fiction in any significant way？ May it not have adopted different guises？ ls that ＂duty of happiness＂ that Pascal Bruckner was talking about present in the French novel of the 20th-21th centuries？ And if it is, has its force strengthened or weakened？ This article will discuss the French Novels （of the 20th-21th centuries） that are devoted to or associated with Happiness in a direct or indirect manner. It will contextualize and analyze the transformation of Happiness, within the context of the historical and social events that influenced that period： the Holocaust, consumerism, postmodernism, structural social changes, the various as yet unarticulated new modes of life they created, and so on. To that end, this article will explore the discursive philosophical concept of happiness and its influence on the formation of the French novel. In so doing it will focus on the explicit discourse behind the motifs, the choices made in the process of writing, and the attitudes taken, considering the theme of happiness. Doing so, a significant discussion will be included regarding the paths of happiness, its agents, and the nature of the motifs and metaphors linked to the theme of happiness. The author will also address the dialectical role of the happiness theme in the constitution of an emerging literary discourse reflected in the French novel. By exploring the manifestation of the dogmas, ideas of the intellectual leaders of the 20th century （e.g., Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir, Albert Camus） as well as the ones of the 21th century （e.g., Pascal Bruckner, Andr6 Comte-Sponville, Gilles Lipovetsky） new insights concerning the hybrid nature of the supposedly ＂authentic happiness＂ will be revealed. The author intend to inspect the theme of Happiness around four dialectical axes as a relevant ethical basis for delimiting the various fields of research： （1） Love, passion, and conjugality; （2） Ageing; （3） ＂The experience of everydayness＂; and （4） ＂The era of emptiness＂. Focusing on the narratives, the article takes into account their specificity in the four distinct fields, all connected to existential and ethical issues, Finally, this article will attempt to analyse the assumed role of literature as a conduit of cultural awareness.
文摘Everyone experiences disambiguous feelings of location, of where the concrete world exists. Artists of every dicipline attempt to recreate this connection to real or ＂imagined communities＂ for their public. How do they do this？ How do they bring about a deep and controled feeling in others for a particular location or imagined place？ By analyzing recollection and setting through objects, iconography, signifiers, and theoretical construct, attended by visual examples, a system of determinate mapping evolves
文摘The work at hand analyzes the visibility of cultural identity of＂Mexico＂ on the YouTube platform （Retrieved from http：//www.youtube.com）. It is focused on qualitative and quantitative analyses of a sampling of 80 videos that appear when the word ＂Mexico＂ is applied in various search formats within the site itself. User profile is also analyzed, along with video title, labels, date of upload, length, view count, thematic category, and commentaries. From this sampling of videos, an analysis is made upon the cultural identity of ＂Mexico＂ within a postmodernist framework of multicultural, fragmented, and decentralized identities （Friedman, 1994）, parting from the theory of cultural hybridization （Pieterse, 2004）, and under the logic of a media convergent culture （Jenkins, 2004a）.
文摘The term ＂ontology＂ is used to describe the nature of reality and demarcates the parameters of existence. An understanding and description of ontology is crucial for academic pursuit as it unveils applicable realities, yet it is often disregarded. The general neglect of ontology provided three motivations for this paper： Firstly, the discussion of the ontological underpinnings in research papers is often neglected while the methodology and methods receive extensive review. Secondly, tertiary students in an academic research-writing course face tremendous difficulty to describe the philosophical ideas that support their interpretation of reality and existence. Thirdly, the philosophical underpinnings of contemporary ontological thought are further complicated by the epistemological challenges posed by the tension between modernism and postmodernism. This paper suggests the use of literature （novels） as a relativity accessible platform to initiate the development of ontological thought. Through a close reading of a sample of Dutch novels published during the last decade of the 20th century, three themes were developed to illuminate the nature of postmodem reality and establish a literary-based ontology. The following three themes were developed： reality as fragments of fiction, reality as dream of paradoxes, and reality as plethora of stories. By using literature as source, ontological thought can be developed to illuminate the extent of the realities acknowledged in research projects.
文摘One of the pressing problems with contemporary peacebuilding research is that much of the analysis focuses on thepractical and technical challenges while paying little attention to the philosophical assumptions of those operations.Any understanding of peacebuilding is underpinned by philosophical frameworks as they shape and orient ustowards particular strategies for peacebuilding. This paper makes a philosophical critique of liberal peacebuilding（the mainstream peacebuilding） and explores a postmodern post-liberal hybrid peacebuilding. The analysis claimsneither the categorical rejection of liberal peacebuilding nor the exclusive reliance on locally-orientedpeacebuilding. Rather, the upshot is the need for deconstructing dualistic view of either liberal peacebuilding orlocally-oriented peacebuilding so that both external liberal actors and local actors engage in jointly learning andmutually transformative process wherein both liberal international actors and local actors look beyond peaceconstructed around their narrow and restricted conception and framework to create the meanings of peace that caninterconnect the global and the local.
文摘This paper focuses on Stephen King＇s （1947-） long-form narratives and attempts at perceiving the elements accounting for his endless success. As the author chooses this title for her paper, she clearly keep in mind John Barth＇s （1930-） essay. The choice of ＂punning＂ Barth＇s title is made so as to situate ourselves in the wake of postmodernist studies to try and analyze King＇s deconstruction and reconstruction of common ideas, myths, and the Gothic genre, applying them to the contemporary era. The choice of this angle of study is accounted by the fact that the aim is to prove that King has not literarily exhausted himself in spite of his 37 years of writing and is in a constant quest for a renewal of the Gothic genre. The notion of remolding is one of the red threads allowing to weave the intricate cloth of postmodernism. The author will here humbly try to unveil the essential elements perceived in King＇s narratives which allow to qualify him as ＂a postmodern writer＂.
文摘Throughout Jazz （2004）, Morrison revises language and stakes a generic revolution within her linguistic one. Problematising language, she interrogates its role by disrupting all metaphoric operation and normative operations of traditional Westem narratology, challenging ontological distinction, and undermining a novelistic claim of/for reality. Morrison creates the novel as a parody of itself. As a metafictional object, she （re）visions the fiction with multiple agendas--a means to interrogate the reality of its constitution and to implicate the political consequences inherent in that constitutional process of construction. By creating a series of antagonisms, oppositions, contradictions, equivalences, and intertextualities, Morrison transforms （and transmutes） novelistic ＂hostility＂ into a generic ＂trauma＂ simultaneously rendering it as realistic experience, historic event, personal story, collective memory, narrative device, and psychological phenomena. Exposing trauma by virtue of its linguistic symptoms, Morrison draws attention to the underlying mechanisms, structures, and apparatuses of Western linguistic codes that determine, produce, and maintain the ultimate （un）knowability of the past. This paper will examine all these and how the elliptical tendency of language surfaces the psychological disfigurement of the characters within the form of linguistic codes revealing the metaphorical tendency in Jazz to manifest its own reflective construction （and self-conscious deconstruction）.
文摘Marxist discourse is subject to incredulity and negative impact under the deconstructionist dissolution of＂totality＂ and negation of historical ＂recta-narrative＂. But the ideological tension of Marxism has constituted the theoretical basis of deconstructionist and postmodernist criticism of Capitalism and its culture. Furthermore, it is the radical hope of postmodernism. Within the scope of＂postmodern politics＂, Marxism still boasts critical competence and theoretical reconstruction capabilities under Capitalist global narrative. ＂Deconstructive Marxism＂ contains complex ideological contradictions, on which we should conduct in-depth criticism.
文摘While over two thousand years apart, Western postmodernism and ancient Chinese philosophy share some extraordinary similarities, especially epistemology wise. For example, they both recognize the role of language in constructing, and limiting, knowledge and reality. This is because thinkers of different cultures and geographical regions, and of different historical periods, can possibly come up with similar philosophical conclusions when addressing what is commonly known as the ＂human condition＂. The paper will discuss, in general terms, some of the philosophical similarities between postmodemism and classical Chinese philosophy; it will also take a close look at three concepts in Chinese philosophy that register strong affinity with Western postmodernism： namely, change, dialectic, and relativism.
文摘Donald Barthelme, known as the pioneer ofpostmodernism, is not a serious, straight-ahead writer. He delights in ambiguity, juxtaposition, found texts, old words, old pictures and focused irony. This paper is to apply the text analysis to one of his best work The Glass Mountain and explore the reality behind the absurd story and writing style.
文摘The idea of Cyborg initiates the blurring of frontiers between traditional gender roles in the post-modem era, transforming itself into a politicized entity. William Gibson＇s Neuromancer as an early introducer of the Cyborg characters tries to dissolve the boundaries through his female characters by balancing the power quota with the help of the non-gendered entity of the Cyborg. According to Donna Haraway, there will be a dawn of new cyborg era causing a gender role reversal. The objective of this paper is to find whether such role reversal is at all possible.
文摘In this writing, I reconstruct the Principle of Complementarity in Quantum Mechanics, elaborated by Niels Bohr, and the conception of objectivity implied in it （and in Bohr＇s writings）. Then, I connect it with the epistemological pragmatism of the philosopher Richard Rorty. My aim is to reinterpret some issues of this quantum description that concern the category of objectivity from the Rortian perspective in a plausible way. This allows me to connect in a positive and a negative sense some quantum （and Bohrian） assumptions to the Rortian perspective, but mainly, it allows to reconsider the framework of scientific objects from the modern perspective to a new pragmatist and anti-essentialist point of view.
文摘In the first part, the concept of instrumental reason is defended. Although we live in the age of pluralism, in which a tendency prevails to put all types of rationality on the same plane, there is a rationality that has a unique position： the instrumental rationality. The article then examines Luk^ics＇s roots of this concept and its elaboration by Adomo and Horkheimer. The second part refers to the current transformation of instrumental reason that these authors could not register. Instrumental reason changes so that it can connect several seemingly incoherent elements： postmodern non-objectivity, social and ecological normativity, and reified imperatives of capitalism. This formation is here called over-instrumental instrumental reason. In conclusion, the article deals with the question of how its non-instrumental component to exempt from its instrumental ones.
文摘A multi-genre and interdisciplinary analysis that compares Sam Shepard＇s classic, Buried Child （1978）, to Mary Shelley＇s Gothic thriller, Frankenstein （2004）. This paper, using a comparative analysis of the texts （a play versus a novel）, argues that Shepard follows Shelley＇s theme and characters in order to frame and create his own even-more modern ＂Prometheus＂, a premise that Shelley borrows to center her novel and to establish the antagonistic origins of her monster-man. Shepard＇s splintered individuals all share a postmodern disillusionment, and as Shelley＇s novel establishes, it is a conflict brought on by an absent or emotionally-removed mother and a brutal father who denies or disavows the ＂child＂ he considers an abomination. Other themes that Shelley and Shepard＇s works have in common include infanticide, incest, a life built on lies, patricide, and an unnatural relationship with Nature.
文摘The dominant features of the post-war intellectual scene in France were existentialism, phenomenology, and Marxism, as well as efforts to synthesize them. In the 1960s, these theoretical currents had to cope with new perspectives and ideas brought to the world of theory by the linguistically-oriented discourse of Saussure＇s structuralism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. Structuralists tried to apply structurally-linguistic model to the humanities and designed the new concept of the language, subjectivity, and society. Levi-Strauss applied the structural-linguistic analysis to the study of myths and family relationships; Lacan developed psychoanalysis based on structuralism; Althusser comes with a structuralist interpretation of Marx. Structuralists attempted to analyse the unconscious codes, rules, and binary oppositions that create the meaning, thus organizing social systems, such as sexual behaviour, fashion, culinary arts, myths, etc. Structures are unconscious, because their product and effects always overlap them. Structuralism therefore does not study individual isolated phenomena, but it moves from the analysis of phenomena that are consciously understood or known to participants in the particular discourse to their ＂unconscious infrastructures.＂ Structuralists always emphasized rigorously scientific status of their theories; at the same time, applying structurally-linguistic concepts on humanities was supposed to help to make them scientific again.
文摘With the influence ofpostmodernism, ＂Third Generation＂ poetry rushes out of elite literature and makes Chinese new poetry focus on everyday life of common persons. As one of the most important representatives of ＂Third Generation＂ poets, HAN Dong has created many distinct postmodernist poems. Rejecting metaphor and symbolization, he takes an oral language of original ecology as his poetical discourse mode to affirm the everyday life of here and now, and then both deconstruct metaphoric and symbolic writing of＂Misty Poetry＂ and construct a writing mode of ＂aestheticization of life＂. HAN Dong＇s poetry can be taken as a kind of construction in deconstruction.
文摘The article deals with investigating and comparing key modern and postmodern interpretations of St. Francis of Assisi from a philosophical-anthropological perspective. We determine these interpretations to be as follows： a man of wonder and lover of wisdom, in other words, a true philosopher; hero of all times; defender of the poverty and poor; “champion of liberty”; peace-maker and pacifist; God＇s troubadour; patron of nature and animals. All of these manifestations of St. Francis＇ personality have been enriched by his Christocentrism and joyful vision. Moreover, this can be traced in primary sources and also echoes in the late modern period. Postmodernity not only incorporated similar motives into the cultural space with new focus and accent, but it also put forward some new visions. St. Francis was postulated as God＇s Fool, not so much in the medieval as in the postmodern sense of foolishness and madness as a way of interaction with the absurd and puzzle-like world in which we live. It also reconciles traditional opposition between joy and laughter as inner feelings and outward emotions within the frame of the postmodern Divine Comedy.
文摘From the academic frontier of modernity and postmodernity, the author aims at exploring the fission between modernity and postmodernity and also the characteristics of postmodern cultural media from a philosophical vantage point. This paper illustrates three aspects of Western modernity： individual modernity, social modernity, and instrumental modernity, and it also clarifies the issues in modernity, starting by explaining three forms of the cultural fission： avant-garde, modernism, and postmodemism. The paper then demonstrates that the rise of postmodemity represents a new transformation and new characteristics of contemporary Western spirit, namely, the collision and compatibility of various concepts, in which popular culture and high culture, mass culture and elite culture, fashion and games as well as noise and silence have constituted an uncanny landscape of cultural media. This eerie landscape displays the indeterminacy of language, culture, art, consciousness, and aesthetics. From the perspective of theoretical innovation, the author proposes that the postmodem cultural media always displays its commodity and instrumentality, plays and entertainment, anti-culture and anti-art, replication and fabrication logically and practically as an outcome of post-industrial society. In conclusion, three critical issues are addressed： personal spiritual belief, the development of mass culture, and aesthetic principles. The postmodern cultural media has deeply influenced traditional culture, aesthetics, and how they are evaluated, resulting in cultural conflicts and a humanistic dilemma in the world of contemporary capitalism.
文摘In the 1960s and 1970s-as strncturalism, post-structuralism, and literary criticism seeped into history--the ＂linguistic turn＂ or ＂narrative turn,＂ leading to what is known as postmodem philosophy of history, took place in Western philosophy of history. In the past forty years of reform and opening up to the outside world, and especially in the most recent two or three decades, Chinese research on Western postmodem philosophy of history has proceeded from overall review to in-depth research, and then on to reflection, criticism, and even transcendence. Neither the rethinking of historical objectivity and rationality nor the reconstruction of convictions about historical reason can work without the profound insights or theoretical tensions of postmodern philosophy of history.
