The Demonstration Of The Characteristic Thoughts In An Ancient Chiese Literature–theory Text

The Readings in Chinese Literary Thought is a monograph by Steven·Oven which introduces Chinese classic literature critical theory to western readers and scholars. This paper has investigated two aspects of the book from the angles of the history of literary criticism and the literary theory: first, the research approaches of the Reading in Chinese Literary Thought; Second, the characteristics of the theoretical interpretation and its important reference value.The research approach of the readings in Chinese Thought is based on the close reading of the text, considering the historical and cross-cultural factors. This approach tries to look for the development process of the literature thought in the text through the study of the text paraphrase, the differences of the understandings of literature between Chinese and western people, the background of the text, theoretical heritage and mutual-influence, etc. This approach is obviously different from other ones, and the Reading in Chinese Literary Thought offers important reference value. In the modern conversion of the Chinese literature theory, the Readings in Chinese Literary Thought is a break-through in the study system of"idea history". The so-called"idea history"is a study approach which introduces the authors'literary views and the historical evolution of the literary views. This kind of research paradigm generally exists in the study of Chinese classic literary theory. Its main task is to cramp out the ideas from the text, make an investigation that which critic supports these ideas, present which of the ideas are new, and study the transformation process of these ideas from the point of history. Steven–oven considers that"idea history"ignores"how idea operates in the specific text, he hopes to show the original features of the text: various views are merely several points of the text, they are lying in the condition of modifying and varying, and cannot be purified to be the steady'idea'". So, to Steven·Oven, text is not only a container to load bearing literary thought but also a thought process。The theoretical interpretation of the Readings in Chinese Literary Thought extremely characteristic. This book is known as deep thinking toward literary theory and comparison between Chinese and western theories.In the aspect of the comparision between chinese and western theories,Steven·Oven compares Chinese literary with western literary thoughts in all the phrases.Thus,he shapes his own uniqueepistemology of Chinese Literature,and applies it to analyze the text. The paper holds that this characteristic makes Chinese and western ideological system achieve a true sense of cross-reference, mutual knowledge and interaction, then produce the unique literary epistemology of Steven·oven's, that is"Look to how it is","Consider from what it comes","Examine in what aperson would be at rest". What is more important, his comparative interpretation of Chinese and western theory has still kept the characteristic of Chinese traditional theory, engendering no tendency which segment Chinese literary thought by that of western's. It still has the direct relations with the existence of the text. The existence of the text has restricted the unlimited expansion of western literary theory discourse, and makes Chinese literary theory stand alone. This has offered a direction to anxiety aphasia in modern conversion of Chinese classical literary theory.So, it shouldn't stay only on the level of the text if the Readings in Chinese Literary Thought is introduced. The research method and the theoretical interpretation of the Readings in Chinese Literary Thought have overstepped the text itself, it reminds us that we should discover and return to the text in a more macroscopic vision.