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THE MAGIC MIRROR:
REPRESETATIONS OF MONSTERS IN CHINESE CLASSICAL TALES
by
Jingyu Xue
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES)
August 2012
Copyright 2012 Jingyu Xue
Object Description
| Title | The magic mirror: representations of monsters in Chinese classical tales |
| Author | Xue, Jingyu |
| Author email | jingyuxu@usc.edu;xue.jingyu@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | East Asian Languages and Cultures |
| School | College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2012-05-03 |
| Date submitted | 2012-07-27 |
| Date approved | 2012-07-27 |
| Restricted until | 2012-07-27 |
| Date published | 2012-07-27 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Cheung, Dominic |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Birge, Bettine Rosen, Stanley |
| Abstract | This dissertation is a systematic examination on the literary representations of monsters throughout the life span of Chinese classical tales, from the Six Dynasties period to the end of the Qing dynasty. Monsters are anomalous, spiritualized animals, plants or objects, alien to human kind, yet almost all monsters in China are human-like: some have acquired certain human qualities, while others can even assume human forms. ❧ At the center of the Chinese conception of monsters is their ambiguous relationship with humans: monsters are like humans, but not humans. The majority of Chinese accounts on monsters exist in the form of classical tales, stories written down in classical language by elite authors. These monster tales form a distinct body of texts where men of letters are allowed to address a complex set of cultural concerns about the boundaries around the human realm through constructing images of monsters in various ways. ❧ Focusing on the intricate relationship between monsters and humans, I will delineate three distinct literary conventions of representing monsters in classical tales. 1), monsters are often portrayed as the “other” to humans, a strange existence outside of social structure and cultural norms. Yet in a sense, they are also a mirror that reflects human desires and human anxieties that have been repudiated, externalized and defeated. 2), monsters can be domesticated and humanized, turning into exact mirror images of human beings, even the epitome of human virtues. 3), monsters can also be demystified and internalized as the product of human mind and human behavior, making human beings mirror images of the otherness and monstrosity originally attributed to monsters. Each chapter explores one of the 3 traditions of representing monsters and its complex meanings. I will also trace the changes in the representations of monsters over time and in different social and cultural contexts within each literary tradition that I have identified, as well as the interplay of all three traditions during the late imperial period, which, as I argue, makes it possible for the monsters to straddle various culturally constructed borders. |
| Keyword | Chinese literature; monsters; classical tales |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Rights | Xue, Jingyu |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume4/etd-XueJingyu-1009.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | THE MAGIC MIRROR: REPRESETATIONS OF MONSTERS IN CHINESE CLASSICAL TALES by Jingyu Xue A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES) August 2012 Copyright 2012 Jingyu Xue |
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