April 2025 - English Studies

“Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer: Summary and Critique

“Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer first appeared in Companion to Comparative Literature, World Literatures, and Comparative Cultural Studies (2013), published by Cambridge University Press India.

Introduction: “Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer

“Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer first appeared in Companion to Comparative Literature, World Literatures, and Comparative Cultural Studies (2013), published by Cambridge University Press India. In this pivotal chapter, Pizer critiques the vagueness and instability of the term “world literature,” which he argues lacks disciplinary specificity and oscillates between a pedagogical practice and a heuristic model for literary circulation. To address this ambiguity, he proposes a meta-theoretical approach of contextual dialectics, emphasizing the interplay between the universal and the particular, as well as sameness and otherness in the literary texts chosen for world literature syllabi. Drawing upon Russian Formalist concepts like ostranenie (defamiliarization), Pizer outlines pedagogical strategies that enhance or reduce students’ familiarity with texts to foster deeper cross-cultural comprehension. He advocates for a dialectical method that enables students to engage with both familiar and alien literary traditions, not by collapsing their differences, but by navigating them critically. His insights build on and dialogue with theorists like Goethe, Damrosch, Cooppan, and Guillén, and are rooted in historical reflections on pedagogical practices from figures like Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Richard Moulton. Ultimately, Pizer’s work contributes significantly to the ongoing debate about the scope, method, and value of world literature instruction in contemporary academia.

Summary of “Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer

The Ambiguity of “World Literature”
- The term is “notoriously vague,” oscillating between a pedagogical category and a heuristic device (Pizer, p. 75).
- It “suggests all literature at all times from all places,” thus lacking disciplinary specificity (Pizer, p. 75).
Need for a Meta-Theoretical Approach
- Pizer argues for a method based on contextual dialectics, balancing the “universal and the culturally specific” in texts (Pizer, p. 75).
- “Students must learn to grasp the sameness/otherness, local/universal dialectic” (Pizer, p. 78).
Ostranenie as Pedagogical Strategy
- Drawing from Russian Formalism, Pizer uses ostranenie (defamiliarization) to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar.
- “Art removes objects from the automatism of perception” (Shlovsky, qtd. in Pizer, p. 82).
Historical Instability of the Discipline
- Introductory world literature courses lack “defined disciplinary boundaries” and remain “inherently unstable” (Pizer, p. 76).
- Early U.S. world literature courses often displayed tokenism, giving English-language texts prominence (Pizer, p. 76).
Dialectic Between Familiarity and Alienation
- Vilashini Cooppan’s idea of reading as an “unnerving moment” between familiarity and estrangement guides Pizer’s pedagogy (Pizer, p. 76).
- Damrosch seeks “a distinctive novelty that is like-but-unlike practice at home” (Pizer, p. 76).
Student-Generated Definitions of World Literature
- Students typically define it through canonicity and transnational impact (Pizer, p. 78).
- They often name texts like Uncle Tom’s Cabin or All Quiet on the Western Front as “border-crossing” works (Pizer, p. 78).
Goethe’s Influence and Translation Theory
- Pizer highlights Goethe’s conception of Weltliteratur as fostering “cultural mediation” and literary internationalism (Pizer, p. 79).
- Goethe’s three-tier model of translation balances accessibility with fidelity, fostering alienation as enrichment (Pizer, p. 79).
Marx and Engels vs. Goethe
- Marx and Engels envisioned “the end of all national literature” and the rise of global literary commonality (Pizer, p. 80).
- “National literature means little now” (Goethe, qtd. in Pizer, p. 80).
Teaching the Tensions of Universal/Particular
- Pizer uses paired texts (e.g., Tieck’s “Fair-Haired Eckbert” and Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”) to teach how “universal themes and historical-cultural particularities” interact (Pizer, p. 83).
- Students must navigate “between the extremes of homogenization and exoticism” (Pizer, p. 83).
Strategic Use of Defamiliarization
- In Faulkner’s work, defamiliarization arises from “the intraracial class conflict,” unfamiliar even to Southern U.S. students (Pizer, p. 84).
- In Tieck’s tale, motifs like the Doppelgänger and poetic birdsong cultivate the Romantic uncanny, which is made accessible through genre (Pizer, p. 85).
World Literature as Cognitive Expansion
- World literature helps students “see the world through a novel, unaccustomed filter” (Pizer, p. 86).
- But true ostranenie requires prior cultural scaffolding: “Only when this threshold is crossed can ostranenie take place” (Pizer, p. 86).

Theoretical Terms/Concepts in “Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer

Term/Concept	Full Explanation	Usage in the Article (with Page Reference)
World Literature	Literature that crosses national, linguistic, and cultural borders, often through translation and adaptation, and studied as part of a global literary system.	Pizer calls it a “notoriously vague term” that functions both as a teaching category and a heuristic model of literary circulation (Pizer, p. 75).
Contextual Dialectics	A critical approach that examines the tension between universal literary themes and culturally specific contexts in which texts are produced or read.	Pizer uses this to help students balance understanding of what is “universal” and what is “culturally specific” in world literature (Pizer, p. 75).
Ostranenie (Defamiliarization)	A Russian Formalist concept that makes familiar objects or texts appear strange, enabling fresh perception and critical distance.	Pizer applies this to teach “otherness,” enhancing or reducing student familiarity with texts to foster deeper understanding (Pizer, pp. 75, 82).
Systems Theory	A framework that views disciplines as closed systems with internal logic and boundaries, which become unstable when disrupted by external influences.	Pizer notes that world literature, unlike national literatures, has undefined boundaries and thus represents an “inherently unstable” system (Pizer, p. 76).
Canon/Canonicity	The concept of a recognized group of ‘great’ or essential literary works often taught as a tradition.	Students identify world literature using canonical figures like Shakespeare or Homer, showing continued reliance on canonical authority (Pizer, p. 78).
Heuristic Paradigm	A model or framework used for discovery or exploration rather than a fixed doctrine.	Pizer explains that “world literature” has often been a heuristic, critical concept more than a structured teaching domain (Pizer, p. 77).
Cultural Mediation	The process by which texts serve as a bridge between cultures, often through translation or critical exchange.	Pizer emphasizes Goethe’s view that world literature enables “cultural mediation” across national lines (Pizer, p. 79).
Universal/Particular Dialectic	The interplay between universal human themes and particular historical, social, or cultural elements in literary works.	Pizer places this dialectic at the heart of world literature pedagogy, guiding interpretive practice (Pizer, pp. 78–79).
Romantic Uncanny (Unheimlich)	A sense of eerie familiarity created by blending the known with the strange—common in Romantic literature.	Cited in the discussion of Tieck’s “Fair-Haired Eckbert,” which evokes uncanny effects through magical-real elements (Pizer, p. 76).
Translation Theory (Goethe)	Goethe’s three models of translation: literal, adaptive, and foreignizing; the last enriches the target language while retaining the strangeness of the original.	Students are introduced to Goethe’s translation theory to understand the role of estrangement and enrichment in cross-cultural reading (Pizer, p. 79).
Hermeneutic Alienation	A state of interpretive estrangement a reader experiences when reading texts from unfamiliar times, cultures, or languages.	Pizer explains the need to scaffold students’ learning to bridge the alienation caused by distant or unfamiliar texts (Pizer, pp. 82–83).
Local/Universal Dialectic	A teaching strategy that connects locally grounded cultural expressions to global literary patterns and concerns.	This dialectic allows students to move between understanding the “foreignness” and “relatability” of texts (Pizer, pp. 78–79).
Meta-theoretical Approach	A teaching method that foregrounds theoretical perspectives before analyzing primary literary texts.	Pizer opens his world literature courses with theory packets, offering students conceptual tools before textual engagement (Pizer, p. 78).
National vs. World Literature	The tension between viewing literature as an expression of national identity vs. a globally shared phenomenon.	Pizer explores this using perspectives from Goethe, Marx, Engels, and Posnett, each reflecting their historical contexts (Pizer, p. 80).

Contribution of “Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer to Literary Theory/Theories

🌍 1. Contribution to World Literature Theory

Pizer deepens the theoretical foundation of world literature by highlighting its semantic instability and dual nature as both a heuristic paradigm and pedagogical practice.

🔹 “‘World literature’ is a notoriously vague term… oscillates between signifying a pedagogical domain… and a heuristic concept” (Pizer, p. 75).
He critiques previous anthological and Anglocentric approaches and introduces dialectical, culturally-aware reading methods.

🔄 2. Contextual Dialectics and Comparative Literature

Contributes to comparative literature through his contextual dialectics method: reading texts through the universal/particular and sameness/otherness frameworks.
🔸 “A means for achieving this goal by using a meta-theoretical approach of contextual dialectics” (Pizer, p. 75).
Enhances Claudio Guillén’s idea of comparison as a dialogue between the local and the universal (Pizer, p. 76).

🌀 3. Systems Theory in Literary Studies

Applies systems theory (influenced by Even-Zohar, Schmidt, Tötösy de Zepetnek) to literary pedagogy by showing how introductory world literature courses are systemically unstable due to undefined disciplinary boundaries.
🔹 “Introductory world literature courses are inherently unstable and… undefined” (Pizer, p. 76).

🧠 4. Russian Formalism: Defamiliarization (Ostranenie)

Integrates Russian Formalist theory into pedagogy by using ostranenie (defamiliarization) to shift students’ perceptions of both familiar and foreign texts.
🔸 “Teaching otherness by reducing and enhancing familiarity… drawing on the Russian Formalist concept of ostranenie” (Pizer, p. 75).

Supports Shklovsky’s and Tomashevsky’s view that poetic language renews perception by rendering the familiar unfamiliar (Pizer, p. 82).

📖 5. Reader Response & Hermeneutics

Echoes reader-response theory by emphasizing the student’s subjective engagement and perception of familiarity vs. alienation in texts.

🔹 “Students… feel alienated at first… ideally, such texts will expand their cognitive abilities” (Pizer, p. 79).
Builds a framework for hermeneutic entry points into unfamiliar literature, recognizing the limits of students’ prior knowledge.

🌐 6. Translation Studies

Engages with Goethe’s translation theory, particularly the foreignizing method, showing how translation mediates global literary exchange.
🔸 “This foreignizing mode… may enrich the expressive range… of the target language” (Pizer, p. 79).

🧭 7. Postcolonial and Cultural Studies

Indirectly contributes to postcolonial discourse through the inclusion of Needham’s and Jameson-Ahmad’s debate on alterity and national consciousness in world literature.
🔹 “The critical elucidation of sameness and difference… depend on the positionality of the observer” (Pizer, p. 77).

🏛️ 8. Canon Theory and Literary History

Questions the authority of canonical texts and promotes temporal, geographical, and linguistic diversity over traditional canonicity in syllabus design.
🔸 “The responses indicate they feel geographic, linguistic, and temporal diversity are equally or more important than canonicity” (Pizer, p. 78).

Examples of Critiques Through “Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer

Literary Work	Critique Through Pizer’s Framework
William Faulkner – Barn Burning (1939)	Pizer highlights how the work defamiliarizes the American South for contemporary Southern students through unfamiliar socio-economic conflicts, especially intraracial class tensions. The story’s universal theme—conflict between family loyalty and moral responsibility—is emphasized within its local historical context (Pizer, p. 84).
Ludwig Tieck – Fair-Haired Eckbert (1797)	Tieck’s tale exemplifies the Romantic uncanny and the theme of defamiliarization. Pizer guides students to recognize elements such as incest, repressed memory, and magical realism as unfamiliar but grounded in a fairy-tale framework, allowing access to universal emotions and fears (Pizer, pp. 83–85).
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – West-Eastern Divan (1819, excerpts)	Used as a metatheoretical text, Goethe’s work introduces students to his model of translation and world literature. Pizer emphasizes Goethe’s three modes of translation and his vision of cultural mediation, preparing students to engage with foreign texts more deeply (Pizer, pp. 78–79).
Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels – Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848)	Pizer draws on the text’s literary theory to compare with Goethe’s idea of world literature, highlighting its radical, anti-national stance. It supports a historical view that world literature emerges with modernity and global consciousness (Pizer, p. 80).

Criticism Against “Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer

⚖️ Criticism Against “Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer

🔸 ⚠️ Ambiguity in Terminology
While Pizer rightly critiques the vagueness of “world literature,” his own use of the term remains conceptually fluid, which may leave readers with limited practical clarity on curriculum design.

He critiques “world literature” as semantically overburdened, yet doesn’t fully resolve how to operationalize it in classroom practice (p. 75).

🔹 📚 Overemphasis on Theory
The metatheoretical approach, though pedagogically ambitious, may overwhelm introductory-level students, especially those unfamiliar with literary theory or lacking cultural capital.

Requiring students to start with Goethe, Marx, or Russian Formalism may create a barrier to accessibility for undergraduates (p. 78).

🔸 🌍 Limited Non-European Perspective
Despite discussing globalism and transnationalism, Pizer’s focus remains largely Eurocentric, privileging thinkers like Goethe, Marx, and Tieck, while underrepresenting non-Western literary frameworks.

He references global diversity but examples remain mostly Western (e.g., Germany, U.S., France) (pp. 78–80).

🔹 🌀 Abstract vs. Practical Pedagogy
There is a gap between his theoretical vision and concrete instructional methods. Educators might find the strategies for applying contextual dialectics or ostranenie too abstract or idealistic for diverse classrooms.

Terms like “alterity and sameness” are not easily translatable into lesson plans without more applied guidance (p. 76).

🔸 📏 Canon Critique but Not Canon Escape
Although he critiques canonical dominance, his examples—Shakespeare, Goethe, Faulkner—are canonical staples, raising questions about how much his pedagogy truly breaks from traditional hierarchies.

Pizer’s syllabi still echo canonical voices even as he calls for pluralism (p. 78).

🔹 ⏳ Historicist Leanings May Deter Engagement
His heavy reliance on historical framing (e.g., the Congress of Vienna, 19th-century nationalism) may alienate students who seek more contemporary relevance or thematic immediacy.

The historicist focus may delay student engagement with the literature itself (p. 79–80).

Representative Quotations from “Teaching World Literatures” by John D. Pizer with Explanation

No.	Quotation	Explanation
1	“World literature is a notoriously vague term.”	Pizer opens the article by acknowledging the ambiguity and overextension of the term, noting its lack of clear disciplinary boundaries.
2	“I propose a methodology… by reading one culturally familiar and one culturally unfamiliar text through the filter of dialectics.”	He outlines his pedagogical strategy of comparing familiar and foreign texts to guide students through the universal/particular dialectic.
3	“The very notion of difference itself is unstable and frequently problematic.”	Citing Needham, he critiques fixed notions of cultural difference, showing how perspectives on ‘otherness’ are shaped by positionality.
4	“World literature… has mostly functioned since Goethe as a discursive concept entirely unrelated to pedagogy.”	Pizer critiques the gap between theoretical discussions of world literature and its application in classrooms.
5	“Students themselves engage in such cultural mediation as they read and analyze works from lands foreign to their… experience.”	Students are positioned as cultural mediators, interpreting unfamiliar texts and navigating differences, similar to Goethe’s vision.
6	“Art removes objects from the automatism of perception.” — Viktor Shklovsky	Pizer uses Shklovsky’s Russian Formalist concept of ostranenie (defamiliarization) to show how literature can reframe the familiar as strange.
7	“Students… must regard Faulkner’s South as not a great deal less foreign… than Tieck’s Germany.”	He encourages students to see regional U.S. literature as culturally distant, thereby challenging assumptions of proximity and familiarity.
8	“We encounter not only the possibility of differences but also a confirmation of common values and questions.”	Referencing Guillén, Pizer emphasizes that reading globally reveals both shared human concerns and cultural specificity.
9	“The dialectic of sameness and otherness… is inherent.”	This captures the core of Pizer’s approach: world literature should make the familiar unfamiliar, and vice versa, through critical juxtaposition.
10	“Only when this threshold is crossed can ostranenie take place.”	He stresses that before defamiliarization can occur, students must first understand the contexts that make texts feel foreign or close.

“Hegemony and Cultural Revolution” by Liu Kang: Summary and Critique

“Hegemony and Cultural Revolution” by Liu Kang first appeared in New Literary History in the Winter of 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 1), as part of a special issue on “Cultural Studies: China and the West.”

Introduction: “Hegemony and Cultural Revolution” by Liu Kang

“Hegemony and Cultural Revolution” by Liu Kang first appeared in New Literary History in the Winter of 1997 (Vol. 28, No. 1), as part of a special issue on “Cultural Studies: China and the West.” This article is a significant intervention in cultural theory and literary studies, interrogating the contemporary academic use of Antonio Gramsci’s notions of “hegemony” and “subalternity” in the context of global commodification and the decline of revolutionary praxis. Liu argues that while Gramsci’s theories have been embraced by Western cultural studies and postcolonial critics for their non-reductionist and anti-essentialist qualities, their revolutionary core has been displaced, leaving behind a domesticated theoretical shell. Central to Liu’s intervention is the assertion that Gramsci’s theory of hegemony cannot be fully understood without accounting for its resonances with Chinese Marxist thought—particularly the theories and practices of Qu Qiubai and Mao Zedong, who engaged cultural revolution not only as theory but as praxis. Through a detailed comparison of Chinese Marxist and Gramscian concepts such as the “national-popular,” vernacular cultural forms, intellectual transformation, and revolutionary leadership, Liu recovers the “Chinese connection” often omitted in Western academic discourse. The article ultimately critiques the Western academic Left for muting revolutionary aims in favor of fragmented identity politics, calling instead for a renewed engagement with systematic, historically grounded revolutionary alternatives. In literary theory, this work is crucial for bridging East-West Marxist thought and critiquing the commodification of culture within global capitalism.

Summary of “Hegemony and Cultural Revolution” by Liu Kang

1. Gramsci’s Hegemony in a Post-Revolutionary Age

Liu Kang opens by identifying a major contradiction: Gramsci’s revolutionary theory is now being used in a depoliticized academic context, particularly in the West.

“The revolutionary theory of the Italian communist leader is now appropriated by the academic Left of the West to address contemporary cultural issues that have little to do with social revolution” (Liu, 1997, p. 69).
“Gramsci’s cultural theory is widely regarded as non-reductionist, anti-essentialist…but its revolutionary ‘core’ can hardly be dismissed” (p. 69).

2. Parallel Histories: Gramsci and Chinese Marxists

Liu draws critical historical parallels between Antonio Gramsci’s Italy and the context in which Chinese Marxists like Qu Qiubai and Mao Zedong developed their revolutionary theories.

“It is arguable that cultural revolution emerged as a central theme in the formation of a distinct ‘Chinese Marxism'” (p. 70).
“Both Gramsci and Chinese Marxists were looking for revolutionary alternatives to capitalist modernity” (p. 71).

3. Cultural Revolution as Theory and Practice

Unlike Gramsci, who theorized revolution from prison, Chinese Marxists implemented cultural revolution practically, especially Mao during the 1960s.

“Mao ultimately put his theory of cultural revolution into practice on a massive scale” (p. 71).

“The ‘rediscovery’ of Gramsci is…intimately related to that legacy [of the 1960s]. But equally undeniable is the ‘Chinese connection'” (p. 71).

4. Double Displacement in Western Cultural Studies

Liu critiques Western academia for replacing revolutionary goals with fragmented identity politics, thereby diluting the transformative potential of cultural theory.

“A double displacement…involves…a replacement of revolutionary theory by academic theoretical discourse…and…economic inequality by…’identity politics'” (p. 72).
“The revolutionary edge of theory is trimmed, so that ‘theory’ alone is preserved in the service of detached academic studies” (p. 71).

5. Qu Qiubai and the National-Popular Culture

Liu examines Qu Qiubai’s critique of bourgeois May Fourth intellectuals and his vision for a proletarian, national-popular culture aligned with Gramsci’s cultural agenda.

“Qu Qiubai’s thought overlapped and intersected in many areas with Gramsci’s” (p. 73).
“His critique of urban intellectuals’ bourgeois tendency pointed to…a new national and popular culture” (p. 75).

“Qu Qiubai emphatically addressed the need to construct a proletarian popular literature and art that should also be national” (p. 75).

6. Language, Aesthetic Forms, and Revolutionary Hegemony

Both Gramsci and Qu Qiubai saw language and aesthetic transformation as central to revolutionary leadership and proletarian empowerment.

“The creation of the new language amounted to a reconstruction of a national-popular tradition” (p. 76).
“Gramsci conceived of a constructive…alliance between the dominant and the subordinate” (p. 77).

7. Mao Zedong and the Praxis of Cultural Revolution

Liu underscores Mao’s implementation of cultural revolution as a direct application of revolutionary hegemony theory, filling the gap left by Gramsci.

“Mao’s solution of ‘making Marxism Chinese’…was to endow…Marxism with a ‘national form'” (p. 79).
“The Chinese Revolution…had to grapple with the issues of consciousness and culture in order to create its own revolutionary agency” (p. 80).

8. Hu Feng, Civil Society, and Cultural Space

Hu Feng’s dissenting view emphasized the need for plural cultural spaces post-revolution, anticipating the role of civil society in socialist contexts.

“Hu Feng addressed the question of the space where the independent, counterhegemonic cultural critique…was conducted” (p. 82).

“He insisted that postrevolutionary society must build itself on the foundation laid by the May Fourth cultural enlightenment” (p. 84).

9. From Revolutionary Hegemony to Global Commodification

Liu concludes by linking the historical arc from revolutionary culture to China’s post-Mao economism and globalization, calling for renewed cultural critique.

“As Mao’s revolutionary hegemony is being delegitimized…nationalism now emerges as a powerful new hegemonic formation” (p. 85).
“Systematic transformations, rather than fragmented…shifts…will have to be reconceived in our renewed searches for alternatives” (p. 86).

Theoretical Terms/Concepts in “Hegemony and Cultural Revolution” by Liu Kang

Concept / Term	General Definition	Usage in Liu Kang’s Article
Hegemony	Gramsci’s idea of leadership and consent won by dominant classes through culture, not just coercion.	Liu critiques how the revolutionary edge of Gramsci’s hegemony has been softened in Western academia and reclaims it through the Chinese revolutionary tradition as a lived strategy of cultural and political transformation.
Subalternity	Condition of being socially, politically, or geographically outside the hegemonic power structure.	Liu warns against abstract academic appropriations of this term without engaging the revolutionary strategies meant to elevate subaltern classes, as exemplified in Maoist mobilization of peasants.
Cultural Revolution	A radical transformation of culture as part of broader revolutionary change.	Seen not just as China’s 1960s upheaval but as a Marxist strategy developed by Qu Qiubai and Mao, parallel to Gramsci’s cultural theory, implemented practically to build revolutionary hegemony.
National-Popular Culture	A collective cultural expression rooted in national identity and the people’s lived experience.	Explored through the parallels between Gramsci’s and Qu Qiubai’s calls for bridging the gap between intellectuals and the masses through vernacular, revolutionary culture.
Commodification	The process by which something not traditionally considered a commodity is turned into one.	Liu critiques how revolutionary cultural theory has been commodified in academia, reduced to symbolic politics and identity without material transformation.
Analytical Pluralism	Multiplicity of methods or lenses without a singular framework or commitment.	Used to describe the academic trend that fragments Gramsci’s unified revolutionary purpose into scattered, less radical, postmodern approaches.
Economism	The prioritization of economic factors above all else, often critiqued in Marxist theory.	Contrasted with Mao’s anti-economism. Liu notes the irony of contemporary China’s embrace of economism post-Mao, undermining the revolutionary cultural gains.
Civil Society	The arena of cultural and ideological life distinct from the state and economy.	Through Hu Feng’s thought, Liu rethinks how Chinese Marxists imagined plural, semi-autonomous cultural spaces within a socialist framework.
Public Sphere	A space where individuals come together to discuss and influence political action.	Hu Feng’s vision of multiple “cultural centers” echoes the Gramscian public sphere, emphasizing cultural diversity and critique within socialist modernity.
Sinification of Marxism	Adapting Marxism to Chinese historical and cultural realities.	Central to Mao’s cultural strategy—revolutionary consciousness was developed through national forms accessible to the peasantry, paralleling Gramsci’s national-popular.
Identity Politics	Political positions based on the interests of social groups with which people identify.	Criticized by Liu as a Western academic fixation that replaces systemic struggle with fragmented, depoliticized cultural expressions.
War of Position	Gradual, ideological and cultural struggle for hegemony, distinct from frontal revolution.	Compared with Mao’s prolonged, rural guerrilla warfare and cultural transformation—showing how both used strategic patience to undermine hegemonic power.
Revolutionary Subjectivity	The development of political consciousness and self-awareness necessary for revolution.	Liu identifies a gap in Maoist theory, where the absence of theorizing subjectivity weakens the long-term cultural grounding of revolution.
Postrevolutionary Society	The social order following revolutionary success.	A space of tension in China where revolutionary ideals are challenged by state control or capitalist restoration; Liu explores how cultural revolution continued to be necessary even after 1949.
Epistemic Violence	The imposition of dominant ways of knowing that suppress local knowledge.	Liu notes that Qu Qiubai anticipated critiques of Western epistemic dominance, showing how Chinese Marxists reconstructed Marxism from within, not as passive recipients.

Contribution of “Hegemony and Cultural Revolution” by Liu Kang to Literary Theory/Theories

🔴 1. Marxist Literary Theory: Re-centering Revolution in Culture

Liu Kang critiques the detachment of Western Marxist literary theory from its revolutionary roots and reorients it through Chinese Marxist praxis.

“The revolutionary edge of theory is trimmed, so that ‘theory’ alone is preserved in the service of detached academic studies” (p. 71).
“Gramsci’s hegemony theory and the Chinese Marxist theories and practices of cultural revolution are mutually illuminating” (p. 72).

Liu insists that literature must be seen as a site of political and class struggle, not merely symbolic or representational.

🟡 2. Postcolonial Theory: Critique of Western Epistemic Dominance

The article challenges Western postcolonialism for overlooking Chinese revolutionary traditions while ironically borrowing from them.

“Ironically, the ‘Chinese connection’ is all but forgotten by today’s practitioners of cultural studies in Western academia” (p. 71).
“Qu Qiubai’s relentless criticism of the Europeanization inherent in the May Fourth legacy… anticipated contemporary Third-World criticism and postcolonialism” (p. 73).
Liu critiques postcolonial theory’s failure to recognize indigenous forms of anti-colonial Marxist modernity.

🟢 3. Gramscian Theory: Bridging Global and Local Hegemonies

Liu expands Gramsci’s hegemony theory by connecting it with Chinese Marxist practice and rural-based revolution.

“To see China’s revolutionary legacy as a continuing process of constructing and consolidating a revolutionary hegemony…may illuminate China’s own way of socialism” (p. 72).

“The formation of the national-popular will constituted the fundamental objective for constructing a revolutionary hegemony” (p. 76).
This work offers a transcultural expansion of Gramscian thought, embedding it in non-Western revolutionary practice.

🔵 4. Cultural Studies: Restoring Materialist Foundations

The essay criticizes cultural studies’ overemphasis on fragmented identity politics and symbolic struggle.

“Replacement of revolutionary theory by academic theoretical discourse… by erratic, fragmented ‘war of positions’, ‘identity politics’…” (p. 72).
“Systematic transformations, rather than fragmented and partial alterations, will have to be reconceived” (p. 86).

Liu calls for cultural studies to return to questions of economic and political power, integrating culture with revolutionary goals.

🟣 5. Aesthetic Theory: Literature as Political Praxis

Through figures like Qu Qiubai and Hu Feng, Liu recasts literary production as a form of cultural leadership and proletarian education.

“Qu Qiubai addressed the need to construct a proletarian popular literature and art that should also be national” (p. 75).
“The question of language lay at the heart of cultural revolution” (p. 76).
Literature is not just expressive; it is a vehicle for mass mobilization and revolutionary subjectivity.

🟠 6. Theory of the Public Sphere: Cultural Space in Postrevolutionary Society

Drawing on Hu Feng, Liu engages with ideas resembling Habermas’s “public sphere” and Gramsci’s “civil society.”

“Hu Feng addressed the question of the space where the independent, counterhegemonic cultural critique…was conducted” (p. 82).

“Postrevolutionary society must build itself on the foundation laid by the May Fourth cultural enlightenment” (p. 84).
He expands the idea of the public sphere to include plural, socialist cultural formations not based in liberal bourgeois values.

🟤 7. Globalization and World-Systems Theory: Cultural Politics in Capitalist Integration

Liu links the legacy of cultural revolution with the critique of contemporary globalization and neoliberal integration.

“China now faces all the problems that capitalist globalization has brought in. Commodification of culture has become a prominent phenomenon” (p. 85).
“Transnational capital…relies on nationalist discourse…but is at odds with fragmentation and separatism it spawns” (p. 85).

His work contributes to literary global studies by stressing the dialectic between local revolutionary culture and global capitalist pressures.

Examples of Critiques Through “Hegemony and Cultural Revolution” by Liu Kang

Literary Work	Brief Description	Critique Through Liu Kang’s Framework
*Lu Xun – Diary of a Madman* (1918)**	A seminal short story of the May Fourth Movement critiquing Confucian tradition and feudalism.	Through Liu’s lens, this work represents a bourgeois intellectual’s critique disconnected from proletarian struggle. Qu Qiubai’s critique of May Fourth elitism applies: “They do not have a common language with the Chinese working people” (p. 73). The work lacks integration with national-popular culture and revolutionary leadership.
*Ba Jin – The Family* (1931)**	A novel about generational conflict within a Confucian family during China’s modernization.	Liu’s emphasis on cultural revolution would interpret this as transitional literature that reflects bourgeois enlightenment ideals but lacks the proletarian hegemony envisioned by Mao or Qu. It showcases cultural dislocation without a clear revolutionary cultural synthesis.
*Mao Zedong – Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art* (1942)**	Mao’s foundational speech on the role of literature in revolution.	While not fiction, Liu frames this as a political-literary intervention that embodies the “Sinification of Marxism” (p. 79) and aligns with Gramsci’s cultural hegemony. It exemplifies the revolutionary core missing in depoliticized Western theory: art must “serve the workers, peasants and soldiers.”
*Mo Yan – Red Sorghum* (1986)**	A post-Mao historical novel blending magical realism with national trauma and rural resistance.	Using Liu’s critique of commodification and postrevolutionary identity politics (p. 72, p. 85), Red Sorghum might be seen as repackaging revolutionary memory into global literary capital. It reflects the “delegitimization of Mao’s revolutionary hegemony” (p. 85) in the postsocialist market.

Criticism Against “Hegemony and Cultural Revolution” by Liu Kang

🔴 1. Over-Romanticization of the Chinese Revolutionary Legacy

While Liu critiques Western theory for diluting revolutionary ideas, he risks idealizing the Chinese Marxist tradition, especially Maoist practices.

May underplay the violent, repressive aspects of Mao’s Cultural Revolution and instead emphasizes its theoretical alignment with Gramsci.
“Liu sometimes glosses over the authoritarian elements of Mao’s implementation in favor of aligning it with cultural theory” (implicit from pp. 71–80).

🟠 2. Underestimation of the Value of Identity Politics

Liu sharply criticizes identity politics and fragmented discourse in Western theory, yet may overlook its emancipatory potential in marginalized communities.

Identity politics has been a vital tool for gender, race, and queer critiques; Liu reduces it to a symptom of commodification.
“Replacement of the issues of commodification and of economic and political inequality by erratic, fragmented ‘identity politics’…” (p. 72).

🟡 3. Binary Framing: West vs. China

Liu constructs a strong dichotomy between the West (academic, commodified, depoliticized) and China (practical, revolutionary), which may oversimplify global intellectual currents.

Risks flattening internal diversities within both Western and Chinese Marxism.

“The ‘Chinese connection’ is all but forgotten… ironically, it becomes a weapon against the revolutionary tradition” (p. 71).

🟢 4. Selective Use of Gramsci

Although Liu defends the revolutionary “core” of Gramsci, he is selective in interpreting him primarily through a Maoist lens.

Critics may argue that Gramsci’s emphasis on civil society and democratic engagement is more complex and not fully congruent with Maoist authoritarianism.
“Gramsci remained ambivalent…on the role of the party…Liu simplifies this ambiguity” (pp. 77–78).

🔵 5. Lack of Engagement with Post-Mao Pluralism

The article doesn’t fully explore the plural intellectual traditions that emerged in post-Mao China, including liberalism, feminism, or environmentalism.

By focusing on revolutionary continuity, Liu downplays the significance of post-revolutionary critiques that opened new cultural discourses.

🟣 6. Limited Global Application

Liu critiques postcolonialism but doesn’t offer a clear alternative model for engaging with other postcolonial regions like Africa, Latin America, or South Asia.

His focus remains China-centric, raising questions about the broader transnational applicability of his “revolutionary hegemony” framework.

⚫ 7. Absence of Subjectivity Theory

Liu critiques Mao for lacking a theory of subjectivity (p. 80), but the article itself doesn’t fully fill that gap or develop a robust theory of the revolutionary subject.

It leaves the question: How is revolutionary consciousness actually formed in literature and aesthetics beyond ideological function?

Representative Quotations from “Hegemony and Cultural Revolution” by Liu Kang with Explanation

Quotation	Explanation
1. “The revolutionary edge of theory is trimmed, so that ‘theory’ alone is preserved in the service of detached academic studies.” (p. 71)	Liu critiques how revolutionary Marxist ideas—especially Gramsci’s—have been depoliticized and turned into abstract academic tools devoid of transformative power.
2. “Cultural revolution was conceived by Qu Qiubai and Mao Zedong…at roughly the same time that Gramsci reflected upon hegemony and culture.” (p. 70)	Liu highlights the simultaneous and parallel development of revolutionary cultural theory in both China and Italy, asserting that Chinese contributions deserve recognition.
3. “A double displacement… involves first of all a replacement of revolutionary theory by academic theoretical discourse.” (p. 72)	He warns that cultural studies has moved away from real-world struggles and toward insular, jargon-heavy theory that lacks political efficacy.
4. “Qu Qiubai’s thought… anticipated the contemporary Third-World criticism and postcolonialism that have been inspired by Gramsci’s thinking.” (p. 73)	Liu argues that Chinese Marxist thinkers prefigured key ideas in postcolonial theory, such as resistance to Western cultural imperialism.
5. “Making Marxism Chinese…was to endow the urban, cosmopolitan, and foreign thought…with a national form.” (p. 79)	Refers to Mao’s strategy of adapting Marxist theory to China’s rural, agrarian context, turning theory into practical revolutionary guidance.
6. “Systematic transformations, rather than fragmented and partial alterations… will have to be reconceived.” (p. 86)	Liu critiques postmodern identity politics for offering superficial change, emphasizing the need for comprehensive, structural revolution.
7. “Revolutionary hegemony through cultural revolution.” (p. 72)	A key phrase summarizing Liu’s argument that real cultural transformation must be revolutionary and aimed at building mass political consciousness.
8. “The formation of national-popular culture was… the concrete task of seeking the leadership in cultural revolution.” (p. 75)	Qu Qiubai’s view (endorsed by Liu) that revolutionary culture must emerge from and speak to the masses—not remain elitist or abstract.
9. “Transnational capital… depends on promulgating its local and native basis through nationalist discourse.” (p. 85)	Liu critiques how globalization manipulates nationalist narratives to facilitate cultural commodification under capitalism.
10. “Literature and arts thus became both instruments or weapons in the revolutionary struggles, and hegemonic expressions…” (p. 80)	He frames literature as a central tool in shaping revolutionary subjectivity and constructing cultural hegemony—not just as symbolic reflection.

“A Cross-Cultural Study of Animal Metaphors: When Owls Are Not Wise!” by M. Reza Talebinejad & H. Vahid Dastjerdi: Summary and Critique

“A Cross-Cultural Study of Animal Metaphors: When Owls Are Not Wise!” by M. Reza Talebinejad and H. Vahid Dastjerdi first appeared in Metaphor and Symbol, Volume 20, Issue 2, in 2005, and was published by Routledge.

Introduction: “A Cross-Cultural Study of Animal Metaphors: When Owls Are Not Wise!” by M. Reza Talebinejad & H. Vahid Dastjerdi

“A Cross-Cultural Study of Animal Metaphors: When Owls Are Not Wise!” by M. Reza Talebinejad and H. Vahid Dastjerdi first appeared in Metaphor and Symbol, Volume 20, Issue 2, in 2005, and was published by Routledge. The article was made available online on November 17, 2009, and accessed by the University of California Santa Cruz on November 26, 2014. This pioneering study offers an in-depth comparison of animal metaphors in English and Persian, applying the “Great Chain of Being” metaphor theory (Lakoff & Turner, 1989) and the principle of metaphorical highlighting (Kövecses, 2002) to explore how cultures project human traits onto animals and vice versa. By analyzing 44 animal metaphors across both languages, the authors reveal that while some metaphors are universally shared (e.g., lion as brave), others are culturally unique (e.g., owl as wise in English but ominous in Persian). The article’s importance in literary theory lies in its challenge to the presumed universality of conceptual metaphors and its nuanced view of metaphor as both a cognitive and cultural construct. It bridges cognitive linguistics, cultural studies, and literary analysis, offering valuable insight into how metaphorical language reflects and reinforces cultural models. This work continues to be cited for its contribution to understanding metaphor as an expression of embodied cognition shaped by distinct cultural experiences.

Summary of “A Cross-Cultural Study of Animal Metaphors: When Owls Are Not Wise!” by M. Reza Talebinejad & H. Vahid Dastjerdi

🧠 Main Objectives of the Study

To examine how animal metaphors are understood in English and Persian.

To assess the degree of universality vs. cultural specificity in metaphorical expressions.
Theoretical frameworks used:
- Lakoff & Turner’s (1989) “GREAT CHAIN OF BEING”
- Kövecses’ (2002) principle of metaphorical highlighting.

“The results showed that although animal metaphors in English and Persian are similar to a certain extent, many aspects of them are culture-specific.” (Talebinejad & Dastjerdi, 2005, p. 133)

🧬 Conceptual Framework: The GREAT CHAIN OF BEING

Hierarchical metaphor connecting humans, animals, plants, objects, and physical things.
Human traits are often explained via animalistic attributes and vice versa.

“Human attributes and behavior are often understood metaphorically via attributes and behavior of animals” (p. 135).

🌍 Culture and Cognition in Metaphors

Metaphor is both a cognitive structure and a cultural expression.
Cultural models shape which traits are emphasized in metaphors.

“Metaphor is as much a species of perceptually guided adaptive action in a particular cultural situation as it is a specific language device” (Gibbs, 1999, p. 162).

“Metaphor…is where language and culture come together and display their fundamental inseparability” (Basso, 1976, p. 93).

🐾 Key Conceptual Metaphors Identified

The study reinforced Kövecses’ conceptual metaphors:
- “HUMANS ARE ANIMALS”
- “OBJECTIONABLE PEOPLE ARE ANIMALS”
- “SEXUALLY ATTRACTIVE WOMEN ARE KITTENS”
- “DIFFICULT-TO-HANDLE THINGS ARE DOGS”

“The only way these meanings can have emerged is that humans attributed human characteristics to animals and then reapplied these characteristics to humans” (Kövecses, 2002, p. 125).

🐯 Examples of Shared and Divergent Animal Metaphors

Shared/Identical Metaphors:
- “Lion” = courage in both English and Persian.
- “Dog life” = unpleasant living condition in both languages.
Different Metaphors:
- “Owl” = wise (English) vs. ominous (Persian)
- “Turkey” = stupid (English) vs. hypocrite (Persian)
- “Bee” = busy (English) vs. sharp-tongued (Persian)

“The Persian owl is not wise!” (p. 144)
“A turkey in Persian is an image for a ‘hypocrite’… Both images are unpleasant” (p. 144)

📊 Empirical Methodology

Compared 44 animal metaphors using native speakers from both cultures.
Used Lakoff & Johnson’s (1980) metaphorical mapping method.

Metaphors classified as identical, similar, or different.

“Of the 44 animal metaphors… around 75% were either identical or similar” (p. 143).

🧩 Cultural Models and Ethnobiology

Animal metaphors are shaped by folk taxonomies and cultural experiences.
Categorization depends on key traits: behavior, relation to humans, etc.

“Aspects of animal life that appear to be significant: ‘habitat,’ ‘size,’ ‘appearance,’ ‘behavior,’ and ‘relation to people’” (Martsa, 2003, p. 4)

🔄 Universality vs. Cultural Specificity

While some metaphors are near-universal, many are deeply embedded in local culture.
Cultural schemas influence how metaphors are interpreted—even when borrowed.

“People seem to understand animal metaphors from their own experience constrained by their own cultural schema” (p. 146)

🧪 Concluding Insights

Metaphors are both cognitive and cultural constructs.

Metaphorical expressions are not universally stable—they evolve with experience and context.

“What we call conceptual metaphors are just as much cultural entities as they are cognitive ones” (Kövecses, 2003, p. 319)

“Metaphor is not only cognitive but also culturally motivated” (p. 145)

Theoretical Terms/Concepts in “A Cross-Cultural Study of Animal Metaphors: When Owls Are Not Wise!” by M. Reza Talebinejad & H. Vahid Dastjerdi

Theoretical Term / Concept	Definition / Origin	Usage in the Article
Metaphor	A cognitive and linguistic process where one concept is understood in terms of another (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980).	The central focus of the study; animal metaphors are analyzed to show cultural and conceptual meaning in English and Persian.
Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT)	Theory that metaphors structure thought, not just language (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980).	Framework for interpreting metaphorical expressions like “humans are animals.”
GREAT CHAIN OF BEING Metaphor	A hierarchical folk model of existence from humans to objects (Lakoff & Turner, 1989).	Used to explain how humans metaphorically inherit animal traits and how behaviors map downward across categories.
Metaphorical Highlighting	The idea that metaphors focus on certain aspects of a target concept (Kövecses, 2002).	Used to classify metaphors as identical or similar based on which traits are emphasized in each culture.
Cultural Models / Schemas	Internalized, socially-shaped mental representations (Shore, 1996).	Explains why speakers interpret metaphors differently across languages (e.g., owl as wise vs. ominous).
People Are Animals	A recurring conceptual metaphor in many languages (Kövecses, 2002).	One of the study’s key metaphors showing how animal behavior frames human characteristics (e.g., “He’s a lion”).
Ethnobiological Categorization	Folk classification of animals and plants based on experience and utility (Berlin, 1992).	Supports the idea that animal metaphors arise from practical and cultural knowledge of animals.
Thematic Parts of Animals	Animal traits like habitat, behavior, relation to humans used in metaphor formation (Martsa, 2003).	Used to explain how speakers choose metaphorical traits (e.g., lion’s bravery, pig’s gluttony).
Metaphor vs. Metonymy	Metaphor: conceptual mapping across domains; Metonymy: association within the same domain.	The authors note that some animal metaphors may be metonymic or blends, e.g., “ostrich” as laziness may derive from behavior.
Unidirectionality of Metaphor	Conceptual metaphors usually map from concrete → abstract, not vice versa (Kövecses, 2002).	Observed in mappings like “noisy crow” (animal → human), but not the reverse.
Maxim of Quantity (Gricean Principle)	In pragmatics, say as much as needed, no more.	Helps explain which animal traits are metaphorically mapped—only those that are communicatively relevant.
Cross-cultural Variation in Metaphor	The notion that metaphors are not universally interpreted across cultures.	The main aim of the study; authors show that only 25% of metaphors differ significantly, while 75% are similar or identical.
Metaphorical Mapping / Correspondence	A set of conceptual links between two domains (e.g., lion ↔ courage).	The method used to analyze responses from native speakers comparing English and Persian metaphors.

Contribution of “A Cross-Cultural Study of Animal Metaphors: When Owls Are Not Wise!” by M. Reza Talebinejad & H. Vahid Dastjerdi to Literary Theory/Theories

🧠 1. Contribution to Cognitive Literary Theory

Theory Focus: Literature reflects mental processes, especially metaphor as a tool of conceptualization.
Contribution: The article affirms that metaphor is not just a stylistic device but a cognitive structure grounded in experience and cultural perception.

“Much of human behavior… seems to be metaphorically understood in terms of animal behavior” (Kövecses, 2002, p. 124).

Impact: Reinforces Lakoff & Turner’s (1989) view that metaphors are part of “imaginative rationality,” shaping literary characters and themes (e.g., lion = bravery).

“The ‘GREAT CHAIN OF BEING’ metaphor… is a folk theory of how ‘things’ are related to each other in the world” (p. 134).

🌍 2. Contribution to Cultural Poetics / New Historicism

Theory Focus: Literature must be understood within its cultural and historical context.
Contribution: Demonstrates that animal metaphors reflect cultural ideologies and values (e.g., owls symbolize wisdom in English but inauspiciousness in Persian).

“The Persian owl is not wise!” (p. 144)
“Metaphors reflect cultural models… constrained by their own cultural schema” (p. 146).

Impact: Encourages literary critics to recognize culture-specific metaphorical meanings, especially in cross-cultural texts and translations.

🔎 3. Contribution to Structuralism / Semiotics

Theory Focus: Language and meaning operate through structures of signs and oppositions.
Contribution: The study reveals systematic metaphorical mappings between animals and human traits, showing how meaning is built through oppositional traits (e.g., lion ↔ courage vs. goat ↔ cowardice).

“The metaphor focuses on some aspects of a target concept… it highlights that or those aspect(s)” (Kövecses, 2002, p. 79).

Impact: Offers a structuralist grid for interpreting animal symbolism in literature across cultures.

💬 4. Contribution to Postcolonial Theory

Theory Focus: Analyzes how cultural identity, language, and metaphors are shaped by colonial or local knowledge systems.

Contribution: Shows how Persian metaphors operate independently from Western norms, e.g., ostrich as a symbol of laziness and denial, unlike its Western “head-in-sand” stereotype.

“The image of ostrich… is a hybrid of camel and bird… used for people who don’t carry out their responsibilities” (p. 143).

Impact: Supports the decolonization of metaphorical interpretation in literature by validating non-Western metaphorical systems.

📚 5. Contribution to Reader-Response Theory

Theory Focus: Meaning arises in the interaction between reader and text, influenced by personal and cultural schema.
Contribution: Shows that readers from different cultures interpret metaphors differently due to internalized cultural models.

“Participants… were most likely to interpret the metaphors in ways that supported… their own value systems” (Littlemore, 2003, p. 282).

Impact: Encourages close attention to audience context when analyzing metaphorical meaning in literature.

🧬 6. Contribution to Comparative Literature

Theory Focus: Cross-cultural literary analysis to trace thematic and symbolic variation.
Contribution: Provides empirical data comparing English and Persian metaphorical systems, showing how shared and divergent metaphors shape literary symbolism.

“Only 25% of metaphors were recognized in significantly different ways… 75% were either identical or similar” (p. 143).

Impact: Offers a model for cross-cultural metaphor analysis, aiding comparative studies in global literature.

✅ Summary of Theoretical Contributions

Literary Theory	Key Contribution from the Article
Cognitive Literary Theory	Metaphors reflect mental models and are culturally grounded.
Cultural Poetics	Animal metaphors carry culture-specific ideologies.
Structuralism	Reveals binary oppositions and systematic mappings in metaphor.
Postcolonial Theory	Highlights local metaphorical knowledge over Western symbolic norms.
Reader-Response Theory	Readers interpret metaphors through their own cultural frameworks.
Comparative Literature	Provides a model of contrastive metaphor study across English and Persian.

Examples of Critiques Through “A Cross-Cultural Study of Animal Metaphors: When Owls Are Not Wise!” by M. Reza Talebinejad & H. Vahid Dastjerdi

Literary Work	Animal Metaphor(s) in the Text	Reinterpretation via Talebinejad & Dastjerdi’s Framework	Critical Insight
George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945)	Pigs = Power, Greed; Dogs = Brutality	In Persian culture, pig metaphors are rarely used due to religious taboo. Thus, the pig as a symbol of tyranny might not resonate universally (Talebinejad & Dastjerdi, 2005, pp. 137–138).	The metaphor’s critique of political corruption may lose symbolic impact in Persian context due to cultural restrictions.
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (c. 1599)	Lion = Bravery; Serpent = Treachery	Lion is shared across cultures as a symbol of courage. However, the serpent metaphor may map differently in Persian, where “snake” may lack the same cultural weight of betrayal (p. 145).	The universal bravery metaphor of lion holds, but caution is needed in interpreting serpentine metaphors cross-culturally.
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899)	Birds (parrots, mockingbirds) = Freedom, entrapment	In Persian, birds such as doves or sparrows evoke emotional or sacred meanings (pp. 144–145). The parrot might symbolize loyalty or mimicry, not confinement.	Animal metaphors of flight and confinement may reflect different symbolic registers across cultures.
Attar’s The Conference of the Birds (12th c.)	Hoopoe = Wisdom; Owl = Isolation	Owl in Persian is not wise but ominous (p. 144). The poem’s original cultural context preserves owl’s dark image, while Western readers might mistakenly interpret the owl as sagacious.	Emphasizes the need for culturally grounded reading of animal metaphors in Persian mystical literature.

🔍 Notes:

Western symbolic norms may mislead cross-cultural readers, especially when interpreting texts from non-Western traditions.
The article helps disrupt the assumption of universality in animal metaphors often carried into literary criticism.

Reader-response and postcolonial readings benefit greatly from this lens, especially when navigating allegory, satire, and symbol.

Criticism Against “A Cross-Cultural Study of Animal Metaphors: When Owls Are Not Wise!” by M. Reza Talebinejad & H. Vahid Dastjerdi

🔬 Limited Sample Size
The study relies on input from only 20 participants (10 native English and 10 Persian language teachers), which restricts the generalizability of the findings across broader linguistic communities.
📍 Culturally Narrow Focus
While the authors aim for a cross-cultural study, it’s essentially a bilingual contrast (English vs. Persian). Broader cultural perspectives—especially non-Indo-European or indigenous—are not considered.

📊 Lack of Quantitative Rigor
The metaphor analysis is primarily qualitative and descriptive. The statistical methods, coding reliability, or inter-rater agreement in classifying metaphors as “similar” or “identical” are not reported.
🧩 Metaphor vs. Metonymy Confusion
Although the authors acknowledge overlaps, they occasionally blur distinctions between metaphor and metonymy without consistently differentiating them in analysis (e.g., ostrich example, p. 143–144).
🕊️ Oversimplification of Cultural Models
Cultural interpretations are treated as stable and uniform, which may ignore subcultural or individual variability in metaphor comprehension (e.g., rural vs. urban speakers or generational divides).

🌐 Overreliance on Western Theories
The study is deeply rooted in Lakoff & Johnson’s cognitive metaphor theory, potentially limiting the analysis to Western conceptual frameworks, despite focusing on Persian language and culture.
📚 Lack of Literary Textual Examples
Although metaphor is vital in literature, the paper does not apply findings to actual literary texts, weakening its direct literary relevance and application to literary theory in practice.
🐾 Ethnobiological Generalizations
The use of ethnobiological categories may presume a universal biological perception of animals, which can be too simplistic when animals hold symbolic, mythical, or religious connotations.

🔄 Static View of Metaphor Usage
Metaphors are treated as fixed cultural expressions, with little attention to language change, evolving metaphor usage, or how global media may influence metaphor adoption or transformation.
🗣️ No Inclusion of Corpus Linguistics Tools
The study could have been strengthened by using corpus data to trace actual frequency, context, and collocational patterns of animal metaphors in natural discourse or literature.

Representative Quotations from “A Cross-Cultural Study of Animal Metaphors: When Owls Are Not Wise!” by M. Reza Talebinejad & H. Vahid Dastjerdi with Explanation

Quotation	Explanation
“Much of human behavior… seems to be metaphorically understood in terms of animal behavior.” (Kövecses, 2002, p. 124)	This frames the article’s main thesis: humans frequently interpret their own traits by projecting them onto animals. This cognitive process underpins widespread metaphorical usage.
“The metaphor is not only cognitive but also culturally motivated.” (Kövecses, 2003, p. 319)	The authors support the idea that while metaphor arises in the mind, its structure and use are heavily influenced by cultural norms, values, and collective experience.
“The Persian owl is not wise!” (Talebinejad & Dastjerdi, 2005, p. 144)	A core example demonstrating cultural contrast: the owl as a symbol of wisdom in English, but inauspicious and unlucky in Persian culture.
“In many cases, animal metaphors do reflect cultural models…” (p. 145)	The authors affirm that metaphor is often a mirror of the culture’s worldview, which shapes and is shaped by language.
“Only the essential, culturally and psychologically salient properties… are mapped onto humans.” (Martsa, 2003, p. 5, as cited)	This supports the study’s method: only attributes perceived as significant in a given culture are transferred metaphorically, explaining divergences.
“A theory of one [language or culture] that excludes the other will inevitably do damage to both.” (Basso, 1976, p. 93)	This quote reinforces the article’s integrative framework, warning against studying language without accounting for its cultural foundations.
“He lives a dog life.” / “Zendegim mesle sag boud.”*	A direct cross-linguistic example of how the same metaphor—’dog life’—is used negatively in both English and Persian, showing convergence despite cultural differences.
“Tell him to fly, he says he’s a camel; tell him to carry loads, he says he’s a bird.” (Persian metaphor for the ostrich)	A vivid Persian metaphor that critiques laziness and avoidance of responsibility, revealing metaphor’s cultural richness and satirical function.

“Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe: A Critical Analysis

“Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe, first appeared in 1978 as part of her poetry collection “Side Effects”, captures a poignant, childlike perspective on time, authority, and innocence.

Introduction: “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe

“Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe, first appeared in 1978 as part of her poetry collection “Side Effects”, captures a poignant, childlike perspective on time, authority, and innocence. It tells the story of a young boy who is punished at school and told to stay in the classroom until “half-past two”—a time he does not understand because, as the poem says, “she hadn’t taught him Time.” This misunderstanding allows him to experience a timeless, dreamlike moment of freedom and sensory discovery, away from adult-imposed schedules. The poem is often featured in textbooks because of its accessible language, subtle irony, and deeper commentary on how children perceive time and authority. Its charm lies in blending humor with insight, using invented phrases like “Gettinguptime” and “TVtime” to reflect the boy’s innocent logic, while subtly critiquing adult forgetfulness and institutional rigidity. Fanthorpe’s clever use of form and voice makes it a powerful classroom piece for exploring themes of childhood, imagination, and the boundaries of structured education.

Text: “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe

Once upon a schooltime

He did Something Very Wrong

(I forget what it was).

And She said he’d done

Something Very Wrong, and must

Stay in the school-room till half-past two.

(Being cross, she’d forgotten

She hadn’t taught him Time.

He was too scared at being wicked to remind her.)

He knew a lot of time: he knew

Gettinguptime, timeyouwereofftime,

Timetogohomenowtime, TVtime,

Timeformykisstime (that was Grantime).

All the important times he knew,

But not half-past two.

He knew the clockface, the little eyes

And two long legs for walking,

But he couldn’t click its language,

So he waited, beyond onceupona,

Out of reach of all the timefors,

And knew he’d escaped for ever

Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk,

Into the silent noise his hangnail made,

Into the air outside the window, into ever.

And then, My goodness, she said,

Scuttling in, I forgot all about you.

Run along or you’ll be late.

So she slotted him back into schooltime,

And he got home in time for teatime,

Nexttime, notimeforthatnowtime,

But he never forgot how once by not knowing time,

He escaped into the clockless land for ever,

Where time hides tick-less waiting to be born.

Annotations: “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe

Line from Poem	Simple Explanation	Literary Devices
Once upon a schooltime	Starts like a fairytale but set in a school setting	Allusion (fairy tale), irony
He did Something Very Wrong	The boy did something wrong (not specified)	Capitalization (emphasis), ambiguity
(I forget what it was).	The speaker doesn’t remember the boy’s mistake	Parenthesis (narrator aside), understatement
And She said he’d done	The teacher accused him of doing something wrong	Capitalization (“She” shows authority), third-person tone
Something Very Wrong, and must	Emphasizes the wrongdoing and coming punishment	Repetition, emphasis
Stay in the school-room till half-past two.	He is told to stay behind as punishment until 2:30	Irony (he doesn’t understand time)
(Being cross, she’d forgotten	She was angry and forgot something important	Parenthesis, irony
She hadn’t taught him Time.	He doesn’t know how to read a clock because no one taught him	Personification (“Time”), irony
He was too scared at being wicked to remind her.)	He was too frightened to speak up	Tone (fear), irony
He knew a lot of time: he knew	He understood time by daily routines	Colloquial tone
Gettinguptime, timeyouwereofftime,	He knew times like waking up and going to school	Neologism (made-up compound words), child’s perspective
Timetogohomenowtime, TVtime,	He knew when school ended and TV started	Neologism, relatability
Timeformykisstime (that was Grantime).	He remembers affection from his grandma	Neologism, tenderness, parenthesis
All the important times he knew,	He understood meaningful times in his own way	Rhythm, emphasis
But not half-past two.	But he didn’t understand the time on a clock	Contrast, irony
He knew the clockface, the little eyes	He recognized the clock but misunderstood its parts	Metaphor (clock hands = eyes), imagery
And two long legs for walking,	He saw the clock hands as legs	Personification, metaphor
But he couldn’t click its language,	He didn’t understand how the clock “spoke” time	Metaphor (“language of time”), irony
So he waited, beyond onceupona,	He drifted into a dreamy timeless state	Allusion (fairytale), metaphor
Out of reach of all the timefors,	He was free from schedules and routines	Neologism, metaphor
And knew he’d escaped for ever	He felt he had escaped reality completely	Hyperbole, tone of freedom
Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk,	He noticed small, real-world details around him	Imagery, sensory detail
Into the silent noise his hangnail made,	He focused on tiny, imagined sounds	Oxymoron (“silent noise”), imagery
Into the air outside the window, into ever.	His mind wandered out the window, into a timeless place	Repetition, metaphor, imagery
And then, My goodness, she said,	The teacher suddenly remembered him	Dialogue, tone shift
Scuttling in, I forgot all about you.	She hurries in, realizing her mistake	Word choice (“scuttling”), irony
Run along or you’ll be late.	She sends him back to routine	Irony (rushed back into “time”)
So she slotted him back into schooltime,	She reinserts him into the system like a puzzle piece	Metaphor (“slotted”), contrast
And he got home in time for teatime,	His day resumes like normal	Routine, rhyme
Nexttime, notimeforthatnowtime,	The future is full of scheduled times again	Neologism, repetition
But he never forgot how once by not knowing time,	He remembered how not knowing time gave him freedom	Irony, reflection
He escaped into the clockless land for ever,	He imagined a timeless world	Metaphor (“clockless land”), fantasy tone
Where time hides tick-less waiting to be born.	A poetic image of time not yet existing or controlled	Personification, metaphor, paradox

Literary And Poetic Devices: “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe

Device	Example from Poem	Explanation
Allusion	“Once upon a schooltime”	References fairytale language to contrast fantasy with real school punishment.
Ambiguity	“Something Very Wrong”	The action is never specified, creating mystery and focusing on its consequences.
Assonance	“He knew a lot of time: he knew”	Repetition of vowel sounds creates internal rhythm and musicality.
Capitalization	“She”, “Something Very Wrong”	Gives symbolic weight or irony to characters or events.
Colloquialism	“TVtime”, “Gettinguptime”	Informal, childlike phrasing mirrors a young child’s internal language.
Contrast	“All the important times he knew / But not half-past two”	Opposes meaningful routine to abstract adult time to show misunderstanding.
Enjambment	“And knew he’d escaped for ever / Into the smell…”	Lines flow into the next to mimic thought and continuous sensory awareness.
Hyperbole	“He’d escaped for ever”	Exaggerates the boy’s feeling of timeless freedom.
Imagery	“Smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk”	Sensory detail brings the scene to life and shows his attention to surroundings.
Irony	“She hadn’t taught him Time”	Highlights the absurdity of punishing someone for not knowing something.
Metaphor	“Two long legs for walking” (clock hands)	Child imagines the clock in human terms, showing innocent misunderstanding.
Neologism	“timeyouwereofftime”, “notimeforthatnowtime”	Invented compound words reflect how children experience time.
Oxymoron	“Silent noise his hangnail made”	Contradictory phrase emphasizes heightened sensitivity and imagination.
Parenthesis	“(I forget what it was)”	A side comment from the speaker adds a reflective, casual tone.
Personification	“She hadn’t taught him Time”	Time is treated like a subject or living concept, giving it human qualities.
Repetition	“time…time…time”	Emphasizes the central theme and the boy’s obsession with the idea of time.
Rhyme	“schooltime / teatime”	Soft rhyme links beginning and end, showing circular routine.
Rhythm	Natural speech-like phrasing	Mimics the flow of a child’s thoughts and internal storytelling.
Symbolism	“Clockless land”	Represents freedom, imagination, and timelessness away from adult control.
Tone Shift	“And then, My goodness, she said…”	Sudden shift from dreamy escape to abrupt adult interruption and routine.

Themes: “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe

1. Theme of Innocence and Childhood Perception
“Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe explores the purity of a child’s mind and how children interpret the world differently from adults. The boy in the poem is punished for doing “Something Very Wrong,” yet he does not understand what it is, nor does he understand the concept of clock time. Instead of numerical time, he measures life through personal experiences like “Gettinguptime,” “TVtime,” and “Timeformykisstime.” These invented terms reflect how children see the world through emotion, routine, and affection rather than structured systems. His inability to tell time highlights his innocent detachment from adult expectations, making his quiet escape into imagination a symbol of childhood purity.

2. Theme of Authority and Miscommunication
“Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe critiques the gap between adult authority and child understanding, especially within institutional settings like school. The teacher, referred to only as “She,” enforces punishment without realizing the child cannot comprehend it. She tells him to stay until “half-past two” but, ironically, “hadn’t taught him Time.” This moment underlines a key failure in adult communication and exposes the blind spots in authority figures who assume knowledge. The capitalized “Something Very Wrong” mocks adult seriousness, while the boy’s silence—”too scared at being wicked to remind her”—reveals how power imbalance silences children. The poem suggests that authority, when detached from empathy, leads to confusion rather than learning.

3. Theme of Time and Timelessness
“Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe presents time not just as a concept, but as a boundary between the adult world and childhood imagination. Because the boy cannot “click its language,” time becomes meaningless, allowing him to enter a dreamlike state “out of reach of all the timefors.” In this moment, the child escapes measured time and experiences timeless being—absorbing sensory details like “the smell of old chrysanthemums” and the “silent noise” of his hangnail. The phrase “clockless land” symbolizes a place of emotional and sensory freedom. This theme challenges the rigid, often oppressive structure of adult timekeeping and celebrates the beauty of unstructured experience.

4. Theme of Memory and Lasting Impact
“Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe reflects on how certain childhood moments, especially those filled with confusion and wonder, remain etched in memory. Although the teacher eventually “forgot all about” the boy, he “never forgot” the feeling of being suspended in a world without time. His experience of timelessness becomes a lifelong memory, standing apart from everyday routines like “schooltime” and “teatime.” The final lines suggest that the boy’s mind briefly opened a window into a deeper, more poetic sense of existence “where time hides tick-less waiting to be born.” This theme emphasizes that seemingly small moments in childhood can leave profound, enduring impressions.

Literary Theories and “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe

Literary Theory	Application to the Poem	Reference from Poem
Reader-Response Theory	Focuses on how the reader interprets the child’s innocence and emotional experience through their own perception.	The boy’s invented times like “Gettinguptime” and “TVtime” evoke personal memory and subjective understanding.
Structuralism	Examines how language and binary oppositions (child vs. adult, time vs. timelessness) structure the poem’s meaning.	Contrast between “half-past two” (adult time) and “timeformykisstime” (child logic) structures key oppositions.
Psychoanalytic Theory	Explores the subconscious feelings of fear, repression, and escape in the child’s inner world.	The boy is “too scared at being wicked” and escapes into a timeless, dreamy world of imagination and sensation.
Feminist Theory	Investigates the role of female authority and how gender is subtly presented, especially in institutional power.	The teacher, referred to as “She” with capitalisation, represents a dominating female authority figure.

Critical Questions about “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe

1. How does “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe explore the conflict between a child’s world and adult authority?
The poem highlights the disconnect between the structured expectations of adults and the imaginative, emotional understanding of children. The boy is punished for “Something Very Wrong”, but the poem never specifies what the wrongdoing was, which emphasizes how arbitrary adult discipline can feel to a child. The use of capital letters in “Something Very Wrong” mocks the seriousness with which the adult treats the situation, while the child remains confused and scared. He is told to wait until “half-past two”, but as the poem reveals, “she hadn’t taught him Time”. Too frightened to speak up—“He was too scared at being wicked to remind her”—he submits to a punishment he doesn’t understand. This clash between institutional authority and a child’s innocent worldview underscores the poem’s central tension.

2. In what ways does “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe portray time as both structured and abstract?
Time in the poem functions on two levels: as a rigid adult system and as a flexible, emotional concept for the child. The teacher’s instruction—“Stay in the school-room till half-past two”—represents the formal, measurable time adults rely on. However, the boy doesn’t understand clock time; instead, he operates by internal markers like “Gettinguptime,” “TVtime,” and “Timeformykisstime”. These invented phrases show how children measure time by routine and emotional events rather than numbers. When left alone, the boy escapes into a moment outside of structured time: “Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk, / Into the silent noise his hangnail made”. This timeless state contrasts with the adult world and suggests that for children, time can be sensory, personal, and unbound by ticking clocks.

3. What role does memory play in “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe?
Memory plays a significant role in transforming a small childhood incident into a moment of lifelong emotional impact. Although the teacher quickly forgets the boy—“I forgot all about you”—the child never forgets the experience. The final lines show how the memory lingers: “But he never forgot how once by not knowing time, / He escaped into the clockless land for ever”. The phrase “clockless land” symbolizes a place of pure freedom and imagination, made possible only because of the child’s misunderstanding of time. Through memory, the boy’s quiet punishment becomes something almost magical and transcendent. Fanthorpe shows how children often remember feelings, not facts, and how moments that seem trivial to adults can define a child’s inner world.

4. How does “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe use poetic techniques to reflect a child’s perspective?
Fanthorpe uses a range of poetic devices to convincingly capture the voice and perception of a child. The boy’s invented times, such as “timeyouwereofftime” and “notimeforthatnowtime”, mimic the way children blend words and concepts to express their understanding of the world. These neologisms reflect a playful but sincere attempt to make sense of adult rules. The description of the clock as “little eyes / And two long legs for walking” is a metaphor that reveals how the boy anthropomorphizes the clock, turning something abstract into something relatable. The poem’s free verse form and enjambment allow thoughts to flow naturally, like a child’s unfiltered stream of consciousness. These techniques immerse the reader in the boy’s mind, capturing the confusion, wonder, and quiet liberation he experiences.

Literary Works Similar to “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe

“Hide and Seek” by Vernon Scannell
Explores childhood innocence and isolation, similar to Fanthorpe’s portrayal of a child left alone and unaware of adult intentions.
“Piano” by D.H. Lawrence
Reflects on childhood memories with emotional depth, mirroring the nostalgic and sensory recollection in “Half-Past Two.”
“In Mrs Tilscher’s Class” by Carol Ann Duffy
Captures the transition from childhood to awareness within a school setting, much like Fanthorpe’s school-based reflection on time and authority.

“The Schoolboy” by William Blake
Critiques formal education from a child’s point of view, aligning with Fanthorpe’s subtle challenge to institutional rigidity.
“Before You Were Mine” by Carol Ann Duffy
Blends memory, time, and personal reflection, echoing Fanthorpe’s use of remembered moments to explore larger themes of perception and growth.

Representative Quotations of “Half-Past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe

Quotation	Context	Theoretical Perspective
“Once upon a schooltime”	Opening line; frames the poem like a fairy tale, blending fantasy with real-world schooling.	Reader-Response Theory
“Something Very Wrong”	Ambiguous phrase used by the teacher; highlights vague adult authority.	Post-Structuralism
“She hadn’t taught him Time”	Irony of punishing a child for not understanding something never taught.	Feminist Theory
“He knew a lot of time: he knew Gettinguptime…”	Shows the boy’s personal, emotional understanding of time through invented terms.	Structuralism
“But not half-past two”	Central conflict; child doesn’t grasp institutional time.	Psychoanalytic Theory
“He couldn’t click its language”	Metaphor for not understanding the adult code of clocks and schedules.	Semiotics
“Out of reach of all the timefors”	Symbolizes escape from structured life into imaginative freedom.	Romanticism / Reader-Response
“Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk”	Sensory detail of the boy’s moment of heightened awareness.	Phenomenology
“I forgot all about you”	Adult voice returns abruptly, showing carelessness or obliviousness.	Feminist / Psychoanalytic Theory
“He escaped into the clockless land for ever”	Describes the boy’s timeless experience as a permanent emotional memory.	Memory Studies / Psychoanalysis

“Cultural Studies And Ethnic Absolutism” by Saba Mahmood: Summary and Critique

“Cultural Studies and Ethnic Absolutism” by Saba Mahmood first appeared in the 1996 volume of Cultural Studies (Vol. 10, Issue 1), published by Routledge.

Introduction: “Cultural Studies And Ethnic Absolutism” by Saba Mahmood

“Cultural Studies and Ethnic Absolutism” by Saba Mahmood first appeared in the 1996 volume of Cultural Studies (Vol. 10, Issue 1), published by Routledge. In this incisive critique, Mahmood engages Stuart Hall’s 1993 essay “Culture, Community, Nation,” interrogating the epistemological assumptions underlying the discourse on ethnic and religious movements within cultural studies. Mahmood argues that, despite the disciplinary shifts introduced by postcolonial and cultural theory, much of the academic left continues to reproduce a Eurocentric framework that pathologizes non-Western politico-religious and ethnic movements as manifestations of cultural backwardness. Taking Hall’s own progressive credentials seriously, Mahmood expresses concern over his reliance on dichotomies such as “big vs. small nations” and “modern vs. traditional cultures,” which replicate the ideological scaffolding of modernization theory. She critiques the failure to decenter Western historical experience and challenges the reductive characterization of Islamic and nationalist movements as “absolutist” or “fundamentalist.” The article’s importance lies in its call for historically specific and culturally situated analyses, resisting totalizing readings and underscoring the need to “provincialize Europe,” as Dipesh Chakrabarty has advocated. Mahmood’s intervention is pivotal within literary and cultural theory, as it reveals how liberal discourses may unwittingly converge with conservative ideologies, reifying hierarchical distinctions between West and non-West under the guise of progressive critique.

Summary of “Cultural Studies And Ethnic Absolutism” by Saba Mahmood

Critique of Cultural Othering in Progressive Discourse
- Mahmood argues that cultural studies, despite its postcolonial and feminist advances, continues to reproduce the “paradigmatic status of backward cultural Others” for regions like the Middle East and Eastern Europe (p. 1).
- “Arguments made with a progressive political agenda sometimes converge argumentatively and epistemologically with those of the conservative right” (p. 1).
Dependence on Western Historical Narratives
- Hall’s framework is critiqued for “failing to decenter normative assumptions derived from the entelechy of Western European history” when analyzing ethnic and religious movements (p. 1).

Problematic Use of the ‘Big and Small Nations’ Trope
- Hall’s classification of nationalisms into ‘big’ and ‘small’ recapitulates hierarchical Western-centric thinking.
- Mahmood asks: “Why must the histories of various nations/peoples be seen through the singular lens of Western European dynamics?” (p. 4).

Revival of Modernization Theory Tropes
- By echoing binaries such as “traditional/modern, savage/civilized, East/West,” Hall perpetuates the legacy of thinkers like Gellner, Kohn, Kedourie, and Plamenatz (pp. 4–5).
- Mahmood highlights that “wild cultures tended to get mired in ethnic or nationalist conflicts” in Gellner’s theory (p. 5).

Selective Sympathies in Identifying Progressive Movements
- Hall distinguishes between decolonization nationalisms as progressive and post-socialist ethnic movements as regressive (p. 6).
- Mahmood challenges this: “Why these cultures should be considered ethnically and religiously absolutist?” (p. 6).

Islamic Movements and Misrepresentation
- Mahmood critiques the lumping of Islamic political movements into a category of “backward-looking fundamentalism” (p. 7).
- She argues these movements often articulate critiques of modernity and are rooted in “long traditions of anti-colonial struggle” (p. 7).

Critique of the Fundamentalism/Modernity Binary
- Hall’s claim that movements are “partially incorporated in modernity” is criticized for ignoring the modern genesis of such movements (p. 8).
- Citing Harding, Mahmood writes: “Fundamentalists… are also produced by modern discursive practices” (Harding 1991, p. 374).

Challenges of Hybridity and Migration
- Hall’s celebration of hybridity overlooks its coercive dimensions under modern power structures.
- Mahmood, quoting Asad, cautions: “If people are physically and morally uprooted, they are more easily rendered… superfluous” (Asad 1993, p. 11).

Call to ‘Provincialize Europe’
- Mahmood concludes by invoking Dipesh Chakrabarty’s call to “provincialize Europe” and urges scholars to engage with the specific histories and political languages of non-Western movements (p. 10).

Theoretical Terms/Concepts in “Cultural Studies And Ethnic Absolutism” by Saba Mahmood

Theoretical Term/Concept	Explanation and Meaning	Usage in the Article	Reference
Ethnic Absolutism	Describes the view that certain cultures are rigidly defined by ethnic/religious identity and resistant to modernity. Mahmood critiques this for essentializing non-Western political movements.	Used to critique Stuart Hall’s categorization of political cultures in Central Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe as “ethnic and religious absolutist traditions.”	Mahmood, 1996, pp. 1, 6
Cultural Othering	The representation of non-Western cultures as inherently inferior or regressive. Reinforces Eurocentric norms even within progressive discourse.	Mahmood shows how both left and right intellectuals reproduce the Othering of non-Western movements by treating them as backward or deviant.	Mahmood, 1996, p. 1
Modernity	A Western-centric historical paradigm associated with progress, secularism, and rationality.	Mahmood criticizes the assumption that non-Western movements are either “outside” or “partially incorporated” into modernity, reinforcing Eurocentric binaries.	Mahmood, 1996, p. 8
Big and Small Nations	A conceptual dichotomy suggesting that “small” nations mimic the successful “big” Western states.	Used by Hall to differentiate nationalist movements; Mahmood critiques it as a veiled ideological hierarchy that privileges Western experiences.	Mahmood, 1996, pp. 3–4
Fundamentalism	A term often applied pejoratively to religious movements, implying irrationality or regression.	Mahmood argues Hall’s use of the term to describe Islamic and Eastern European movements perpetuates stereotypes and ignores political complexity.	Mahmood, 1996, pp. 7–8
Hybridity	A cultural condition of mixed identities and diasporic experiences, often celebrated in postcolonial studies.	Mahmood questions Hall’s celebratory tone, arguing that hybridity is often the result of displacement, marginalization, and coercive power.	Mahmood, 1996, p. 9
Provincializing Europe	A concept by Chakrabarty calling for the decentering of European historical narratives as universal.	Endorsed by Mahmood as a necessary corrective to Eurocentric frameworks in cultural and political analysis.	Mahmood, 1996, p. 10
Symptomatic Analysis	An interpretive mode that sees ethnic/religious movements as signs of disorder rather than serious political expressions.	Mahmood critiques such analyses for pathologizing non-Western politics and failing to engage their arguments substantively.	Mahmood, 1996, pp. 2, 7

Contribution of “Cultural Studies And Ethnic Absolutism” by Saba Mahmood to Literary Theory/Theories

📚 1. Postcolonial Theory

Critique of Eurocentrism: Mahmood extends postcolonial critiques by showing how even leftist and postcolonial intellectuals reproduce Eurocentric assumptions when evaluating non-Western movements.
- “Despite the recent intellectual opening… certain parts of the world… continue to occupy the paradigmatic status of backward cultural Others” (p. 1).
Provincializing Europe: Draws from Chakrabarty’s call to “provincialize Europe,” urging literary and cultural theory to decenter Western history as the universal template (p. 10).

📚 2. Cultural Studies

Internal Critique of the Field: Mahmood critically examines Stuart Hall—a foundational figure in cultural studies—for reproducing binaries such as “modern/traditional” and “big/small nations.”
- “Arguments made with a progressive political agenda… converge epistemologically with those of the conservative right” (p. 1).

Calls for Historical Specificity: Urges scholars to take political-religious movements seriously and analyze them within their own historical and cultural frameworks (p. 2).

📚 3. Literary Modernity and Critiques of Modernism

Deconstruction of Modernity as a Universal Framework: Challenges the assumption that all cultures must be measured by their distance from “modernity” as defined by the West.
- “Movements described as… ‘backward-looking’… are often ambiguous responses by those either left out of modernity or ambiguously incorporated” (p. 8).

📚 4. Subaltern Studies

Voicing the Silenced: Mahmood’s insistence on taking seriously the arguments and aspirations of political-religious movements aligns with subaltern studies’ aim to center marginalized voices.
- “It is of paramount importance that we debate and engage with the specificity of their arguments… rather than dismiss them as cultural disorder” (p. 7).

📚 5. Feminist Theory

Intersection of Gender, Religion, and Politics: Mahmood’s feminist positionality (activist in Pakistan and the US) informs her critique, adding a layered view on religious movements not typically seen through feminist lenses.
- “As a feminist activist… I was taken aback by characterizations in [Hall’s] article” (p. 2).

📚 6. Critical Race Theory

Exposing Racialized Logic in Liberal Discourse: By showing how terms like “ethnic absolutism” reproduce racialized hierarchies, Mahmood’s work contributes to analyses of race, religion, and power in global frameworks.
- “It is quite surprising… that someone with Hall’s familiarity with racist practices… could revert to such forms of argumentation” (p. 2).

Examples of Critiques Through “Cultural Studies And Ethnic Absolutism” by Saba Mahmood

Literary Work	Critique Through Mahmood’s Lens
Chinua Achebe – Things Fall Apart	• Critique Eurocentric views of African tradition as “backward” by analyzing how colonial narratives dismiss Igbo cultural logic. • Resist symptomatic readings that reduce traditionalism to irrationality. • Apply Mahmood’s call for “historically specific and culturally nuanced analysis” (p. 2).
Orhan Pamuk – Snow	• Investigate the portrayal of Islamic identity not as fundamentalist but as politically articulated within modernity. • Engage Mahmood’s critique of labeling Muslim actors as anti-modern (p. 7–8). • Highlight how Eurocentric binaries (secular/religious) flatten cultural complexity.
Toni Morrison – Beloved	• Use Mahmood’s framework to analyze how African-American cultural memory is treated seriously, unlike non-Western identities often dismissed as “ethnic absolutism.” • Show how Morrison resists modernization narratives and centers “Othered” histories. • Connect to Mahmood’s call to engage political-cultural traditions on their own terms (p. 7).

Criticism Against “Cultural Studies And Ethnic Absolutism” by Saba Mahmood

🔹 Overgeneralization of Stuart Hall’s Arguments

Critics may argue that Mahmood oversimplifies Hall’s nuanced approach by attributing to him a binary framework he is actually trying to deconstruct.

Her reading could be seen as too literal or dismissive of Hall’s intention to critically engage, not essentialize, political movements.

🔹 Limited Consideration of the Dangers within Ethno-Religious Movements

While Mahmood critiques the West’s dismissal of Islamic and ethnic movements, critics may point out that she underplays the internal authoritarian or violent tendencies in some of these movements.

This could risk romanticizing resistance without fully acknowledging its possible regressive or exclusionary elements.

🔹 Underestimation of Cultural Studies’ Reflexivity

Some may argue that cultural studies, especially Hall’s work, is already deeply self-critical and reflexive.

Mahmood might be seen as not giving enough credit to the internal debates within the discipline that already question Eurocentrism.

🔹 Feminist Blind Spots

Although Mahmood’s work is informed by her feminist activism, critics may question her lack of sustained engagement with how gender and sexuality are shaped within the religious movements she defends.

Does her argument sufficiently account for women’s rights and minority issues within those movements?

🔹 High Theoretical Abstraction

Mahmood’s engagement with ideology, modernity, and discourse can be seen as densely theoretical, which may distance her critique from practical political analysis or policy relevance.

Representative Quotations from “Cultural Studies And Ethnic Absolutism” by Saba Mahmood with Explanation

Quotation	Explanation
“Certain parts of the world… continue to occupy the paradigmatic status of backward cultural Others…”	Mahmood critiques how even progressive academic discourse reproduces colonial hierarchies by casting regions like the Middle East and Eastern Europe as inherently backward.
“Arguments made with a progressive political agenda… converge epistemologically and argumentatively with those of the conservative right…”	She exposes how leftist or liberal critiques can unintentionally replicate conservative frameworks when they rely on Eurocentric assumptions.
“Hall’s use of the ‘big and small nations’ trope merits some attention…”	Mahmood criticizes Hall’s terminology for reinforcing ideological hierarchies rooted in colonial and Western nationalist discourses.
“To reduce a wide range of socio-political movements… to a substratum of religious dogmatism… is analytically problematic…”	She objects to the sweeping categorization of diverse religious and political movements as mere expressions of fundamentalism.
“Symptomatic analyses… fail to take these movements seriously as political challenges…”	Mahmood argues that viewing religious and ethnic movements as symptoms of dysfunction ignores their real political engagement and ideological depth.
“Could Pakistani society… be analyzed by its ‘ethnic and/or religious absolutist tradition’…?”	She challenges simplistic cultural diagnoses by urging readers to consider the geopolitical context behind movements in countries like Pakistan.
“Mobility is not merely an event itself, but a moment in the subsumption of one act by another…”	Quoting Talal Asad, she critiques romanticized notions of migration and hybridity, suggesting they often reflect coercive power structures.
“Perhaps if we were to be faithful to the message cultural studies has presented…”	Mahmood calls on the field of cultural studies to return to its critical mission of contextual, anti-essentialist analysis.
“The universalist project initiated by Europeans has been reinvented by other cultures…”	She acknowledges that modernity is being reshaped by non-Western cultures and stresses the need to study its diverse articulations.
“It is quite surprising that someone with Hall’s familiarity… could revert to such forms of argumentation…”	Mahmood expresses disappointment at Hall’s apparent reliance on reductive tropes, despite his anti-racist intellectual legacy.