From Literature to Culture:A Review of Yiheng Zhao’s The River Fans Out:Literature and its Theories in China

摘要

The river fans out,forming a delta at the end of its long run through mountains and valleys.The current turns gentle and steady,and its course diverges into the sea.This might be the origin of the name of this book,in which Professor Yiheng Zhao provides us with a unique historical and theoretical approach to understanding the development and characteristics of Chinese literature,carefully analysing the various traditional and modern genres.He does not simply introduce the literature,but rather places it into a more ambitious narrative and semiotic framework to examine its significance.This approach links literature back to the study of meaning and forward to culture,the ocean into which every human creation finally merges.