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Papers by Kaifan Yang

British and American Literature Studies Forum, 2021

Foreign literature studies in China begin to focus on and sort out its history of scholarship, an... more Foreign literature studies in China begin to focus on and sort out its history of scholarship, and this is an indication of academic self-consciousness. However, a review of the scholarship history requires a multi-perspective references, and a parallel review of the scholarship outside China is necessary. An examination of the scholarship tradition and innovation mechanism of Anglo-Saxon studies belonging to both English studies and medieval studies can help to maintain the disciplinary subjectivity and establish interdisciplinary mechanism of foreign literature studies in China. Anglo-Saxon studies can be traced back to Renaissance England, and has established the philological criticism tradition by the early 20th century; the challenges from various critical theories in the 20th century have prompted its integration with computer technology so as to establish the philology-based interdisciplinary mechanism. The digital humanities have further innovated Anglo-Saxon studies so that a new philological criticism emerges in the context of “total knowledge”.

Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2021

In the history of Beowulf criticism, the digressive narration is the focus of controversy. The cr... more In the history of Beowulf criticism, the digressive narration is the focus of controversy. The critics who emphasize the integrity of the work argue for the connections between digressive narration and main narration, and claim that the two overlap in their content. In contrast, the critics who value the historical significance of Beowulf regard the digressive narration as an artistic flaw which is the consequence of oral literature. The cognitive linguistic idea of isomorphism between form and thinking provides a new perspective to account for the digressive narration. From the angle of cognitive linguistics, the problem concerning the digressive narration is how the Anglo-Saxon ways of thinking can accept this artistic form. The perception of time as past and non-past shortens the distance between past and present, and juxtaposes past and present events. This perception of time determines how the Anglo-Saxon audience read and receive Beowulf. Rather than a sign of flawed art, the digressive narration is a narrative strategy adapting to the thinking of the Anglo-Saxon audience.

China University Teaching, 2018

The issue of how to transform the language-skills-oriented course structure and to overcome the d... more The issue of how to transform the language-skills-oriented course structure and to overcome the deficiency of reasoning skills and knowledge system has become central in the current reform of English majors in China. Area studies programmes aim to reach a full understanding of the target area with language courses as the basis, and this provides references and insights for the current reform of English majors. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between language courses and major courses: the former is the basis of English majors, while the latter is essential in establishing knowledge system; major courses should be transformed from knowledge course to course of knowledge system in order to highlight China’s knowledge system construction of the English world.

The paper reviews the three aspects of Anglo-Saxon studies in China: studies of Old English liter... more The paper reviews the three aspects of Anglo-Saxon studies in China: studies of Old English literature in the books of literary history written by Chinese scholars, criticisms of Old English poems and prose, and translations, and aims to have the international academia’s attention to Old English literature studies in China. The earliest introduction of Old English literature in China was found in a book of European literary history and this way of introducing Old English literature continues in the present day. As regards the criticisms of individual Old English poem and prose, Beowulf is the primary focus, while other poems and prose receive less attention. Compared with the previous two aspects, translations of Old English texts remain the most vigorous and nearly all Old English poems and primary Old English prose texts have been translated into Chinese.

Books by Kaifan Yang

utzverlag GmbH, 2020

The book examines the diachronic change of time perception throughout Anglo-Saxon England, with t... more The book examines the diachronic change of time perception throughout Anglo-Saxon England, with the conversion as a turning point. It draws evidence from a variety of sources,
in particular from a close reading of Bede’s historical writings and his treatises on time, from Old English poetry, especially The Dream of the Rood, The Phoenix, The Wanderer, Beowulf, The Ruin, Deor, from the literature of the Alfredian period, and from the lexical and statistical analysis of Old English time words. It offers insights into the complexity of time in the Anglo-Saxon context, and shows how the change of time can help to understand the conceptual system of the Anglo-Saxons.

Book Reviews by Kaifan Yang

Style, 2022

As one of the Cambridge critical concepts series, Time and Literature is a collection of essays a... more As one of the Cambridge critical concepts series, Time and Literature
is a collection of essays authored by a group of scholars with different
disciplinary background in the field of time studies. The volume deals
with time’s inner intricacy, its intrinsic relations with literature, and its
application in the understanding of other concepts. In “Introduction”
(1–14), the editor Thomas M. Allen emphasizes the centrality of time in
our experience of life. He thinks that literature can represent the intangible
time as tangible and manipulable. By contextualizing time studies
in literary criticism both as a critical interest with its origin back to the
pre-Socratics and as a temporal turn in modern criticism, he argues that
time is not only a theme or a property of literature, but also essential in
understanding the nature of literature.

British and American Literature Studies Forum, 2021

Foreign literature studies in China begin to focus on and sort out its history of scholarship, an... more Foreign literature studies in China begin to focus on and sort out its history of scholarship, and this is an indication of academic self-consciousness. However, a review of the scholarship history requires a multi-perspective references, and a parallel review of the scholarship outside China is necessary. An examination of the scholarship tradition and innovation mechanism of Anglo-Saxon studies belonging to both English studies and medieval studies can help to maintain the disciplinary subjectivity and establish interdisciplinary mechanism of foreign literature studies in China. Anglo-Saxon studies can be traced back to Renaissance England, and has established the philological criticism tradition by the early 20th century; the challenges from various critical theories in the 20th century have prompted its integration with computer technology so as to establish the philology-based interdisciplinary mechanism. The digital humanities have further innovated Anglo-Saxon studies so that a new philological criticism emerges in the context of “total knowledge”.

Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2021

In the history of Beowulf criticism, the digressive narration is the focus of controversy. The cr... more In the history of Beowulf criticism, the digressive narration is the focus of controversy. The critics who emphasize the integrity of the work argue for the connections between digressive narration and main narration, and claim that the two overlap in their content. In contrast, the critics who value the historical significance of Beowulf regard the digressive narration as an artistic flaw which is the consequence of oral literature. The cognitive linguistic idea of isomorphism between form and thinking provides a new perspective to account for the digressive narration. From the angle of cognitive linguistics, the problem concerning the digressive narration is how the Anglo-Saxon ways of thinking can accept this artistic form. The perception of time as past and non-past shortens the distance between past and present, and juxtaposes past and present events. This perception of time determines how the Anglo-Saxon audience read and receive Beowulf. Rather than a sign of flawed art, the digressive narration is a narrative strategy adapting to the thinking of the Anglo-Saxon audience.

China University Teaching, 2018

The issue of how to transform the language-skills-oriented course structure and to overcome the d... more The issue of how to transform the language-skills-oriented course structure and to overcome the deficiency of reasoning skills and knowledge system has become central in the current reform of English majors in China. Area studies programmes aim to reach a full understanding of the target area with language courses as the basis, and this provides references and insights for the current reform of English majors. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between language courses and major courses: the former is the basis of English majors, while the latter is essential in establishing knowledge system; major courses should be transformed from knowledge course to course of knowledge system in order to highlight China’s knowledge system construction of the English world.

The paper reviews the three aspects of Anglo-Saxon studies in China: studies of Old English liter... more The paper reviews the three aspects of Anglo-Saxon studies in China: studies of Old English literature in the books of literary history written by Chinese scholars, criticisms of Old English poems and prose, and translations, and aims to have the international academia’s attention to Old English literature studies in China. The earliest introduction of Old English literature in China was found in a book of European literary history and this way of introducing Old English literature continues in the present day. As regards the criticisms of individual Old English poem and prose, Beowulf is the primary focus, while other poems and prose receive less attention. Compared with the previous two aspects, translations of Old English texts remain the most vigorous and nearly all Old English poems and primary Old English prose texts have been translated into Chinese.

utzverlag GmbH, 2020

The book examines the diachronic change of time perception throughout Anglo-Saxon England, with t... more The book examines the diachronic change of time perception throughout Anglo-Saxon England, with the conversion as a turning point. It draws evidence from a variety of sources,
in particular from a close reading of Bede’s historical writings and his treatises on time, from Old English poetry, especially The Dream of the Rood, The Phoenix, The Wanderer, Beowulf, The Ruin, Deor, from the literature of the Alfredian period, and from the lexical and statistical analysis of Old English time words. It offers insights into the complexity of time in the Anglo-Saxon context, and shows how the change of time can help to understand the conceptual system of the Anglo-Saxons.

Style, 2022

As one of the Cambridge critical concepts series, Time and Literature is a collection of essays a... more As one of the Cambridge critical concepts series, Time and Literature
is a collection of essays authored by a group of scholars with different
disciplinary background in the field of time studies. The volume deals
with time’s inner intricacy, its intrinsic relations with literature, and its
application in the understanding of other concepts. In “Introduction”
(1–14), the editor Thomas M. Allen emphasizes the centrality of time in
our experience of life. He thinks that literature can represent the intangible
time as tangible and manipulable. By contextualizing time studies
in literary criticism both as a critical interest with its origin back to the
pre-Socratics and as a temporal turn in modern criticism, he argues that
time is not only a theme or a property of literature, but also essential in
understanding the nature of literature.