Image Of China In The Citizen Of The World

As for The Citizen of the World by Oliver Goldsmith, many observers have been absorbed in the discussion of the relation between Chinese culture and English literature, or what influence The Citizen of the World received. This paper, consisting of five parts, deals with an objective and detailed analysis of the Chinese image and its generation from the perspective of Imagologie of Comparative Literature.Introduction deals with the life of Oliver Goldsmith, his inspiration from China and plot of The Citizen of the World, sums up the achievements and conditions of study of The Citizen of the World, and discusses the major idea and corresponding theories.Chapter one deals with the history background of English society, pointing out the contemporary social problems. Then, this paper summarizes China's image in English journalism and Chinoiserie in England in the Eighteenth century, pointing out the fact that there are multiple social imaginations in English society, which influence the generation of Chinese image in The Citizen of the World.Chapter two mainly discuss the image of China, through Chinese history, politics, laws and religions images, pointing out the relation between the generation of these images and the social imagination in England. The Chinese image is of Utopian and Ideology,Chapter three discusses the image of Chinese people, through Chinese emperor and the Chinese people, and then summarizes the image of Lienchi. This chapter also points out the relation between the generation of these images and the social imagination in England, and concludes that the Chinese image is of Utopian as a whole, which reflecting the desire for the king and citizen in England.The conclusion is drawn that that the image of China in The Citizen of the World is a combination of Utopian image and Ideological image, which is the result from the English social problem and rising self-esteem of the English people.