Essay Questions 1

Within the peremeters of the questions below, share your thoughts on cultural clash and influence. No less than 500 words. 请从以下几个方面说明你对文化冲击和文化影响的看法；字数不得少于500.

• James Y. Liu, in his book The Interlingual Critic, argues that, “The problems of interpretation facing an intralingual critic are formidable enough: they become doubly so for the interlingual critic, since to the problems due to differences between historical periods are added those due to cultural and linguistic differences. The interlingual critic has to make a decision as to what basic attitude he should take toward such differences, and the decision will determine the kind of interpretation that he will offer. It is not an easy decision to make, for even within a single cultural and literary tradition there can be conflicting schools of hermeneutics.  . . . With regard to the interpretation of Chinese literature, the critic has a similar set of attitudes to choose from: Sino-centrism, Eurocentrism, cultural relativism, cultural perspectivism and trans-culturism. I am avoiding the term “cultural chauvinism” or “ethnocentrism” so that the critic’s own cultural and ethnic identity need not be called into question.” Which hat would you give Arthur Smith, Fukuzawa, the authors of Chinese Exclusion Act, Guo Songtao, Zou Rong, and Lu Xun, and why? 你觉得史密斯、郭嵩涛、福泽谕吉、邹容和鲁迅是以上哪一类型的文化学者？为什么？

• Having read both Smith and Lu Xun who never met, what objections do you see both individuals had to Chinese cultural traditions? What informed their writings, influenced their language, and shaped their views? 虽然史密斯和鲁迅从来没见过面，你觉得是什么决定了他们两个人对中国文化的看法，影响了他们的话语？