The Bifurcation of Qing (情): The Lyric Tradition, Affect Theory, and the Possibility of Literature

Shuyang Li

doi:10.47297/wspctWSP2515-470203.20250901

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The Bifurcation of Qing (情): The Lyric Tradition, Affect Theory, and the Possibility of Literature

Volume 9, Issue 1

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The Bifurcation of Qing (情): The Lyric Tradition, Affect Theory, and the Possibility of Literature
The Bifurcation of Qing (情): The Lyric Tradition, Affect Theory, and the Possibility of Literature
Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Vol. 9, Issue 1, Pages: 22-30(2025)
Published：29 May 2025
DOI：10.47297/wspctWSP2515-470203.20250901
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Li Shuyang.The Bifurcation of Qing (情): The Lyric Tradition, Affect Theory, and the Possibility of Literature[J].Critical Theory,2025,09(01):22-30.
DOI：

Li Shuyang.The Bifurcation of Qing (情): The Lyric Tradition, Affect Theory, and the Possibility of Literature[J].Critical Theory,2025,09(01):22-30. DOI： 10.47297/wspctWSP2515-470203.20250901.

摘要

Abstract

Qing

(情) has been represented in literature through various conceptual guises—lyricism

affect

emotion

and feeling. Rather than recuperating a pre-lyrical state or clarifying the historical genealogy of

qing

this paper argues for a critical shift toward the act of

shu

(抒

expression)

emphasizing formal analysis and the agency of enunciation. In this framework

while the lyric tradition may function as an invented prehistory of modern and contemporary literature

its very articulation is a modernist undertaking

one that engages the present literary field through its dialogic and affective concerns.This articulation intersects with the affective turn

which

in the wake of the linguistic turn

resists infinite textual deconstruction and anti-essentialism by re-centering embodied sensation and pre-cognitive intensity. Within this critical conjuncture

the classical notion of

feng

(風) in Chinese lyricism resonates with the concept of

immediation

in affect theory: both navigate terrains beyond the binary oppositions of body/mind and sensibility/rationality. They pose ontological questions such a

s "How is the self possible?" and "How is the other possible?"Furthermore

through the expressive motion of

shu

and the practice of reparative reading

the work of representation and the affective orientation toward the other transform into broader inquiries: "How is literature possible?" and "How is society possible?" This paper interrogates the bifurcation of

qing

across Chinese and Western literary theories in order to explore how

qing

can serve as a critical vector for re-opening the literary

thereby reconsidering both the nature of literature and the agency of the literary subject.

关键词

Keywords

references

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