Abstract
In response to the pessimistic opinions in the circles of literary theory in the East and West, the paper holds that the passing of the golden era of literary and cultural theory does not mean the death of theory. In the present post-theoretical era, the function of theory is no longer forceful and ubiquitous as before, but rather it is to a certain extent restricted. The rise of the so-called posthumanist trend in the West in the past decade indicates that man in the present era is nothing but one of the species in nature, whose existence and development also depend on the natural law. If we don't see this fact we cannot develop ourselves reasonably and effectively. Post-humanism comes after the crisis of humanism, which means that over-evaluating the role of Man has come to an end, and Man has entered into a "post-human" stage. In such a "posthuman" stage, Man is no longer the only species that has rational thought, nor is he the head of all the species on the earth. The only superiority of Man lies in his characteristic of possessing more rational thoughts. Furthermore, Man is the most imaginative, and he can create various wonders, some of which cannot even be controlled by himself. The appearance of posthumanism demonstrates an orientation of literary and cultural theory in the future.
First Page
4
Last Page
11
Recommended Citation
Wang, Ning. 2013. "Trends of Literary Theory in the Post-Theoretical Era: Towards Posthumanism." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 33, (6): pp.4-11. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol33/iss6/25
