Voicing Concerns: Contemporary Chinese Critical Inquiry

by Gloria Davies, Geremie R. Barmé (Contribution by), Chen Fong-ching (Contribution by), Jin Guantao (Contribution by), Liu Dong (Contribution by)

Overview

Opening a new window into Chinese intellectual discourse, this unique book is a critical engagement with the issues, problems, and meanings of contemporary Chinese intellectual thought. As key participants in these debates who have exercised a significant influence on the development of contemporary Chinese thought, the volume's contributors explore concerns over the role of the intellectual and the outcomes of knowledge production in the humanities. Masterfully translated, these essays provide a wide range of conflicting perspectives on contemporary Chinese intellectuality, yet they share in common the belief held by many Chinese intellectuals in the power of intellectual labor to shape and change social life. By showing how Western social and cultural theory as well as the May Fourth and pre-modern Confucian traditions are being adapted for contemporary Chinese intellectual use, the book highlights how Chinese academics have affirmed an independent critical role for themselves in post-Mao China and the scope of the knowledge industry that they have created and developed since 1979.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461715559
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	06/06/2001
Series:	Asian Voices
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	907 KB

About the Author

Gloria Davies is senior lecturer in Chinese at Monash University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Self-Made Maps of Chinese Intellectuality
Chapter 3 The Topography of Intellectual Culture in 1990s Mainland China: A Survey
Chapter 4 The Popular Cultural Movement of the 1980s
Chapter 5 Revisiting the Perils of "Designer Pidgin Scholarship"
Chapter 6 On Western Literary Theory in China
Chapter 7 Some Reflections on New Confucianism in Mainland Chinese Culture of the 1990s
Chapter 8 On Scientism and Social Theory in Modern Chinese Thought
Chapter 9 Interpreting Modern Chinese History through the Theory of Ultra-Stable Systems
Chapter 10 Patriotism versus Intellectual Curiosity: Jin Guantao's Approach to Chinese History
Chapter 11 In Search of a "Third Way": A Conversation regarding "Liberalism" and the "New Left Wing"
Chapter 12 Time's Arrows: Imaginative Pasts and Nostalgic Futures

Editorial Reviews

Eleven essays by scholars of Chinese literature, culture, and politics describe the current state of Chinese critical inquiry, surveying recent Chinese intellectual culture, with attention to popular culture and Chinese models of intellectuality. The role of western literary theory, the influence of the New Confucianism, and the place of scientism and social theory in modern Chinese thought are all covered. The study of history is given particular scrutiny, with consideration to the theory of ultrastable systems, the relationship between patriotism and intellectual curiosity, the interplay of past and future, and the tensions between liberalism and the new left. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

[Voicing Concern] raises large and important theoretical issues concerning and concerned with cultural and intellectual production. It is an engaging read and this significant collection will be of great value to scholars of modern China.” —Journal of Asian Studies

“A welcome addition to the growing corpus of translations from contemporary Chinese discussions of culture and society. The volume should be useful not only to cultural studies scholars but for teaching purposes.” —Asian Studies Review

“Allows readers, in this era of economic globalization, access to some of the dimensions of current worldwide intellectual debates as they get played out in China.” —The China Journal

“This collection of translations represents a valiant attempt to help Western readers peek into China's diverse, if not confusing, intellectual life during the 1990s. Unlike the preceding decade, the 1990s have not yet attracted much scholarly attention in the West.” —Choice Reviews

From the Publisher

This collection of translations represents a valiant attempt to help Western readers peek into China's diverse, if not confusing, intellectual life during the 1990s. Unlike the preceding decade, the 1990s have not yet attracted much scholarly attention in the West.

Choice Reviews

[Voicing Concern] raises large and important theoretical issues concerning and concerned with cultural and intellectual production. It is an engaging read and this significant collection will be of great value to scholars of modern China.

Journal of Asian Studies

Allows readers, in this era of economic globalization, access to some of the dimensions of current worldwide intellectual debates as they get played out in China.

The China Journal

A welcome addition to the growing corpus of translations from contemporary Chinese discussions of culture and society. The volume should be useful not only to cultural studies scholars but for teaching purposes.

Asian Studies Review

This collection of translations represents a valiant attempt to help Western readers peek into China's diverse, if not confusing, intellectual life during the 1990s. Unlike the preceding decade, the 1990s have not yet attracted much scholarly attention in the West.

Choice

This collection of translations represents a valiant attempt to help Western readers peek into China's diverse, if not confusing, intellectual life during the 1990s. Unlike the preceding decade, the 1990s have not yet attracted much scholarly attention in the West.

CHOICE