Zhang Longxi's Allegoresis is a major contribution to the project of moving beyond the usual East/West divide with its predictable polarities. By re-placing the question of allegory in relation to its political, social, and ethical implications, and moving effortlessly between early Christian, classical Chinese, and contemporary theory, Zhang compels his reader into recognizing the profound commonalities and difficult differences between Western and Chinese literary culture. The scope and intelligence of this book are breathtaking, even inspiring.
David Stern, University of Pennsylvania This is a wonderful book. Deeply learned and bracingly pointed in its analyses, Allegoresis is a wide-ranging discussion of allegorical readings that makes a major contribution to comparative literary study and comparative poetics. It will interest many readers engaged in questions of literary theory as well as in biblical studies and comparative studies generally, in addition to becoming a must-read for everyone in the field of Chinese literature and poetics.
David Damrosch, Columbia University Is it possible to understand other cultures or are we always condemned to misunderstand? In this pioneering book that ranges from the biblical Song of Songs to the Confucian Book of Poetry and beyond, Zhang Longxi makes a persuasive case for an allegorical reading, stressing the tension between texts and interpreted meanings. On the basis of this tension he concludes by showing the troubling political connotations of every interpretation.
Fred Dallmayr, University of Notre Dame