Reflection On The Common Road Toward The Center From The Margins

Feminist criticism, postcolonial criticism and ecocriticism, which are rooted in the west, are reputed as the most promising literary research fields in contemporary Chinese literary critical circle. Numerous critics boldly predict that the three criticisms will go toward the center from the margins, penetrating into the cultural and discursive construction, thus to take the place of the originally hegemonic criticism. However, behind their glory, what we can not avoid is the serious deficiency of issue consciousness and originality of critical method in China's critical circle. Based on the synchronic studies of the three criticisms, the thesis takes the commonness of the three criticisms as a clue to discuss the objective factors and necessary conditions of their common road to the center from the margins. On one hand, feminist criticism, postcolonial criticism and ecocriticism have broadened common people's originally narrow horizon and exposed the deep-rooted social and cultural issues behind the phenomenon. On the other hand, they inevitably bring problems requiring further study.The thesis puts forward that when the three criticisms are heading toward the center from the margins, four problems must be carefully studied: the ambiguity in the naming of the three critical disciplines, the limitation of their critical subjects and critical practice, the threat of mainstream criticisms like patriarchic criticism, eurocentric criticism and anthropocentric criticism. Especially, for the localization of western criticisms and the disjunction between critical theories and praxis in China, the thesis brings forward that only with the creation of the literary theories that reflect Chinese traditional culture and contemporary literary spirit can the exotic flower blossom splendidly in Chinese soil.To achieve this, feminist literature, postcolonial literature and ecological literature in China must strengthen the reflection of their subjective perspectives, instead of contemplating problems through the lens of the dominant cultures, be alert to the tendency of making women, the colonized and nature the synonyms with "victimization", and be wary of the danger of repeating the exclusionary procedures of the hegemonic literatures, thus to finally transgress the dichotomous category and construct the new and active "self in harmony. The researches on the specific problems of the three criticisms are intended to promote related studies in China to a deeper and wider field.