In Search Of A Coordinate System For Discourse

The present study aims at proposing a possible solution to the crisis faced by literary theory by constructing a new frame of reference on the basis of the Theory of Complexity. In doing so, we have done researches on the following four aspects: first, we review the gains and especially losses of existing literary theories; secondly, we seek to introduce comprehensively the idea of complexity into the study of literature; thirdly, on the basis of the new methodology, a dynamic self-organization model of literary discourse generation is built; and lastly, dynamic interactions between relational terms and the conformation of text are probed.The dissertation is divided into five chapters. In Chapter I, Introduction, we make brief analysis on the crisis faced by literary theory. Two cruxes are identified here, of which one is poor methodology, characterized by reductionism, and the other"pragmatic euphoria". Since Deconstruction, efforts have been made by different theorists to destroy the absolute order promised by reductionism, which is the basis of all previous theories, but in want of proper methodology, none of the theories, neither Deconstruction nor New Historicism, has escaped a paradoxical destiny—a return to metaphysics.In Chapter II, Methodology and Literature Review, we analyze the nature of the postmodern turn in methodology, that is, from modern reductionism to postmodern complexity, and we further analyze the limitations of Deconstruction and New Historicism from the prospective of the new mood of thinking. The essence of the Complexity Theory is generalized as follows: 1. It employs the idea of universal interrelation and the idea of system to transcend substantialism; 2. It resorts to the ideas of self-organization, interaction, and emergence to dissolve determinism and metaphysical centers; 3. It uses nonlinear dynamic process to replace linear static structures in reductionism; 4. It emphasizes complements between contingency and inevitability, commonality and individuality.