Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.12, 2018

 

The Textual Research Method and Modern Chinese Literature

(Abstract)

 

Jin Hongyu

 

Textual research on modern literature inherits the tradition of textual research in classical Chinese literature and history. Having gone through prosperity and decline, traditional textual research thrived again during the twenties and thirties of the 20th century, achieving a modern transformation and making progress despite setbacks. Early attempts were made to apply this technique to modern literature, but the first results were only visible in the 1980s, and it was not until the 21st century that this approach to modern literature was appreciated and practiced. In its quest for appropriate evidence, textual research on modern literature usually needs to dichotomize that evidence, providing a general critique of its nature and worth but at the same time addressing the issue of “proof,” which involves questions of methodology that generally include the techniques of logical thought, investigation and observation and supporting textual evidence. The methodology of textual research on modern literature is wide-ranging, covering internal and external textual research on all the sub-disciplines of documentary historiography and at the same time involving the “supporting” knowledge of disciplines like geography, politics, and jurisprudence. The methodology of textual research on modern literature is the methodology of higher criticism, but it has evident shortfalls and limitations. We need to position it as “studies in narratology (shuxue),” which is different not only from the hermeneutical method but also from the minute examination of detail. We should certainly not advocate “argument from silence” (mozheng) or “overstretched” textual research. Only greater use of the dialectical thinking and critical spirit of Marxism can make textual research on modern Chinese literature more scientific and effective.