Translation,Reconstruction And Circulation Of The Concept Of Humanism In Modern China(1900s-1920s)

Humanism is an important concept throughout Western intellectual history The importation of the concept of humanism into the Chinese context contributed to the intellectual,cultural,and literary transformations of modern China.This thesis examines the translation,reconstruction,and circulation of the concept of humanism in modern China(1900s-1920s),with a particular emphasis on the indicative and formative role translation plays in this importation process.Specifically,this thesis looks into meanings of humanism as registered in dictionaries and lexica,humanistic writings by a number of intellectuals of the Republican era including Lu Xun,Zhou Zuoren,Hu Shi,Chen Duxiu,Wu Mi,Mei Guangdi,and Hu Xiansu as well as a selection of humanistic literary works.This thesis seeks to answer three main questions:(I)What are the intellectual sources of the modern Chinese concept of humanism?(2)What are the implications of the discursive practices surrounding the concept of humanism in modern China and how to account for them?(3)What are the characteristics of literary reconfigurations of rendao zhuyi discourse in the May Fourth era?Employing an interdisciplinary approach and drawing on methods developed in conceptual history and socio-narrative theory,this thesis approaches utterances surrounding the concept of humanism in a historical and contextualized manner,and meanwhile probes into the tensions between societal,cultural,ideological conditions,and positioning of individual translators.Specifically,this thesis explores the historical trajectory of the formation of the modern Chinese concept of humanism.Chapter Two both delineates foreign inspirations for the genesis of modern Chinese humanistic discourses and traces etymologically meanings of modern Chinese humanism as they were recorded in dictionaries of neologisms and bi-lingual lexica.Chapter Three and Chapter Four look into the two conflicting modern Chinese humanistic discourses with two case studies respectively addressing the humanistic utterances by intellectuals based in New Youth and those based in The Critical Review.Chapter Five explores the literary reconfigurations of rendao zhuyi discourse by probing into the individualistic,feminist,and humanitarian ethos in a selection of humanistic literary works.Based on the premises that interpretations of humanism are historically and culturally contingent and that cross-cultural translation is in essence a form of reframing,this thesis argues that modern Chinese humanistic discourses offer distinct Chinese narratives incorporating the concept of humanism.In the May Fourth era,intellectuals based in New Youth unanimously resorted to Western humanistic discourses to utter their diverse imaginings of a modern self,with a view to attain Chinese modernity and to save the nation.On the other hand,intellectuals based in The Critical Review selectively appropriated thinkings of American New Humanism to express their visions of a new morality,a modern state,and an ideal education,which constituted alternative approaches to Chinese modernity.Furthermore,a genealogical inquiry into the sources of rendao zhuyi discourse in May Fourth literature unveils that rendao zhuyi plays a vital role in the genesis of Chinese literary modernity.This line of inquiry enables us to better grasp and account for the heterogeneous and intertextual nature of rendao zhuyi discourse in May Fourth literature.