"The Other" And Western Literary Criticism

"The other" is one of the most important key words in western literary criticism. This thesis will explore it's philosophy sources and development in western context, discriminate it's multiple meanings in contemporary western literary criticism and discuss it's reception in China. The thesis is divided into four sections:Part one, Through seeking it's development in the realm of western thought, this part illustrate the word's multiple meanings, point out it's special use and focus in different fields. In this part, "the other" will be defined as "two groups of relationship" and "three kinds of attribute" that is "the other" consist in two groups of relationship,one is One/Same, the other is Self/Subject and Other. Under some special cases, "the other" in two groups of relationship will coincide. But sometimes the two groups of relationship separate and even conflict. "the other" has three kinds of attribute that are otherness, subsidiarity and constitutive, which closely connect but have different emphasis in different situation.Part two, This part illustrate it's application and development in the field of post-colonial criticism. In the post-colonial criticism, Edward W. Said revealed that the orient was shaped into "the other" and suggested that we should respect the moderate differences of "the other". Gayatri C.Spivak analyzed the western academic discourse more widely and introduced the perspective of feminism which attracted people's attention to gender issues within the community in post-colonial criticism. Homi F.Bhabha explained the relationship of Subject and the other, colonizer and the colonized as a contradictory two-way relationship. He also proposed the minority issues. The post-colonial criticism was extended to the problems such as ethnicity, gender, class level which confirmed the power and resistance of "the other". From the changing and enriching of the concept, we can rationalize the development context of western post-colonial criticism.Part three, This part explore the solution of "the other" in the field of French feminism. During the development of French feminism, Simone de Beauvoir revealed the subordinate status of the other women. She also pointed out that female can also be the subject, which reflected the requirement of gender equality. Helene Cixous and Luce Irigaray emphasized on the diversity, inclusiveness and diversity of the the other women. They don't considered that femininity can be limited within the thinking of Phallocentrism. On the other hand, they think that femininity can exceed and break the logic of patriarchy. Julia Kristeva questioned gender identity deeply. What she concerned was the marginal position of the other women. She considered that the marginality the female possessed can overthrow the Patriarchy. The French postmodern feminist paid considerable attention to the role of writing and discourse. Their opinion had some utopia.The last part focuses on the acceptance and mutation of "the other" in Chinese contemporary literary criticism. In the field of Chinese contemporary literary criticism, "the other" appeared more in the post-colonial criticism and was more used in the negative usage, which neglected it's affirmative use and it's own strength and resistance. During the process of the acceptation of the word, domestic scholars pay more attention on the difference and inequality between Chinese and western, but not extended to the problems of ethnicity, gender, class within the society. In the field of contemporary women writing, many writers intend to the explore the diversity of female other, which often fall into the trap of subsidiary. In the East-West cultural exchange, we claim "open nationalism" and insist on the principle of ethnic differences and diversity. Within the society, we call on more attention on the vulnerable "other".