The Video Game Lightning Rod

New media technologies have long tapped into social hopes and anxieties, and the turmoil that follows their appearance offers a window into the social tensions of the time. Clashing sets of utopian and dystopian visions have typically resulted in an ambivalent portrayal of such technologies. Video games prove to be no exception. Through a content analysis of media frames in the USA's three leading news magazines, the reception and presentation of video-game technology was tracked over a thirty-year period, 1970-2000. The resulting patterns tell a story of vilification and partial redemption, owing to the mainstream acceptance of the medium and the aging user base. Fears of the negative effects from the new technology were hypothesized to come from a routine set of conservative worries. The results support this hypothesis. Moreover, the frames surrounding games, especially in the 1980s, reveal many of the key social tensions of the times, primarily those surrounding gender roles, the separation of age and racial groups, and the role of female parents within an increasingly technological society. The place of video games within the larger context of media history, and the social causes of the frames are discussed.     

亡灵忆往:唐宋传奇的一种历史观照方式(下)

亡灵忆往是唐宋传奇作家采取的一种独特的观照历史的叙事模式。真实历史人物和虚构人物以鬼神的面貌出现,充当着历史当事人和讲述人的角色。通过生人和亡灵的对话,用零距离叙事切入历史,对历史作出评价和批判,探寻治乱之道,并展开历史抒情,表达伤时怀古的兴亡盛衰之感、身世家国之感。作家的历史目光主要投向乱世,投向妇女,尤其是后妃宫人等,表达了对她们的和王朝命运紧密相连的个人悲剧命运的深切关怀。     

论《小说月报》改革的必然性和必要性

1921年《小说月报》的改革,不但反映了一份杂志在新旧共存、文白互争的民初的最后命运,而且,作为民初文学的一个典型个案,它也反映了整个民初文学融入新文学的途径:那就是革命式的改革。这一革命式的改革发生的直接根源就在于改革前的《小说月报》,包括整个民初文学,虽然一直在做着种种新变的努力,但是,它们并没有以理性的自主的追求建立起足以构成新文学因素的现代性。以传达的基本精神、使用的文体以及与世界文学潮流的关系为基本衡量尺度的考察表明,改革前的《小说月报》仍然属于旧文学的范畴,它只能通过革命式的改革而融入现代文学。