2025年3月24日 周一
Modern Chinese humor born in the mutual learning among civilizations: A revisited look at The Analects fortnightly through the lens of aesthetics
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B83-02;I206.6

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    Abstract:

    Humor is a unique aesthetic category that combines values of both negativity and positivity, and plays a significant role in representing the civilization pattern of a nation. There have long been confusions from cultural others like "do the Chinese have a sense of humor", and local prejudices like "humor is not to be admitted in the hall of great and good taste". They reflect a dual challenge faced by domestic humor researchers, the former concerning the ethnic connotations of Chinese humor, and the latter concerning the level of interpretation. Essentially, the judgment of taste is a problem within the realm of aesthetics, and the rejection of humor in standard culture and its prosperity in folk culture also represent a gap in the aesthetic continuum of humor. Therefore, the study of humor through the lens of aesthetics may help repair the continuum, as well as advance the integration of interpretive levels of various humor theories, becoming a feasible way to rehabilitate Chinese humor. The Analects fortnightly, edited by Lin Yutang et al., is the first humor magazine in China. It not only gathers humorous works at all times and in all countries, but also gives the initial Chinese interpretations and conceptions of modern humor. From its first to its last issue, The Analects has published over 70 articles discussing humor, which constitute a relatively comprehensive system of interpretation covering the connotation, types, functions, the cognitive mechanism, as well as the creation and appreciation of humor. This article sorts out and analyzes these contents, and finds that: The Analects’ advocacy for humor actually transcends the domain of literature and should be seen more as a new philosophy of life born out of the mutual learning of civilizations. And this new philosophy is aesthetic at the core, obtaining its modernity from German classical philosophy, voluntarism, psychological aesthetics, psychoanalysis, expressionist aesthetics, and historical materialist aesthetics. Simultaneously, it inherits the spirit of Chinese traditional culture and exhibits charms of respecting emotions and facts, being proactive while prudent, extolling and criticizing, uniting beauty and goodness, emulating laws of nature and valuing authenticity, and pursuing harmony between mind and circumstance. It cares more about how to achieve a responsible leisure, conveying an ideal of maximizing the experience of being in the world in a dignified and sublime way.

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葛婉君,吴霞.文明互鉴中诞生的中国现代幽默:美学视域下的《论语》半月刊再探[J].重庆大学学报社会科学版,2024,30(6):175~187

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  • Online: February 13,2025
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