Abstract
This article explores the affective, bodily and linguistic aspects of Tao's lyricism in the pre-Qin period from the perspective of human-animal relationship. Based on the human-animal affective bonds in wuhua, this article first proposes that the animal effects emotional changes in human beings in the light of Deleuze and Guattari's "becoming-animal" and the affect theory, which can also be firmly demonstrated by the "qi" and "qi-qing" cosmology in the Pre-Qin period. Then it argues that the human-animal bond of "wuhua" is embodied and performative, thus forming affective auras between the bodies. Viewed linguistically, the special position of the animal at the split boundary between language and pre-language can be used creatively to fight against meticulous and precise symbolization of language, and in doing so, Chuang Tzu is performing the becoming of animals himself through writing. In sum, the animal can help us to observe, in a unique way, how the incipient lyricism is formed and its interconnectedness with nature in the Pre-Qin period, and "wuhua" is not at all naive anthropomorphism, but an opposition to rational epistemology, a solution to personal emotional problems with the help of nature.
First Page
161
Last Page
167
Recommended Citation
Hu, Suqin. 2018. "The Affect Theory of Tao with "Wuhua" from an Animal Perspective." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 38, (2): pp.161-167. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol38/iss2/12
