Table Of ContentAfter Postmodernism
This book engages with the critical decline of postmodernism and newer
currents of thinking that have come to the fore, including postcolonialism,
feminism, and cultural studies, constituting an exploration of the cultural
landscape after the heyday of postmodernism in the West and its profound
influence on the Chinese cultural scene.
Topics discussed include the prevalent theoretical trends and cultural phe-
nomena in the West in the wake of postmodernism, how these developments
have influenced contemporary Chinese literary and cultural criticism, and
how Chinese scholars can have an equal dialogue with the dominant Western
theorists. The chapters examine critical issues and figures in the fields,
including postmodernity and globalization, as well as the theories of Edward
Said, Gayatri Spivak, Homi Bhabha, and Judith Butler. Taking a compara-
tive and cross-c ultural perspective, especially between China and the West, the
title also sheds light on the imprint of Western theoretical trends on the lit-
erature and culture of contemporary China, exemplified in diasporic writing,
cinema, women’s literature, popular culture, and the overall orientation of
contemporary Chinese literature.
The book will be a critical reference for all levels of reader interested in
postmodernism, critical theory, postcolonialism, feminism, cultural studies,
comparative and world literature, and contemporary Chinese literature and
culture.
Wang Ning is Distinguished University Professor of Humanities and Social
Sciences at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Changjiang Distinguished
Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Tsinghua University in
China. He was elected to the Academy of Latinity in 2010 and to Academia
Europaea in 2013. He specializes in literary and cultural theory, comparative
literature, and world literature.
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After Postmodernism
Wang Ning
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book- series/ CPH
After Postmodernism
Wang Ning
First published in English 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Wang Ning
Originally written in Chinese by Wang Ning
Translated from Chinese into English by Wang Ning
English translation copyright © Wang Ning
The right of Wang Ning to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
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storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
This English version is published by arrangement with Shanghai Foreign Language Education
Press Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Wang, Ning, 1955– author, translator.
Title: After Postmodernism / Ning Wang.
Other titles: Hou xian dai zhu yi zhi hou. English
Description: Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. |
Series: China perspectives | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2021062150 (print) | LCCN 2021062151 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Postmodernism (Literature)–China. |
Chinese literature–20th century–Western influences. |
Postcolonialism–China.| Feminism and literature–China. |
Postmodernism–China. | LCGFT: Literary criticism.
Classification: LCC PL2303 .W335813 2022 (print) |
LCC PL2303 (ebook) | DDC 895.109/113–dc23/eng/20220411
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021062150
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021062151
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 28439- 2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 28918- 2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 29894- 6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003298946
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Newgen Publishing UK
Contents
Preface vii
PART I
Beyond Postmodernism 1
1 Postmodernity and Globalization 3
2 Globalization as Glocalization in China 17
3 Theories and Cultural Trends After Postmodernism 33
PART II
Postcolonialism Reconsidered 77
4 Diasporic Writing and the Reconstruction of
Chinese National and Cultural Identity or Identities 79
5 Edward Said: Orientalism and the Critique of
Cultural Hegemonism 92
6 Gayatri Spivak: Postcolonial Intellectual and
Third World Criticism 108
7 Homi Bhabha: Narration, Cultural Location,
and Identity 122
8 Chinese Cinema Challenged by Postcoloniality and
Globalization 134
vi Contents
PART III
Feminist Theory and Literature 147
9 New Orientations of Feminist Theory 149
10 Gender Studies in the Post- Theoretical Era 157
11 The Feminist Sense in Contemporary Chinese Female
Literature 172
PART IV
Cultural Studies 183
12 Cultural Studies: Mainstream Intellectual Trends
in the West 185
13 Cultural Studies and the Future of Comparative
Literature 198
14 Cultural Studies and Canonical Literature Studies 210
15 Postmodernity of Contemporary Chinese Popular
Culture 220
16 The Characteristics of Schizophrenia in Contemporary
Chinese Literature 231
Bibliography 245
Index 253
Preface
This book was originally published in Chinese by the Chinese Literature
Press in 1998, and then the second and revised edition was published by the
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press in 2019. The Chinese Literature
Press edition mainly collected some papers which I wrote in 1997– 1998, and
carried on the editing process, finally forming a quite systematic monograph.
At the invitation of the Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, the
second edition involved the addition of two chapters and some revisions to
the original ones. As I said in the original preface, my original intention was to
respond to a common concern in the domestic academic community: that is,
after the decline of postmodernism in Western literary theoretical circles, what
is worth studying? Indeed, postmodernism, after a period of development
within North America and Europe and, subsequently, travelling throughout
the world, was finally on the decline, and some of the non- mainstream dis-
cursive forces that were previously suppressed in the periphery—f eminist the-
ories and criticism, postcolonialism and Third World criticism, and cultural
studies— have all sought to move from the periphery to the center, and in an
attempt to remove the centrality of nominally imperial discourse. Readers in
the Chinese context may well remember that I had written and published a
lot about postmodernism and contemporary Chinese culture and literature
since the late 1980s, and at the same time, in China’s mainland, Hong Kong
and Taiwan, as well as in overseas academic and literary theoretical circles
which has launched some discussion and debate. So my name was automat-
ically associated with the term “postmodernism,” whether for good or ill.
I vowed several times that I would never write anything about postmodernism
again, but I could never get past the repeated invitations of editors at some
publishing houses and journals. It was later suggested to me that the best way
to say goodbye to postmodernism was to write a book that comprehensively
introduced Western literary theories and critical trends after postmodernism.
But that’s easy to say. You’d have to read a lot of books and numerous art-
icles to get started. So I took the opportunity of every conference and study
and lecture abroad for more than a decade to buy a large number of books
and academic journals in this field, plus some books and journals given to me
by my Western friends. There are hundreds of them. So I read, I wrote, and
viii Preface
I sent individual papers to various journals for publication. In this way, within
two years, I had published dozens of articles on this topic both at home and
abroad. At the suggestion of my friends, I picked out more than a dozen and
rearranged them for the first edition of the book.
The second edition, after a thorough revision, is divided into three parts
according to content and style. The first part deals with some issues related
to postmodernism to make a general review of what have appeared after
the decline of postmodernism. Of course, such a summary is unavoidable,
but should at least appeal to the general reader as well as enabling academic
colleagues to lay a foundation for further in-d epth research. The second part,
“Postcolonialism,” should be the focus of the book. After first making a
“bird’s eye view” review of the origin of postcolonial theory and the gen-
eral situation of postcolonial literature, I try to give a more detailed analysis
based on the theoretical characteristics of Said, Spivak, and Bhabha, who are
the representatives of postcolonial theory. They are discussed in connection
with the concerns of the Chinese literary, film, and cultural circles over the
past decades with regard to such issues as “postcolonialism” and “decolon-
ization,” as several Chinese commentators have become involved in the dis-
cussion of postcolonialism in a Third World context. Chapter 7 of the first
edition was not included in the second edition of the book, and this revision
has thus included the three major figures in postcolonial theory who are all
under critical review and discussion. The third part of the first edition had
only two chapters on Western and Chinese women’s literature and feminist
theory, respectively. Frankly speaking, my past research (especially when
discussing the postmodernity of contemporary Chinese literature) has often
neglected the rise of Chinese female literature in the past 30 years, which has
caused dissatisfaction among and even criticism from some of my female
friends. I think these two chapters in the first edition of the book at least prove
my own concern and attention to feminist critical theory and contemporary
Chinese female literature in the context of today’s cultural studies. The second
edition includes Chapter 10 which summarizes some of the new trends in the
transition from postmodern theory to gender studies.
Part IV deals with cultural studies that is prevalent in the West, especially
in English- speaking countries. Many issues are still under discussion because
they are too close to the present, especially in China. And there is far from any
consensus as to the definition of “Cultural Studies”; so my research can only
be a general and critical overview. Once combined with the actual situation
of China, I try to deal with China’s cultural studies under Western influence.
In short, since my main area of study is comparative literature and Western
literature and literary theory, even if I happen to dabble in Chinese literature,
I only use a comparative and cross- cultural perspective, especially between
China and the West. So this book basically reflects my consistent style of
writing or approach: moving beyond the boundaries of discipline, across
Eastern and Western cultures and literature, based on comparative literature
Preface ix
studies, based on the transformation of Western theories into contemporary
Chinese cultural and literary studies, and, finally, aiming to achieve the goal of
dialogue with the Western and international academic community. Of course,
this is only my own desire. As for whether it has been realized, it remains to be
tested by the general reader. If there are any inaccuracies in this book, I hope
that experts and scholars at home and abroad will not hesitate to rectify them.
What I want to particularly emphasize here is that the present English
book is by no means the faithful translation of my original Chinese book,
as I thought it should be different from writing intended for the Chinese
audience. In this sense, I have largely revised and sometimes even rewritten
the original Chinese book. In the process of revising and translating and
rewriting these chapters, I have also renewed the references and checked out
quotations. So the present book will look largely different from the original
Chinese one.
Some of the chapters were published in English-l anguage journals in
different forms. I simply acknowledge my heartfelt thanks to the editors of
these journals:
Chapter 1 was published as “Postmodernity, Postcoloniality and
Globalization: A Chinese Perspective,” Social Semiotics, 10(2)
(2000): 221– 233.
Chapter 2 was published as “Globalisation as Glocalisation in China: A
New Perspective,” Third World Quarterly, 36(11) (2015): 2059– 2074.
Chapter 4 was published as “Diasporic Writing and the Reconstruction
of Chinese National and Cultural Identity or Identities in a Global
Postcolonial Context,” ARIEL, 40(1) (2009): 107– 123.
Chapter 10 was published as “Gender Studies in the Post- Theoretical
Era: Mainly a Chinese Perspective,” Comparative Literature Studies,
54(1) (2017): 14– 30.
Chapter 11 was published as “Feminist Theory and Contemporary
Chinese Female Literature,” Tamkang Review, 29(1) (1998): 107– 121.
Chapter 16 was published as “From Psychoanalysis to Schizoanalysis:
Reflections on Current Chinese Literary Cultures,” Social Semiotics,
7(3) (1997): 323– 334.
I have, however, largely revised these journal articles so that they will
appear in the book as chapters rather than individual articles. Dr Zou Li, my
former postdoctoral researcher at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, helped me
translate Chapters 9, 12, 14, and 15 before my subsequent revisions. I express
my heartfelt thanks to him.
Thanks also must go to the following editors, colleagues, and friends: Sun
Guoyong from the Chinese Literature Press, Sun Yu, Sun Jing, and Liu
Huachu from the Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, and Lian
Sun and Xiaoyin Feng from Routledge, without whose encouragement and
