A Study On The American Scholar Kang-I Sun Chang’s Study Of Literary Canon

The issue of literary canon is a hot topic of Chinese and foreign academic circles in recent years. Evaluation standard of literary canon, reinterpretation on traditional literary canon and the construction of new classics and so on, have all caused the attention of many scholars. As the consumer culture is increasingly popular today, the formation mechanism and state of existence of literary canon are faced with new challenges. Chinese-American scholar Kang-I Sun Chang has carried on a thorough and detailed discussion about literature canon in the process of her sinology study. She has not only a broad perspective, but also valuable academic viewpoints and research methods. She combines her research with the specific writers on the basis of Chinese traditional literature resource,which also brings us much useful thinking on the diverse construction and diachronic changes of literary canon.This paper is mainly divided into three chapters to present Kang-I Sun Chang’s study on literary canon. The first chapter is about her perception on the construction factors of literary canon and examples used to support her analysis. Mainly developed by her analysis on the model poet status of Wang Shizhen in the early Qing Dynasty and the different fates in China and East Asian countries of Jian Deng New-story.The second chapter talks about her theory of "Mask" aesthetics and research practice. First explores the origin of the concept of "mask" and the connotation of "mask" aesthetic, then introduces her explanation on the "mask" level to traditional literary canon,finally analyses the similarities between "Mask" type reading method and "Holistic Research "advocated by Lu Xun.The third chapter discusses her efforts in excavating the literary tradition of ancient Chinese women and attempts to make it to be classical. Mainly centres around the poetry composition of widow poets and latter-day talented women in Ming and Qing Dynasty,as well as two traditions of Ci represented by Liu Rushi and Xu Yuan.The conclusion part analyses her open academic research perspective and research method, and discusses the destiny of literary classics in consumption age.