Abstract
In the 20th century's China, the theoretical study on "imagery" as an aesthetic category has gone through different phrases. Before 1980s, "imagery" was understood as a term imported from Western aesthetics, and in the early 1980s the study of imagery started to enter a phase of theoretical self-awareness. In the last two decade of the century, two trends emerged as the ontological construction and Sino-Western dialogue in the study of imagery. The former aims at the ontological study of images, during which the ontological construction and the generalization of images occurred simultaneously so as to gain the discourse power in research field. The latter adopts a Western way of thinking and research methodology contextualized by Western aesthetic thoughts, and the research was carried out more from the perspective comparative aesthetics. This trend was leading to a narrower prospect since the visual aspect of imagery is often dissociated. As a result, the first trend proves to be one of the most successful and fruitful approaches to promote the transformation of ancient Chinese literary theory in terms of the study of imagery.
First Page
204
Last Page
214
Recommended Citation
Han, Wei. 2014. "The Theoretical Construction and Developmental Genealogy of "Imagery" Aesthetics in the 20thCentury's China." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 34, (1): pp.204-214. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol34/iss1/17
