2016 Vol. 32, No. 3

Specialty
Computer-aided Rhetorical Analysis: State of the Union Addresses (1993—2008) as a Case Study
QIAN Duoxiu, David Kaufer
2016, 32(3): 1-9.
Abstract(427) PDF(8)
Abstract:
It has been ticklish to do rhetorical analysis quantitatively. Existing studies mainly focus on literary texts and rely on subjective reading in analysis. This paper intends to introduce a computer-aided empirical method for rhetorical analysis based on a case study of the State of the Union addresses from 1993 to 2008. DocuScope, a software dedicated to rhetorical analysis, and other tools for statistical data collection are used in this study. It is followed by close reading to further the analysis. It is found that the addresses by former Presidents Clinton and Bush demonstrate different rhetorical features and have different rhetorical effects. This case study shows that DocuScope, together with its embedded dictionary of rhetorical features, can help researchers to employ a consistent method and arrive at an objective and reliable rhetorical appraisal of texts. The study provides a new approach to the study of rhetoric and can be replicated for more systematic findings.
Explicit and Implicit Cohesive Devices and Coherence in English-Chinese Translation Teaching
LU Jie-yu
2016, 32(3): 10-14.
Abstract(655) PDF(24)
Abstract:
The identification and application of coherence and cohesive devices are directly related to the quality of text translation. Thus in the translation teaching, learners should not only be required to identify the cohesive devices and coherence in the source text, but also be guided to reproduce the corresponding cohesion and coherence in the target text. This paper makes a contrastive analysis of cohesion and coherence in English-Chinese translation teaching, with a view to help the contrastive study of English and Chinese and improve the teaching of translation.
The Construe of Interactive Meaning in Multimodal Electronic Dictionaries—Taking LDOCEP for IOS as an Example
ZHANG Chun-yan, CHEN Si-yi-ye
2016, 32(3): 15-20.
Abstract(439) PDF(7)
Abstract:
With the rapid development of the technology of electronic network, dictionaries show a tendency for electronization and mulitimodalization. This paper, under the theoretical framework of Kress and van Leeuwen's multimodal discourse analysis, attempts to analyze the construe of interactive meaning in the electronic dictionary Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English the 5th Edition Plus for IOS. The research results show that LDOCEP, compared to traditional paper dictionaries with a single visual modal, integrates wording, images, sounds, colors and other signs to make full use of readers' multimodal senses of vision, hearing and touch, may optimize the multilateral dialog and interaction among participants, learners and dictionary compilers/designers, and help learners develop their multiliteracy.
A Study on the Ecological Language Teaching from the Postmethod Perspective
HAN Xing, CAO Chun-chun
2016, 32(3): 21-25.
Abstract(316) PDF(5)
Abstract:
From the postmethod perspective, the present study intends to explore the construction of English class ecology. Different from any other traditional teaching method and approach, postmethod is a new critical thinking for language teaching, which is beyond any ONE teaching method. Firstly, the paper discusses the building of language teaching ecology based on the basic principle of postmethod, namely learner autonomy, teacher autonomy and teacher empowerment. Then, guided by the philosophy of particularity, practicality and possibility, the study probes into how to maximize teachers' initiative and creativity according to various teaching situation and optimize English class ecosystem structure, so as to establish a harmonious, healthy and vibrant ecosystem language class.
A Discourse-based Study of the Topics in the Ba-construction
WANG Lei, LI Tao
2016, 32(3): 26-31.
Abstract(301) PDF(8)
Abstract:
The Ba-construction is one of the most discussed topics in Chinese linguistics. In recent years, apart from its grammatical and semantic features, its textual function is getting more and more attention. This paper, by applying a set of measurements of topic continuity proposed by Givón (1983), tries to make clear how the topics of the Ba-construction behave in discourse. Through quantitative analysis, the following findings are made:the subject of the Ba-construction is most likely to become an important topic in discourse, whereas the object of Ba, being less active in discourse, is normally a secondary one; the object of Ba tends to be definite, and it is less likely to function as topic when it is indefinite; other nominal elements after the object in the Ba-construction are barely important as topic in discourse, although they could also function as one in some cases.
2016, 32(3): 32-32.
Abstract(280) PDF(5)
Abstract:
Media, Culture, Identity—An Analysis of Current Shifts in the Media and Cultural Landscape in the Spirit of Marshall McLuhan
Christina Schachtner, TANG Tao
2016, 32(3): 33-39.
Abstract(416) PDF(10)
Abstract:
According to Marshall McLuhan, the message of any medium or any technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs (McLuhan 1968, 22f.). In this respect, McLuhan did not focus on the contents of media but on the cultural implications of the medium, introducing a new perspective to media studies which purports that media are not neutral. Instead they correspond to the cultural code of a society. As a result, the kinds of media which are developed and distributed in a particular society are not due to chance. In this article I would like to discuss what McLuhan's thesis means in concrete terms in today's world. Which developmental trends are emerging in the face of mediatization processes which are moulded by the global spread and use of digital media across countries and social settings? In the rest of the paper I will attempt to respond to current messages in the digital media which relate to culture and the subject.
Towards the Ontology of Ahuman in the Age of Contemporaneity
Andrija Filipović, KOU Fu-rong
2016, 32(3): 40-44.
Abstract(277) PDF(5)
Abstract:
Among the more recent scholars, McLuhan's conception of media and technology as an extension of the human has been replaced by the conception according to which technology is no longer simply a tool, but the basis of thinking the human in general, so instead of thinking the subject and the body in relation to the social, the subject and the body are thought primarily through their relations with technology. The point of contention in thinking the relations between the human and technology should be the concept of life itself as it is produced within the capitalist axiomatic. Life itself, as both organic and nonorganic, is produced by the processes of deterritorialization on the one hand (capitalist axiomatic) and the processes of reterritorialization (the State) on the other hand, and by including these two processes in production of the subject, the body and technology, I will show in this paper that only by developing the ontology of the ahuman, as opposed to the ontology of the nonhuman, the inhuman and the posthuman, one can critically approach the age of contemporaneity.
The Aesthetic Newness in New Media Art:The Extension of the Senses or Dis-sensus Communis?
Bojana Matejić, WANG Ling
2016, 32(3): 45-49.
Abstract(234) PDF(5)
Abstract:
The historical technological transformation conditions the socio-economic and political relations between individuals in the given world, as well as, ontological changing of the human sensorium and of the human being itself. As Marx already pointed out, the technology exemplifies the interaction between human beings and nature and changes the way in which human embodiment is historically constructed and experienced. According to McLuhan, the extension of the sensorium by technological dilatation produces new ratios or proportions among all the senses. McLuhan highlighted that the extended faculties and senses constitute a single field of experience, which demands that they become collectively conscious. My aim is to examine this assertion in the context of thinking the "emancipatory new" in a so-called New Media Art in the present, post-Fordist state of affairs. If the power of the (new) media is to be found in the very possibility to change the way individuals interact with one another, according to the theoretical point of departure by Marshall McLuhan, the artistic emancipatory change should be thought as the singular change towards materialisation of the dis-sensus communis regardless any new "technology".
The Aesthetic Meaning of “the Medium is the Message”
CHEN Hai
2016, 32(3): 50-54.
Abstract(561) PDF(7)
Abstract:
At present, "the Medium is the Message" is studied much, and nothing can be said from communication point of view. However, if we study from the aesthetic point of view, we will find that "the Medium is the Message" has a unique aesthetic meaning. McLuhan should not only be seen as a media theorist, and should be seen as a broad literary theorists and aestheticians.
Understand the Temperature of Big Data—Based on McLuhan’s Theory of Cold and Hot Media
LI Lu
2016, 32(3): 55-59.
Abstract(448) PDF(9)
Abstract:
McLuhan distinguished the "cold" and "hot" attribute of the media according to the degree of participation of the audience as well as the clarity of information. "Cold media" is generally considered as a medium with high participation degree and low information clarity. Based on these two criteria, the big data technology could be regarded as "cold media". On the basis of the theory of "cold" and "hot" media, this paper analyzes the fundamental reasons for the forming of the "cold media" of the big data technology from two aspects:in terms of the expression "to discard the essential for the perfection" on the data analysis, on the other hand, the use of dynamic interaction of the audience in the forming of the database, its essence lies in the digitization of the big data technology on the human perception ability.
The Leader of the New China X-ray Study—The Establishment and Development of the X- ray Science of Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Technology
ZHANG Mei-fang, CHEN Yao
2016, 32(3): 60-67.
Abstract(327) PDF(4)
Abstract:
From 1950s to 60s, Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Technology (formerly Beijing Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Industry, now University of Science and Technology Beijing) became one of the national X-ray research and teaching centers. Based on the interviews of the participant and academic leader Professor Fang Zhengzhi, the paper shows the creation and development of the X-ray study in Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Technology:at the beginning of preparation of metal physics, X-ray study came into the scientific research and teaching system; from 1950 to 1963, the teaching and research group of X-ray carried out X analysis of X-ray shape deformation of the alloy, the small angle scattering of X-ray and other new technologies, the teachers and students from more than 10 colleges and universities came to study X-ray and wrote the graduation theses, accordingly, Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Technology made a contribution to the development of education and research of X-ray Study for new China.
How to Console the Lonely Soul?—A Research about Different Needs of Parents Lost Their only Child
LIU Xiang-ying, CHEN Xin-yu
2016, 32(3): 68-73.
Abstract(369) PDF(6)
Abstract:
Parents who have lost their only child form a special group of people in China. After experiencing the pain of losing the only child, they are about to step into an age of facing numerous difficulties. In recent years, the government has paid more attention to the group, and promulgated relevant policies to improve the situation. But national policy is not unified and the orientation isn't accurate, the policy towards parents who have lost their only child is "one size fits all". Without considering the diversity and hierarchy of needs of this group, it's hard to meet the actual demands and leads to a huge wastes of resources. Based on the field investigation, we make a detailed explanation about different needs of them in economy, mentality and the elderly support system, giving some suggestions about building up a supply-demand targeting institution, in hope of providing a new perspective for studying the needs of parents who have lost their only child.
The Business Streets in the Area of Three Hills and Five Gardens in the Qing Dynasty
ZHAO Lian-wen, QIAO Ting
2016, 32(3): 74-79.
Abstract(364) PDF(4)
Abstract:
In the Qing dynasty, the emperors continually built royal gardens in the area of Three Hills and Five Gardens, which made royal gardens experience its peak development in Qianlong period. In order to meet the royals' curiosity and life needs of the nobles, and to provide necessary material supplement and spiritual comfort for the lower-class people, the emperors of the Qing dynasty built the business streets in the area of Three Hills and Five Gardens. From the garden art point of view, the construction of business streets also was the need of landscape garden. In a word, the architectural styles of business streets have not only the store pattern of Suzhou streets in Jiangnan, but also the typical northern business streets, which epitomizes royal garden styles with the north culture and south culture.
Historic Site, Document and Image: Archaeological Discovery and Preliminary Study of the Site of Changchun Garden
SUN Meng
2016, 32(3): 80-87.
Abstract(288) PDF(4)
Abstract:
Archaeological excavation of Changchun Garden more comprehensively and systematically revealed the Palace Area, Danhuaitang Parish and the Hanjingtang Area, is the largest, longest and most significant excavation over the years, and provides the most important and intuitive information for archaeological research. In the study of the garden site, it is important to use the preserved documents and image data, so as to further clarify the existence of the site in time and space.
Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Ching-wei Tried to Get Germany for the Purpose of Mediating Conflict between China and Japan in 1935
ZHANG Bei-gen
2016, 32(3): 88-93.
Abstract(409) PDF(6)
Abstract:
In 1935, Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei got Germany to mediat the Sino-Japanese conflict, which is not an attempt to take refuge in Germany and Japan's anti-Communist traitorous conspiracy, nor does it sell out national and State interests. Chiang Kai-shek's real objective is, through Germany's mediation to stop Japan to get further expansion of northern China incident, in order to avoid an all-out war, and both sides "mutually assured destruction". In addition, he also wanted to win time for China to prepare Sino-Japanese war. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was preparing to resist Japan with Russia and it is impossible to establish anti-Soviet front with Japan. Nanjing national Government's policy toward Japan took some major changes, shifting from compromise to the determined resistance, and Chiang Kai-shek decided to end Germany's mediation.
Reading & Research
Methodology of Pleasure Peak: a Test of Jiaofang in Tang Dynasty
DONG Xi-ping, GUO Xing
2016, 32(3): 94-99.
Abstract(382) PDF(5)
Abstract:
The symbol of cultural prosperity in Tang dynasty is that poetry creating and singing reached a historical peak, and the maturity and prosperity of Tang poetry has an important relation with its music. Song poetry was an important form of Tang poetry, the development of Song poetry was closely associated with Jiaofang of Tang dynasty, and as a quasi entertainment executive, Tang Jiaofang played an indispensable role in Tang poetry creation and dissemination. Pleasure Peak:a Test of Jiaofang in Tang Dynasty by Wang Li made an interpretation of this from the system and made a series of breakthrough in the aspect of methodology.
War Space, Desire Space and Individual Space: the Space of Lust, Caution
YANG Chun
2016, 32(3): 100-106.
Abstract(348) PDF(6)
Abstract:
Lust, Caution is full of contradictions of binary opposition. Zhang Ailing gave a full expression of the individual lives in perceptual space (lust) and the rational space (caution), the space of human desire (lust) and social norms (caution), the space of the state (caution) and the individuals (lust), and revolutionary space (caution) and desire space (lust). In the space of Lust, Caution love ethics of men and women showed gender differences and blending under the background of war. The author had a profound reflection of the survival and death, rescue and destruction, compromise and resistance, etc., and the readers can feel the hardship of life and the confusion of self perception. From her personal experience, Zhang Ailing constructed the occupied Shanghai from the military, politics, economy, society, culture, etc., and analysed Wang Jiazhi's living conditions and characteristics, revealing the struggle of human nature in the discourse of great revolutionary hero. The author's unique observation and experience of war, and her perception, imagination and presentation of the city, make the novel a charming light and color in the thinking of human nature.
Academic Contention & Criticism
Thinking about the Researches on the Western Learning to the East
MA Lai-ping
2016, 32(3): 107-112.
Abstract(325) PDF(4)
Abstract:
In the process of collision and integration of science and the national culture, especially as China has a long history, the cultural essence of science is more easily have an unexpected appearance. Therefore, dissemination of western learning to the east is a characteristic field to understanding science. The introduction of western science has three levels of influence on Chinese culture. Firstly is the influence on Chinese traditional science; secondly is the influence to the Confucianism, Taoism and other cultural forms; thirdly is the influence on the entire Chinese culture. Around these three levels, the author makes a useful discussion.
Philosophy & Science
Static Method and Its Interpretation—China Teaism with Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching
LIU Feng
2016, 32(3): 113-117.
Abstract(452) PDF(5)
Abstract:
China teaism, broad and profound, so lays the foundation for the inheritance and promotion of traditional culture. Tao Te Ching is a treasure of traditional culture, and also an important ideological source of China teaism. The paper is to interpret Tao Te Ching's philosophical connotation from the experience of feeling, with the static heart method as the main line of logic, hoping to present the wisdom of Lao Tzu to the readers.