Anthony C. Yu:Vergleichende Reisen: Essays über Literatur und Religion Ost und West von Anthony
- hardcover ISBN: 9780231143264
Andrew Plaks, professor of Chinese, comparative literature, and East Asian studies, Princeton University A living contradiction of Kipling's tired saw, Anthony C. Yu bridges the 'twain' o… More...
Andrew Plaks, professor of Chinese, comparative literature, and East Asian studies, Princeton University A living contradiction of Kipling's tired saw, Anthony C. Yu bridges the 'twain' of East and West with unsurpassed authority. The Nile on eBay FREE SHIPPING UK WIDE Comparative Journeys by Anthony C. Yu Throughout his academic career, Anthony C. Yu has employed a comparative approach to literary analysis that pays careful attention to the religious and philosophical elements of Chinese and Western texts. His mastery of both canons remains unmatched in the field, and his immense knowledge of the contexts that gave rise to each tradition supplies the foundations for ideal comparative scholarship. In these essays, Yu explores the overlap between literature and religion in Chinese and Western literature, beginning with an introduction to a principal method for relating texts to religion and then following with several essays that apply this approach to single texts in discrete traditions: the Greek religion in Prometheus; Christian theology in Milton; ancient Chinese religious thought in Laozi; and Chinese religious syncretism in The Journey to the West. Yu's essays also juxtapose Chinese and Western texts ( Cratylus next to Xunzi, for example, and their relationship to language) and subjects (liberal Greek education against general education in China), and compare a specific Western text and religion to a specific Chinese text and religion (such as the Commedia in the context of Catholic theology vs. The Journey to the West in the context of Chinese syncretism, united by the theme of pilgrimage). Yu's focus isn't entirely tied to the classics. He also considers the struggle for human rights in China and how this topic relates to ancient Chinese social thought and modern notions of rights in the West. FORMATHardcover LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description Throughout his academic career, Anthony C. Yu has employed a comparative approach to literary analysis that pays careful attention to the religious and philosophical elements of Chinese and Western texts. His mastery of both canons remains unmatched in the field, and his immense knowledge of the contexts that gave rise to each tradition supplies the foundations for ideal comparative scholarship. In these essays, Yu explores the overlap between literature and religion in Chinese and Western literature. He opens with a principal method for relating texts to religion and follows with several essays that apply this approach to single texts in discrete traditions: the Greek religion in Prometheus; Christian theology in Milton; ancient Chinese philosophical thought in Laozi; and Chinese religious syncretism in The Journey to the West. Yu's essays juxtapose Chinese and Western texts-Cratylus next to Xunzi, for example-and discuss their relationship to language and subjects, such as liberal Greek education against general education in China. He compares a specific Western text and religion to a specific Chinese text and religion. He considers the Divina Commedia in the context of Catholic theology alongside The Journey to the West as it relates to Chinese syncretism, united by the theme of pilgrimage. Yet Yu's focus isn't entirely tied to the classics. He also considers the struggle for human rights in China and how this topic relates to ancient Chinese social thought and modern notions of rights in the West. "In virtually every high-cultural system," Yu writes, "be it the Indic, the Islamic, the Sino-Japanese, or the Judeo-Christian, the literary tradition has developed in intimate-indeed, often intertwining-relation to religious thought, practice, institution, and symbolism." Comparative Journeys is a major step toward unraveling this complexity, revealing through the skilled observation of texts the extraordinary intimacy between two supposedly disparate languages and cultures. Notes A number of scholars have touched on the religious elements of Chinese literature, but none, I think, has done so with Anthony C. Yu's professional mastery of the Western and Chinese canonical traditions paired with a sophisticated literary analysis. At the heart of a number of the essays in this volume is a cogent argument that combines both capacities. -- Patrick Hanan, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Chinese Literature, emeritus, Harvard University Anthony C. Yu's unique breadth of learning bridges European and Chinese classic texts, ancient and modern writings, and the disciplines of literary and religious studies, making what Yu says about Plato, Aeschylus, Dante, and Milton, alongside Laozi, Xunzi, and Wu Cheng'en, so rich and suggestive. -- Andrew Plaks, professor of Chinese, comparative literature, and East Asian studies, Princeton University A living contradiction of Kipling's tired saw, Anthony C. Yu bridges the 'twain' of East and West with unsurpassed authority. Comparative Journeys masterfully counters the movement of the sun-and of the Hegelian Spirit. From an opening transhistorical survey of literature and religion worldwide, the book proceeds eastward from two early studies of Milton, through a pivotal consideration of Chinese-Western literary relations, to later essays on such variegated China-based subjects as religious syncretism and the classic epic Xiyouji ( Journey to the West), ghosts in Chinese fiction, the political-ethical bearing of the Daodejing, and the relation of Confucianism to human rights. The comparative pieces on Cratylus and Xunzi, the Commedia and the Xiyouji, the problematics of translation, and liberal education in China and the West embody standards to which other East/West comparatists would do well to aspire. -- Eric Ziolkowski, Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies, Lafayette College, and North American general editor of Literature and Theology Author Biography Anthony C. Yu is Carl Darling Buck Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Humanities and professor emeritus of religion and literature in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. A native of Hong Kong, He received his doctorate at The University of Chicago and held concurrent faculty appointments in the departments of East Asian languages and civilizations, English, and comparative literature, and on The Committee on Social Thought. Best known for his complete, annotated translation of The Journey to the West, Yu has also published Rereading the Stone: Desire and the Making of Fiction in "Dream of the Red Chamber" and State and Religion in China: Historical and Textual Perspectives. A revised, abridged version of The Journey to the West was published in 2006 as The Monkey and the Monk. Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgments 1. Literature and Religion 2. New Gods and Old Order: Tragic Theology in Prometheus Bound 3. Life in the Garden: Freedom and the Image of God in Paradise Lost 4. The Order of Temptations in Paradise Regained: Implications for Christology 5. Problems and Prospects in Chinese-Western Literary Relations 6. Narrative Structure and the Problem of Chapter Nine in the Xiyouji 7. Two Literary Examples of Religious Pilgrimage: The Commedia and The Journey to the West 8. Religion and Literature in China: The "Obscure Way" of The Journey to the West 9. The Real Tripitaka Revisited: International Religion and National Politics 10. "Rest, Rest, Perturbed Spirit!": Ghosts in Traditional Chinese Prose Fiction 11. Cratylus and the Xunzi on Names 12. Reading the Daodejing: Ethics and Politics of the Rhetoric 13. Altered Accents: A Comparative View of Liberal Education 14. Readability: Religion and the Reception of Translation 15. Enduring Change: Confucianism and the Prospect of Human Rights 16. China and the Problem of Human Rights: Ancient Verities and Modern Realities Index Review This collection of essays is highly recommended to anyone interested in understanding China and its rich cultural legacies. -- Zhang Longxi Journal of Religion The essays cover an impressive range of material, recapping Yu's long-term achievements as a leading scholar of religion and literature. -- Karen L. Thornber Journal of American Academy of Religion An original and pioneering work, it not only alerts the reader to unsuspected correlations between cultures but also, perhaps most important, outlines almost allegorically the dynamics that link the past and the present to the future. -- Marianna Benetatou China Review International Promotional "Anthony C. Yu's unique breadth of learning bridges European and Chinese classic texts, ancient and modern writings, and the disciplines of literary and religious studies, making what Yu says about Plato, Aeschylus, Dante, and Milton, alongside Laozi, Xunzi, and Wu Cheng'en, so rich and suggestive." -- Andrew Plaks, professor of Chinese, comparative literature, and East Asian studies, Princeton University "A living contradiction of Kipling's tired saw, Anthony C. Yu bridges the 'twain' of East and West with unsurpassed authority. Comparative Journeys masterfully counters the movement of the sun-and of the Hegelian Spirit. From an opening transhistorical survey of literature and religion worldwide, the book proceeds eastward from two early studies of Milton, through a pivotal consideration of Chinese-Western literary relations, to later essays on such variegated China-based subjects as religious syncretism and the classic epic Xiyouji ( Journey to the West), ghosts in Chinese fiction, the political-ethical bearing of the Daodejing, and the relation of Confucianism to human rights. The comparative pieces on Cratylus and Xunzi, the Commedia and the Xiyouji, the problematics of translation, and liberal education in China and the West embody standards to which other East/West comparatists would do well to aspire." -- Eric Ziolkowski, Charles A. Dana, Columbia University Press<
