Author: Qiancheng Li
Publisher: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press
ISBN: 9882371221
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
In the West, love occupies center stage in the modern age, whether in art, intellectual life, or the economic life. We may observe a similar development in China, on its own impetus, which has resulted in this characteristic of modernity--this feature of modern life has been securely and unambiguously established, not the least facilitated by the thriving of literature about qing, whether in traditional or modern forms. Qiancheng Li concentrates on the nuances of a similar trend manifested in the Chinese context. The emphasis is on critical readings of the texts that have shaped this trend, including important Ming- and Qing-dynasty works of drama, Buddhist texts and other religious/philosophical works, in all their subtlety and evocative power. "The power of qing or strong emotion is a major theme in late imperial Chinese literature--some writers asserting that it can transcend even life itself. Qiancheng Li surveys a number of seventeenth-century philosophical, religious, and literary texts to elucidate the metaphysical aspects of emotional attachment and of sexual desire in particular. Through his broad and penetrating reading, Li demonstrates incontrovertibly how, to seventeenth-century writers, qing and religion were inextricably linked. To those writers, qing could bring enlightenment, and certainly Li’s study enlightens its readers to new levels of complexity in major literary works of that period. Transmutations of Desire sets a major new milestone in the study of traditional Chinese culture."--Robert E. Hegel, Washington University in St. Louis
Transmutations of Desire
Author: Qiancheng Li
Publisher: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press
ISBN: 9882371221
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
In the West, love occupies center stage in the modern age, whether in art, intellectual life, or the economic life. We may observe a similar development in China, on its own impetus, which has resulted in this characteristic of modernity--this feature of modern life has been securely and unambiguously established, not the least facilitated by the thriving of literature about qing, whether in traditional or modern forms. Qiancheng Li concentrates on the nuances of a similar trend manifested in the Chinese context. The emphasis is on critical readings of the texts that have shaped this trend, including important Ming- and Qing-dynasty works of drama, Buddhist texts and other religious/philosophical works, in all their subtlety and evocative power. "The power of qing or strong emotion is a major theme in late imperial Chinese literature--some writers asserting that it can transcend even life itself. Qiancheng Li surveys a number of seventeenth-century philosophical, religious, and literary texts to elucidate the metaphysical aspects of emotional attachment and of sexual desire in particular. Through his broad and penetrating reading, Li demonstrates incontrovertibly how, to seventeenth-century writers, qing and religion were inextricably linked. To those writers, qing could bring enlightenment, and certainly Li’s study enlightens its readers to new levels of complexity in major literary works of that period. Transmutations of Desire sets a major new milestone in the study of traditional Chinese culture."--Robert E. Hegel, Washington University in St. Louis
Publisher: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press
ISBN: 9882371221
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
In the West, love occupies center stage in the modern age, whether in art, intellectual life, or the economic life. We may observe a similar development in China, on its own impetus, which has resulted in this characteristic of modernity--this feature of modern life has been securely and unambiguously established, not the least facilitated by the thriving of literature about qing, whether in traditional or modern forms. Qiancheng Li concentrates on the nuances of a similar trend manifested in the Chinese context. The emphasis is on critical readings of the texts that have shaped this trend, including important Ming- and Qing-dynasty works of drama, Buddhist texts and other religious/philosophical works, in all their subtlety and evocative power. "The power of qing or strong emotion is a major theme in late imperial Chinese literature--some writers asserting that it can transcend even life itself. Qiancheng Li surveys a number of seventeenth-century philosophical, religious, and literary texts to elucidate the metaphysical aspects of emotional attachment and of sexual desire in particular. Through his broad and penetrating reading, Li demonstrates incontrovertibly how, to seventeenth-century writers, qing and religion were inextricably linked. To those writers, qing could bring enlightenment, and certainly Li’s study enlightens its readers to new levels of complexity in major literary works of that period. Transmutations of Desire sets a major new milestone in the study of traditional Chinese culture."--Robert E. Hegel, Washington University in St. Louis
Stages of Transmutation
Author: Tom Idema
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135184699X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 303
Book Description
Stages of Transmutation: Science Fiction, Biology, and Environmental Posthumanism develops the theoretical perspective of environmental posthumanism through analyses of acclaimed science fiction novels by Greg Bear, Octavia Butler, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Jeff VanderMeer, in which the human species suddenly transforms in response to new or changing environments. Narrating dramatic ecological events of human-to-nonhuman encounter, invasion, and transmutation, these novels allow the reader to understand the planet as an unstable stage for evolution and the human body as a home for bacteria and viruses. Idema argues that by drawing tension from biological theories of interaction and emergence (e.g. symbiogenesis, epigenetics), these works unsettle conventional relations among characters, technologies, story-worlds, and emplotment, refiguring the psychosocial work of the novel as always already biophysical. Problematizing a desire to compartmentalize and control life as the property of human subjects, these novels imagine life as an environmentally mediated, staged event that enlists human and nonhuman actors. Idema demonstrates how literary narratives of transmutation render biological lessons of environmental instability and ecological interdependence both meaningful and urgent—a vital task in a time of mass extinction, hyperpollution, and climate change. This volume is an important intervention for scholars of the environmental humanities, posthumanism, literature and science, and science and technology studies.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135184699X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 303
Book Description
Stages of Transmutation: Science Fiction, Biology, and Environmental Posthumanism develops the theoretical perspective of environmental posthumanism through analyses of acclaimed science fiction novels by Greg Bear, Octavia Butler, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Jeff VanderMeer, in which the human species suddenly transforms in response to new or changing environments. Narrating dramatic ecological events of human-to-nonhuman encounter, invasion, and transmutation, these novels allow the reader to understand the planet as an unstable stage for evolution and the human body as a home for bacteria and viruses. Idema argues that by drawing tension from biological theories of interaction and emergence (e.g. symbiogenesis, epigenetics), these works unsettle conventional relations among characters, technologies, story-worlds, and emplotment, refiguring the psychosocial work of the novel as always already biophysical. Problematizing a desire to compartmentalize and control life as the property of human subjects, these novels imagine life as an environmentally mediated, staged event that enlists human and nonhuman actors. Idema demonstrates how literary narratives of transmutation render biological lessons of environmental instability and ecological interdependence both meaningful and urgent—a vital task in a time of mass extinction, hyperpollution, and climate change. This volume is an important intervention for scholars of the environmental humanities, posthumanism, literature and science, and science and technology studies.
Charles Williams and C.S.Lewis
Author: Paul Fiddes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192660160
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 496
Book Description
This study of the literary relationship between Charles Williams and C. S. Lewis during the years 1936-1945 focuses on the theme of 'co-inherence' at the centre of their friendship. The idea of 'co-inherence' has long been recognized as an important contribution of Williams to theology, and had significant influence on the thought of Lewis. This account of the two writers' conviction that human persons 'inhere' or 'dwell' both in each other and in the triune God reveals many inter-relationships between their writings that would otherwise be missed. It also shows up profound differences between their world-views, and a gradual, though incomplete, convergence onto common ground. Exploring the idea of co-inherence throws light on the fictional worlds they created, as well as on their treatment (whether together or separately) of a wide range of theological and literary subjects: the Arthurian tradition, the poetry of William Blake and Thomas Traherne, the theology of Karl Barth, the nature of human and divine love, and the doctrine of the Trinity. This study draws for the first time on transcriptions of Williams' lectures from 1932 to 1939, tracing more clearly the development and use of the idea of co-inherence in his thought than has been possible before. Finally, an account of the use of the word 'co-inherence' in English-speaking theology suggests that the differences that existed between Lewis and Williams, especially on the place of analogy and participation in human experience of God, might be resolved by a theology of co-inherence in the Trinity.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192660160
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 496
Book Description
This study of the literary relationship between Charles Williams and C. S. Lewis during the years 1936-1945 focuses on the theme of 'co-inherence' at the centre of their friendship. The idea of 'co-inherence' has long been recognized as an important contribution of Williams to theology, and had significant influence on the thought of Lewis. This account of the two writers' conviction that human persons 'inhere' or 'dwell' both in each other and in the triune God reveals many inter-relationships between their writings that would otherwise be missed. It also shows up profound differences between their world-views, and a gradual, though incomplete, convergence onto common ground. Exploring the idea of co-inherence throws light on the fictional worlds they created, as well as on their treatment (whether together or separately) of a wide range of theological and literary subjects: the Arthurian tradition, the poetry of William Blake and Thomas Traherne, the theology of Karl Barth, the nature of human and divine love, and the doctrine of the Trinity. This study draws for the first time on transcriptions of Williams' lectures from 1932 to 1939, tracing more clearly the development and use of the idea of co-inherence in his thought than has been possible before. Finally, an account of the use of the word 'co-inherence' in English-speaking theology suggests that the differences that existed between Lewis and Williams, especially on the place of analogy and participation in human experience of God, might be resolved by a theology of co-inherence in the Trinity.
Further Adventures on the Journey to the West
Author: Master of Silent Whistle Studio
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295747730
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Book Description
As the audacious Monkey King battles his way through a landscape of inexplicable places and unfamiliar passions, Further Adventures on the Journey to the West offers a wry, revisionist critique of the late-Ming fascination with desire. Building on the great sixteenth-century novel Journey to the West, which recounts the escapades of a monk and three companions traveling to India in search of Buddhist scriptures to carry back to China, this sequel is a parable of self-delusion that explores the tension between desire and emptiness from a Buddhist perspective. The consummate literati novel, written by an accomplished artist for a well-educated readership, it is filled with allusions and parodies and features a dream-sequence narrative that is innovative and sophisticated even by modern standards. This new, fully annotated translation by two acclaimed scholars and translators brings to life this remarkably inventive, playful early modern text. The volume includes the original commentaries and illustrations, a critical introduction and afterword, and notes that highlight the sources of the novel’s intertextual references, revealing the author’s erudition and versatility.
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295747730
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Book Description
As the audacious Monkey King battles his way through a landscape of inexplicable places and unfamiliar passions, Further Adventures on the Journey to the West offers a wry, revisionist critique of the late-Ming fascination with desire. Building on the great sixteenth-century novel Journey to the West, which recounts the escapades of a monk and three companions traveling to India in search of Buddhist scriptures to carry back to China, this sequel is a parable of self-delusion that explores the tension between desire and emptiness from a Buddhist perspective. The consummate literati novel, written by an accomplished artist for a well-educated readership, it is filled with allusions and parodies and features a dream-sequence narrative that is innovative and sophisticated even by modern standards. This new, fully annotated translation by two acclaimed scholars and translators brings to life this remarkably inventive, playful early modern text. The volume includes the original commentaries and illustrations, a critical introduction and afterword, and notes that highlight the sources of the novel’s intertextual references, revealing the author’s erudition and versatility.
Nine Island
Author: Jane Alison
Publisher: Catapult
ISBN: 193678727X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2016 “Nine Island is a crackling incantation, brittle and brilliant and hot and sad and full of sideways humor that devastates and illuminates all at once.” —Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies Nine Island is an intimate autobiographical novel, told by J, a woman who lives in a glass tower on one of Miami Beach’s lush Venetian Islands. After decades of disaster with men, she is trying to decide whether to withdraw forever from romantic love. Having just returned to Miami from a monthlong reunion with an old flame, “Sir Gold,” and a visit to her fragile mother, J begins translating Ovid’s magical stories about the transformations caused by Eros. “A woman who wants, a man who wants nothing. These two have stalked the world for thousands of years,” she thinks. When not ruminating over her sexual past and current fantasies, in the company of only her aging cat, J observes the comic, sometimes steamy goings–on among her faded–glamour condo neighbors. One of them, a caring nurse, befriends her, eventually offering the opinion that “if you retire from love . . . then you retire from life.”
Publisher: Catapult
ISBN: 193678727X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2016 “Nine Island is a crackling incantation, brittle and brilliant and hot and sad and full of sideways humor that devastates and illuminates all at once.” —Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies Nine Island is an intimate autobiographical novel, told by J, a woman who lives in a glass tower on one of Miami Beach’s lush Venetian Islands. After decades of disaster with men, she is trying to decide whether to withdraw forever from romantic love. Having just returned to Miami from a monthlong reunion with an old flame, “Sir Gold,” and a visit to her fragile mother, J begins translating Ovid’s magical stories about the transformations caused by Eros. “A woman who wants, a man who wants nothing. These two have stalked the world for thousands of years,” she thinks. When not ruminating over her sexual past and current fantasies, in the company of only her aging cat, J observes the comic, sometimes steamy goings–on among her faded–glamour condo neighbors. One of them, a caring nurse, befriends her, eventually offering the opinion that “if you retire from love . . . then you retire from life.”
The Word in the World
Author: H S Shivaprakash
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000931560
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 343
Book Description
The Word in the World is a collection of essays and lectures by H S Shivaprakash, a well-known poet, playwright, and translator. Edited by Kamalakar Bhat, this book brings together Prof Shivaprakash’s interventions in the realm of issues that are entwined with the continuities and discontinuities in the cultural negotiations of India. Distinctively, these are essays on subjects ranging from the nature and significance of medieval works of literature in India to issues arising out of developments in Indian aesthetics. The unfeigned magnitude of this work must be found among students and scholars, who will gain from it a perspective significantly different from the ones available in the prevailing academic discourses, thus indicating a way beyond poststructuralist/postmodernist frameworks. This is a book that will interest a wide variety of readers with its engaging insights and breadth of reference especially because it is written in a comprehensible style. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000931560
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 343
Book Description
The Word in the World is a collection of essays and lectures by H S Shivaprakash, a well-known poet, playwright, and translator. Edited by Kamalakar Bhat, this book brings together Prof Shivaprakash’s interventions in the realm of issues that are entwined with the continuities and discontinuities in the cultural negotiations of India. Distinctively, these are essays on subjects ranging from the nature and significance of medieval works of literature in India to issues arising out of developments in Indian aesthetics. The unfeigned magnitude of this work must be found among students and scholars, who will gain from it a perspective significantly different from the ones available in the prevailing academic discourses, thus indicating a way beyond poststructuralist/postmodernist frameworks. This is a book that will interest a wide variety of readers with its engaging insights and breadth of reference especially because it is written in a comprehensible style. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)
The Universal One
Author: Walter Russell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cosmology
Languages : en
Pages : 266
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cosmology
Languages : en
Pages : 266
Book Description
Biological Transmutation
Author: George Ohsawa
Publisher: George Ohsawa Macrobiotic
ISBN: 0918860652
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 74
Book Description
George Ohsawa's translation and interpretation of Kervran's theory of biological transmutation, in which elements can transmute to other elements in the biological body.
Publisher: George Ohsawa Macrobiotic
ISBN: 0918860652
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 74
Book Description
George Ohsawa's translation and interpretation of Kervran's theory of biological transmutation, in which elements can transmute to other elements in the biological body.
The Echo Chamber
Author: Michael Bazzett
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
ISBN: 1571317465
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 83
Book Description
From Michael Bazzett, poet and translator of The Popol Vuh, a collection that explores the myth of Echo and Narcissus, offering a reboot, a remix, a reimagining. “Narcissus was never one to see himself // in moving water. // He liked his image / still.” In The Echo Chamber, myth is refracted into our current moment. A time traveler teaches a needleworker the pleasures of social media gratification. A man goes looking for his face and is first offered a latex mask. A book reveals eerie transmutations of a simple story. And the myth itself is retold, probing its most provocative qualities—how reflective waters enable self-absorption, the tragic rightness of Echo and Narcissus as a couple. The Echo Chamber examines our endlessly self-referential age of selfies and televised wars and manufactured celebrity, gazing lingeringly into the many kinds of damage it produces, and the truths obscured beneath its polished surface. In the process, Bazzett cements his status as one of our great poetic fools—the comedian who delivers uncomfortable silence, who sheds layers of disguises to reveal light underneath, who smuggles wisdom within “rage-mothered laughter.” Late-stage capitalism, history, death itself: all are subject to his wry, tender gaze. By turns searing, compassionate, and darkly humorous, The Echo Chamber creates an echo through time, holding up the broken mirror of myth to our present-day selves.
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
ISBN: 1571317465
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 83
Book Description
From Michael Bazzett, poet and translator of The Popol Vuh, a collection that explores the myth of Echo and Narcissus, offering a reboot, a remix, a reimagining. “Narcissus was never one to see himself // in moving water. // He liked his image / still.” In The Echo Chamber, myth is refracted into our current moment. A time traveler teaches a needleworker the pleasures of social media gratification. A man goes looking for his face and is first offered a latex mask. A book reveals eerie transmutations of a simple story. And the myth itself is retold, probing its most provocative qualities—how reflective waters enable self-absorption, the tragic rightness of Echo and Narcissus as a couple. The Echo Chamber examines our endlessly self-referential age of selfies and televised wars and manufactured celebrity, gazing lingeringly into the many kinds of damage it produces, and the truths obscured beneath its polished surface. In the process, Bazzett cements his status as one of our great poetic fools—the comedian who delivers uncomfortable silence, who sheds layers of disguises to reveal light underneath, who smuggles wisdom within “rage-mothered laughter.” Late-stage capitalism, history, death itself: all are subject to his wry, tender gaze. By turns searing, compassionate, and darkly humorous, The Echo Chamber creates an echo through time, holding up the broken mirror of myth to our present-day selves.
Pathologies of Desire
Author: Gerald Doherty
Publisher: Peter Lang
ISBN: 9780820497358
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 228
Book Description
Discussions of the self in James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man traditionally have a generic or a generalized quality: the self is modernist or postmodernist, essential or processive, unified or fragmented, etc. Pathologies of Desire takes a different tack: it shifts the ground of discussion, locating the self in relation to particular dispositions or traits of the subject, Stephen Dedalus. More specifically, it foregrounds three pathological states (autoerotic, paranoia, and the shame/guilt syndrome) as primary modes of self-aggregation - the unique power of painful inner splits and divisions to precipitate self-awareness, and to make the self self-reflexive. As challenges to self-understanding, anxiety (autoeroticism), persecution (paranoia), and humiliation (shame/guilt) are prime catalysts of those multi-layered linguistic resources that fortify Stephen's self with the means of comprehending its own angst. The fact that each particular self dissolves to make way for another underscores its purely contingent and transitional quality - it functions as a defense against the singularity of the pain that it generates. Stephen's ultimate prospect of creating new future selves is thus contingent on his power to liberate himself from the old ones' oppressive conditioning.
Publisher: Peter Lang
ISBN: 9780820497358
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 228
Book Description
Discussions of the self in James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man traditionally have a generic or a generalized quality: the self is modernist or postmodernist, essential or processive, unified or fragmented, etc. Pathologies of Desire takes a different tack: it shifts the ground of discussion, locating the self in relation to particular dispositions or traits of the subject, Stephen Dedalus. More specifically, it foregrounds three pathological states (autoerotic, paranoia, and the shame/guilt syndrome) as primary modes of self-aggregation - the unique power of painful inner splits and divisions to precipitate self-awareness, and to make the self self-reflexive. As challenges to self-understanding, anxiety (autoeroticism), persecution (paranoia), and humiliation (shame/guilt) are prime catalysts of those multi-layered linguistic resources that fortify Stephen's self with the means of comprehending its own angst. The fact that each particular self dissolves to make way for another underscores its purely contingent and transitional quality - it functions as a defense against the singularity of the pain that it generates. Stephen's ultimate prospect of creating new future selves is thus contingent on his power to liberate himself from the old ones' oppressive conditioning.