Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.2, 2023

 

Comparison of “Wen-Jili” and “Text-Texture”

(Abstract)

 

Liu Fangxi

 

“Wen-jili (wenli)” in Chinese and “text-texture” in English both originally refer to the visual form and related characteristics of objects, while their extended sense deals with the form (audio form in particular) and related characteristics of literary works. The modern Western theory of “text-texture” and its pertinent theories break the indigenous connection between the formal and functional characteristics of language, cut literary works’ ontological bond with human and the world as well as veiling the richness and comprehensiveness of the human-world correlation. In ancient China, the concept of body and function is he (conformation) and quan (completeness), which rectifies the shortcomings of “text-texture.”