Relationalism and Literary Studies

The controversy over essentialism and anti-essentialism is the very context for the rise of "relationalsim".Nan Fan's "relationalism" is a strategy of interpretation,a strategy of exposition for literary theories to cope with the increasingly complex Chinese experience and culture.It is not only a methodology for literary studies but also an intellectual standpoint,hence an "extensive criticism".The interpreter,himself a part of the relation network,is involved in the "structure".While "relationalism" has so far been a discourse of the minority in the aspect of literary studies,it has quite a few counterparts in other fields.