Qian Zhongshu And The New Criticism

With his erudition in Chinese classical academy and broad assimilation of " achievements of Western thoughts and culture, Qian Zhongshu integrated them into one. Paying great attention to the dimension of language in studies on literature and culture, he reached to the essence of literature by linguistic analysis and researched ancient Chinese literature and culture at the focal point of the Chinese language. At this sense, the New Criticism who focused on the text and emphasized literary language counts much in the foundation of Qian's academic system.Beginning with the essence of the language, Qian discovered cultural character of language and he thought language is constructed; he took the relationship between the language and the meaning as the basic proposition to find out the connection between the language and the transition and acception of the subject's intention. He studied the language differently and stepped to the relationship between the language and the meaning which he regarded as an essential problem which human culture has to face. Taking the language as the base, Qian did not only treat literature as a system, but put it in the frame of culture, so he got a field of vision which comes from culture.By terms of his opinions on the language, Qian deeply illuminated the definition the language places on literature. Starting from the angle of the language, he made a detailed research on literature. Being compared to non-literature, the essential character of literature was remarkable and value of the form of literature got acknowledge. Literature can bring about an artistic world with language.In the process of studying metaphor, synaesthesia, ambiguity, paradox, oxmoron and the icon, Qian's method gained similarity with the New Criticism's semantics. But he drove the New Criticism's theory further by taking character of Chinese as the base and finding out intrinsic connection between the Chinese language and Chinese culture from various meaning of Chinese. He took ancient Chinese literature and culture as the objects, absorbed thoughts on ancient literature, and added aspects of culture and psychology. Because he proved that diverse literary skills actually are different speaking methods and expressing categories used by literature according to special cultural contexts, the cultural interpretation of language accomplished.When he was learning the text, Qian used the method of circle interpretation and theory of modern hermeneutics, and he got "intertextuality" which established diverse discourse world as the style category. The New Criticism used it mainly as the way of reading and they aimed to the meaning and the structure of the text;Qian used it to place diverse discourse hi a situation of dialogue, then the text is open to the world.Finally, this dissertation points out what Qian took to is "Criticism of Language." It requires the critic set out from the language to grasp the inner meaning and the outer reference of the text, and explain all kinds of discourse in the great cultural context. As he had understood the intrinsic connection between the Chinese language and Chinese culture spirit and he speculated traditional culture at the point of integrating Chinese culture and Western culture, Qian Zhongshu's theory and ideas not only centered on literature, but embraced culture; not only behold profound practical significance, but extended to the future.