Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.3, 2024

Origins and Paradigm Evolution of Textual Close Reading Practices

(Abstract)

Cui Guoqing

Close reading, as a practice of meaning production from the minute units of text, serves as the driving force of modern interpretive activities. Its initial conveyance of a materialist aesthetic stance laid the foundation for modern literary criticism. From the perspective of the overall pattern of modern literary criticism, the modern concept of close reading originated with I.A. Richards, flourished with New Criticism, declined with cultural studies, and was revived with posttheory. Throughout a century of history, textual close reading has manifested in four dominant types: “purposeful” close reading as a tool for aesthetic education; “closed” close reading as a research method for aesthetic judgment; “symptomatic” close reading as a diagnostic tool for analyzing history and culture; and “immersive” close reading as an interactive mechanism for emotional communication. From methodological innovation to social action, the problem of internal integration among different close reading paradigms remains unresolved. The embodied perception of traditional Chinese thought and the close reading tradition of “using poetry to critique poetry” may offer insights into this problem, with Chinese and Western literary theories poised to converge and intersect in the modern invention of the “shiwenping” tradition.