On the Innovation of Literary Theory in China

Abstract

China’s rise has increased concerns about innovation in China’s indigenous literary theory. How to create theories with a “China style” and global influence has become a serious challenge for the development of contemporary Chinese literary theory. Three strategies are noteworthy in meeting this challenge. First, “amateurism in professionalism” can be used to offset the constraints of increasing disciplinization and professionalization in literary theory. Second, critical rationality needs to be cultivated among researchers and in institutional forms in order to alter the present lack of rational and vigorous debate, criticism and dialogue. Third, we need to reconstruct “grand narratives,” so as to make a unique contribution to the world in terms of universal values, meanings and ethics through transforming and advancing traditional Chinese thought.     

Social Structure and Social Relations

This paper replies to Porpora, King, and Varela's responses to my earlier paper “For Emergence”, focussing on the relationship between the concepts of social structure and social relations. It recognises the importance of identifying the mechanisms responsible whenever we make claims for the emergence of causal powers, and discusses the mechanism underlying one case of social structure: normative institutions. It also shows how critical realism reconciles the claims that both social structures and human individuals have emergent causal powers that combine to produce actual social events.     

The Troubled Families Programme: Learning about policy impact through realist case study research

This article aims to critically explore how qualitative case study research that is founded on realist principles can fundamentally enhance social policy evaluation methodologies and, in turn, provide improved learning for policy makers and practitioners. We suggest that these methodological advantages are accrued through the careful construction of theory-based explanations of “how” policy programmes work thereby addressing the limitations of quasi-experimental methods—namely, a focus on and prioritisation of outcome measures. The paper situates this key argument within wider, long-standing debates about evidence-based policy making and what constitutes “evidence” of impact in social policy. It does so through reflection on the contentious and contradictory knowledge claims that surround the Troubled Families Programme and evaluative claims regarding its efficacy. In conclusion and looking forward, we suggest that there remains much scope to combine “intensive” qualitative case studies with “extensive” quantitative measures within local and national evaluations of complex, multidimensional social policies, such as the Troubled Families Programme.     

Information,reflection, and successful job search: A labor market policy experiment

Jobseekers, especially young people with little experience on the job market, face several challenges. They need to know which jobs are suited for them, where to find them, how to apply, and they need resilience in the face of repeated rejections. Previous research has shown that receiving information and reflecting on how to search for a job enhance self-efficacy and search motivation, thereby reducing the duration of unemployment spells. Following up on these results, we conducted an experiment in cooperation with the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs which combines an “information nudge” in the form of a short video-clip with what we call “reflection nudge” in the form of an online survey. We find that a treatment combining reflection and information reduces job search duration of young unemployed people with a low level of formal education. Considering the low costs of the intervention, efficiency is very high.     

Social Representations,Alternative Representations and Semantic Barriers

Social representations research has tended to focus upon the representations that groups have in relation to some object. The present article elaborates the concept of social representations by pointing to the existence of “alternative representations” as sub‐components within social representations. Alternative representations are the ideas and images the group has about how other groups represent the given object. Alternative representations are thus representations of other people's representations. The present article uses data from Moscovici's (1976/2008 ) analysis of the diffusion of psychoanalysis to examine how people engage with alternative representations. It is demonstrated that there can be more or less dialogical relations with alternative representations. The analysis concludes by considering seven “semiotic barriers” which work to neutralise the dialogical potential of alternative representations, thus on the one hand enabling groups to talk about the views of others, while, on the other hand, remaining unchallenged by those views.     

The Social as Heaven and Hell: Pierre Bourdieu's Philosophical Anthropology

Many authors have argued that all studies of socially specific modalities of human action and experience depend on some form of “philosophical anthropology”, i.e. on a set of general assumptions about what human beings are like, assumptions without which the very diagnoses of the cultural and historical variability of concrete agents' practices would become impossible. Bourdieu was sensitive to that argument and, especially in the later phase of his career, attempted to make explicit how his historical‐sociological investigations presupposed and, at the same time, contributed to the elaboration of an “idea of the human being”. The article reconstructs Bourdieu's philosophical anthropology, starting with his genetic sociology of symbolic power, conceived as a form of critical theory (latu sensu), and concluding with an account of the conditio humana in which recognition (“symbolic capital”) appears as both the fundamental existential goal through which human agents strive to confer meaning on their lives and the source of the endless symbolic competition that keeps society moving. The agonistic vision of the social universe that grounds his sociological studies returns in his philosophical anthropology under the guise of a singular synthesis between Durkheim's thesis that “Society is God” and Sartre's idea that “hell is other people”.     

再现“中国”的“同性恋”--英文学术界中的中国同性恋研究

在“中国”与“同性恋”两条脉络里,对英文文献中的中国同性恋研究进行系统地梳理。在“中国”方面,回顾了围绕中国同性恋的“中国性”展开的争论,以及争论背后浮现的全球化同性恋身份与中国文化孕育的同性恋亚文化之间的张力;在“同性恋”方面,首先以香港的同志运动为例呈现出（后）身份政治的寓言,随后检视最近出版的学术专著是如何扮演当下时代（后）身份政治的建构性角色的。最后提供了两点知识论反思———围绕着“中国”问题展开的文献／理论与现实的关系问题的反思,围绕着“同性恋”问题展开的对斯皮瓦克意义上的“底层人”再现问题的反思。     

技术自主性与国家形塑:国家与技术治理关系研究的政治脉络及其想象

技术治理进入国家视野是一个循序渐进的过程。相关研究先后拓展和增加了专家治国、技术官僚、信息技术和微观政治等概念，并分化为两个研究维度：一是一以贯之的国家如何以“技术性方式”进行治理；二是由“信息技术在政府应用”这一研究分支发展而来，分析国家如何将新技术手段引入治理。其中，前者是技术治理概念的逻辑起点，本文从这一起点展开分析国家与技术治理的关系，试图还原技术治理的本来面貌。基于技术治理具有自身发展和运作的自主性，国家与技术治理关系呈现三种基本形态：“吸纳”状态下国家对“可控”技术治理的应用、“扩散”状态下国家对“自主”技术治理的干预和“分途”状态下国家对“失控”技术治理的监管。最后，本文还进一步提出“超越技术治理”的两种路径构想，由此系统呈现了国家与技术治理相互形塑的整体图景，为技术治理研究提供了新的反思与关注的视角。     

Building a working alliance between professionals and service users in family preservation. A multiple case study

In the margin of the ongoing experimental and quasi‐experimental research projects on family preservation, some research projects focus on the process through which families accomplish change and acknowledge the importance of the working alliance. There is, however, little information about barriers and facilitators in building this working alliance. To fill this gap, we performed a multiple case study with a triangulation of ethnographical methods such as observation, in‐depth interviews, case file analysis, and multistakeholder focus groups. We illustrate how, in a context of managerialism and transactional leadership, social workers find themselves in a continuous tension between complying with the expectations of their social organization and “tuning in” with the service users. This jeopardizes the working alliance between a social worker and a family. Consequences for research, practice, and policy regarding family preservation interventions are discussed.     

On “Imposed Interpretation” in Literary Criticism: The Issue of “French Theory”

This paper is a response to what Professor Zhang Jiang of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) terms as “imposed interpretation.” In his article “On Imposed Interpretation,” Professor Zhang sees imposed interpretation as a fundamental feature and basic defect of contemporary Western literary criticism. The author analyzes some of the interpretations, as criticized by Professor Zhang, imposed on some literary classics by feminist, eco-critical, psychoanalytical, structuralist and deconstructivist methods. She reviews the sources and the limitations of the so-called “French theory” in cultural studies courses in American universities before raising the critical practice she endorses: a synthesizing critical methodology that is based on the specificity of the text, uses multiple applicable theories in relation to the socio-temporal context in which the work was produced, while bearing in mind the author’s intentions and the reader’s active participation. Through rigorous textual analysis, literary criticism can identify some new perspectives offered by the text which enable construction of the meaning of the text and of life. This can highlight the functions of literary reading in enriching people’s lives and enhancing the role of reality and man’s spiritual realm.     

The Achilles' heel of scale service design in social security administration: The case of the United Kingdom's Universal Credit

This article takes a critical view of the United Kingdom government's design for the delivery of the Universal Credit (UC) benefit reforms. It is argued that the UC is destined to fail because of the policy's extension into specifying the means (“digital by default”) of delivery for such services. The authors argue that an unseen but ubiquitous set of “scale” management assumptions has been allowed to infiltrate the means by which the government intends to enact its headline policy objective to “make work pay”. Following Seddon's “Vanguard Method”, a practical example of how a better service was designed in a local authority housing benefits service is then examined. Results from this service include being able to deal with up to 50 per cent more demand, with fewer resources, in half the official target time. Finally, the article will conclude with a call for more evidence‐based policy.     

古典学的人类学相关性:还原并反思地引申一种主张

近代人类学的奠基者曾高度重视借鉴古典学的研究成果。20世纪初，学科理念发生巨变。此后数十年间，古典学者继续借鉴人类学思想，而现代新人类学中重视古典学的学者却越来越少。20世纪60年代初，克拉克洪在其所著《论人类学与古典学的关系》一书中对这一变化表示喜忧参半。他乐见人类学思想渗入古典学，担忧人类学因减少汲取古典学的养分而丢失其本来的品质。克拉克洪指出，人类学的根基是人文与科学，此二者均为古希腊人的发明，现代新人类学要保持其品格，便有必要重返古希腊。鉴于克氏主张的重要性，本文力图对之加以还原，并在此基础上进行反思。本文认为，克拉克洪有规避西学人类学的神学关联及过度渲染古希腊特殊性的倾向，更存在以“文化”概念“消化”文野关联的问题。要扭转这类倾向，克服这类问题，应有选择地丰富古典旧人类学有关“中间环节”的看法。     

Music,rowing, and the aesthetics of rhythm

Having “good rhythm” is essential in both music and competitive rowing, but what exactly constitutes “good rhythm,” and how do we achieve it? Although rhythm is often discussed in purely auditory terms, I argue that rhythm is fundamentally a multisensory, kinesthetic phenomenon. By drawing parallels between music and rowing, I illustrate how biological motion principles underlie the parameters of rhythm in both disciplines, and how the cognition and appreciation of rhythm is deeply embodied. I suggest that the two main ways in which rhythms generate pleasure in both music and rowing are by enabling behavioral synchrony between individuals, and by engaging the body in the cognitive process of rhythm perception and prediction. In essence, “good rhythm”—a rhythm that is enjoyed and appreciated—is rhythm that moves.     

Ordering tasting in a restaurant: experiencing,socializing, and processing food

Sometimes there are moments in which German speakers will state that something schmeckt gut [tastes good]. Focusing on a family celebration in a restaurant in Austria, the paper considers how in three schmeckt gut moments, participants variously order “tasting” as a process of experiencing, socializing, and processing. It is argued that while it is possible to analyse how a person simultaneously experiences sensual qualities inherent in a particular dish, socializes with others, and processes food, these aspects are not equally relevant for the people involved in the “tasting”. Different modes of ordering “tasting” can exist next to each other such that a “tasting together in difference” takes place. Following from this, this article calls for further investigation into the practical achievement of “tasting together in difference” and the enabling role of care in this process. By shedding light on how tasting is done in practices of dining out in Western Europe, it contributes to a growing set of ethnomethodologically oriented studies on how tasting and taste are done in practice.     

Children forever: The search for origins among Chilean adults who were adopted

There has been a global increase in the number of adults who were adopted 1 1 To make the text more readable, we use the term “adult adoptee” rather than our preferred term “people who were adopted.” We prefer the latter term because it does captures our understanding that adoption is a practice and a life experience and not necessarily a permanent fixture of the identities of people who were adopted.
searching for their origins. This trend has promoted the interest of social sciences researchers, as well as carry out the obligations of states to provide specialized services. In this article, we present some results from the first qualitative study that explores the experiences of some Chilean adults who were adopted and searched for their origins in Chile through the National Service of Minor's Search for Origins Program. The narratives of the participants show that, in spite of legislative changes, a series of barriers and contradictions continue to exist, which make it difficult to guarantee the right to know one's origins. The legal and technical frameworks and practices analysed show how difficult it is to dismantle the “clean break” principle. They also highlight the persistence of the image of adoptees as “minors” who need the “protection” of their parents or professionals. We discuss the different challenges to be considered by researchers, practitioners, and policy‐makers involved in adoption policies and practices.     

Conjuncture and cultural reproduction in the process of embedding: social work practice in the context of government purchase of services in China

This paper focuses on the Chinese government’s policy of purchasing social services and discusses how relevant organisations provide social work and develop it within local socio-political and cultural contexts. An ethnographic research method was adopted for the study by the first author while participating in social work development in Q City. We argue that the policy of purchasing social services succeeded in achieving “embedded development” but also created a “conjuncture structure” in cultural reproduction. However, due toprofessional social workers in China have, in practice, passively responded to the conjuncture there has been a failure to reproduce professional values of social work in the Chinese cultural context. Therefore, further development of social work in China needs to strengthen cultural reflection in practical actions, focus on the exploration of cultural connections between social work practice and local communities, and enhance the cultural capacity of social workers in the local cultural context.     

Minimal Risk in Pediatric Research: A Philosophical Review and Reconsideration

Despite more than thirty years of debate, disagreement persists among research ethicists about the most appropriate way to interpret the U.S. regulations on pediatric research, specifically the categories of “minimal risk” and a “minor increase over minimal risk.” Focusing primarily on the definition of “minimal risk,” we argue in this article that the continued debate about the pediatric risk categories is at least partly because their conceptual status is seldom considered directly. Once this is done, it becomes clear that the most popular strategy for interpreting “minimal risk”—defining it as a specific set of risks—is indefensible and, from a pragmatic perspective, unlikely to resolve disagreement. Primarily this is because judgments about minimal risk are both normative and heavily intuitive in nature and thus cannot easily be captured by reductions to a given set of risks. We suggest instead that a more defensible approach to evaluating risk should incorporate room for reflection and deliberation. This dispositional, deliberative framework can nonetheless accommodate a number of intellectual resources for reducing reliance on sheer intuition and improving the quality of risk evaluations.     

Part II: Death in Literature. Poetry as Epitaph

Anyone tolerably versed in American literature will realize that we could have devoted our entire collection to attitudes toward death in American literature. Such a collection could be tightly organized and valuable, but it might also be redundant for an audience which consists primarily of loosened-up literary folk to begin with. So we offer, instead of standard selections, a group of essays which, though they are about death in literature, use literature as a vehicle for discussing either theoretical or practical interpretations of death in American society and letters. Karen Campbell's essay, “Poetry as Epitaph,” uses Emily Dickinson's poetry to illustrate and embody current international theories about death and language. We place this contribution first in this section because it serves as a transition between Gravestones and Epitaphs and Death in Literature: Dickinson was writing at the same historical moment discussed by Kenneth Ames in “Ideologies in Stone,” a fact the reader may wish to remember while reading “Poetry as Epitaph;” and Karen Campbell treats Dickinson's poetry as epitaphic in style and genre. Sonia Gernes' “Life After Life: Katherine Anne Porter's Version” uses Porter's “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” to illustrate and make provocative suggestions about Raymond Moody's theses in Life After Life. Leslier Fiedler's contribution is an extract from a speech given under the auspices of an organization studying the humanist's response to child abuse, and is part of a series of lectures on that subject. He discusses infanticide through literature and then through popular culture. Marvin Kohl takes issue with some of Professor Fiedler's conclusions.     

Critical Latitude

From his educational background both in France and America, Professor Pavel not only expresses his endorsement, understanding and judgment of the concept of “imposed interpretation,” but also his opinion and further academic expectations. The article has three parts. First, he confirms the existence of the specific problems of “imposed interpretation,” “subjective assumption prior to interpretation,” and “reversed route of cognition.” Second, he points out that the phenomen on of imposed interpretation is not unique in contemporary times and has existed in Western literary research since the beginning of the 19^th century— from the Zeitgeist of the age of Hegel, the social environment of positivism, the narratology of structuralism, and to contemporary literary critique, all of which have the feature of using concepts to cover the multiformity of literary works. Pavel finally points out that the contemporary phenomen on of “imposed interpretation” embodies the features of American culture and exposes the problem of American education. He hopes that scholars can keep critical latitude and vitality while rectifying the errors in literary research.