Disrupted narratives: Modification of the Chinese language in Xu Bing’s “Book from the Sky”
Prigarina Irina Alekseevna
Saint Petersburg State University
Submitted: 12.05.2024
Abstract. Through his unique approach to language and communication, a contemporary artist Xu Bing challenges language as one of the enduring elements within the Chinese semiotic field and prompts viewers to reassess their notions of cultural identity. The aim of the article is to uncover new interpretations of Xu Bing’s creative work by examining it through the lens of key ideas from post-structuralist theorists and semiotic researchers, specifically Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva, and Roland Barthes. The text explores Xu Bing’s groundbreaking work “Book from the Sky” as one of his earliest experiments with language, serving as a platform for discussing the role of language in meaning-making. The analysis draws on the philosophical concepts of language by Jacques Derrida, Roland Barthes, and Julia Kristeva, revealing the complex layers of semiotics and linguistic significance in Xu Bing’s installation. The scientific novelty of the article lies in its attempt to analyze the artist’s work by engaging with the ideas of post-structuralist theorists and semiotic researchers. By offering a new analytical approach to “Book from the Sky”, we expand the understanding of the role of language and its influence on the construction of meaning in art. This analysis also aims to enrich the dialogue about the relationship between language, culture, and identity by examining the semiotic aspects of Xu Bing’s installation. In the course of the research, significant results were achieved that allowed for a deeper understanding of Xu Bing’s “Book from the Sky”. The analysis through the lens of theories by Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva, and Roland Barthes identified key conceptual aspects of the work, such as Derrida’s “différance”, Kristeva’s intertextuality, and Barthes’s concept of the active reader. This revealed how the installation deconstructs conventional perceptions of language and meaning, evokes feelings of disorientation and abjection, and transforms viewers into active interpreters who reassess cultural identity. The article also contributes to a broader understanding of Xu Bing’s artistic practice and provides insight into the complexities of language as a social and cultural construct.
Key words and phrases: Сюй Бин, Книга с неба, современное китайское искусство, Жак Деррида, Ролан Барт, Юлия Кристева, интертекстуальность в современном искусстве, межкультурная коммуникация в искусстве, Xu Bing, Book from the Sky, contemporary Chinese art, Jacques Derrida, Roland Barthes, Julia Kristeva, intertextuality in contemporary art, intercultural communication in art
Open the whole article in PDF format. Free PDF-files viewer can be downloaded .
References:
Bart R. S/Z / per. s fr. G. K. Kosikova i V. P. Murat. Izd-e 3-e. M.: Akademicheskii Proekt, 2009.
Bart R. Smert' avtora // Bart R. Izbrannye raboty. Semiotika. Poetika / per. s fr.; sost., obshch. red. i vstup. st. G. K. Kosikova. M.: Progress, 1989.
Kosikov G. K. Rolan Bart – semiolog, literaturoved // Bart R. Nulevaya stepen' pis'ma. M.: Akademicheskii Proekt, 2008.
Kristeva Yu. Bakhtin, slovo, dialog i roman // Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 9: Filologiya. 1995. № 1.
Kristeva Yu. Sily uzhasa: esse ob otvrashchenii. SPb.: Aleteiya, 2003.
Kudymova D. A. Kritika filosofskogo logotsentrizma kak interpretativnaya strategiya dekonstruktivnoi praktiki Zhaka Derrida // Vestnik Permskogo gosudarstvennogo gumanitarno-pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya 3: Gumanitarnye i obshchestvennye nauki. 2021. № 1.
Abe S. No Questions, No Answers: China and A Book from the Sky // Boundary 2. 1998. Vol. 25. No. 3.
Ames R. T. Reading Xu Bing’s A Book from the Sky: A Case Study in the Making of Meaning // Xu Bing and Contemporary Chinese Art: Cultural and Philosophical Reflections / ed. by Hsingyuan Tsao and R. T. Ames. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011.
Cayley J. Extended Bibliographic Description of Tianshu // Tianshu: Passages in the Making of a Book / ed. by K. Spears. L.: Bernard Quaritch Limited, 2009.
Chen K.-H. Seriousness, Playfulness, and a Religious Reading of Tianshu // Xu Bing and Contemporary Chinese Art: Cultural and Philosophical Reflections / ed. by Hsingyuan Tsao and R. T. Ames. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011.
Derrida J. Margins of Philosophy / trans. by A. Bass. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.
Derrida J. Of Grammatology / trans. by G. C. Spivak. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976.
Easthope A. British Post-Structuralism. N. Y.: Routledge, 1988.
Erickson B. The Art of Xu Bing: Words without Meaning, Meaning without Words. Washington – Seattle: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; University of Washington Press, 2001.
Fraser E. S., Li Yu-Chieh. Xu Bing. Beyond the Book from the Sky. Singapore: Springer, 2020.
Jaworski A. Language Ideologies in the Text-Based Art of Xu Bing: Implications for Language Policy and Planning // The Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning / ed. by J. W. Tollefson, M. Pérez Milans. N. Y.: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Kameda-Madar K. Transmission of Meanings: A Study of Shen Wai Shen (Body Outside Body) by Xu Bing // Xu Bing and Contemporary Chinese Art: Cultural and Philosophical Reflections / ed. by Hsingyuan Tsao and R. T. Ames. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011.
Kristeva J. Polylogue. P.: Éditions du Seuil, 1977.
Lamarre T. Nothing Doing: Xu Bing and the Nonsensuous Life of Chinese Characters // Immediation I / ed. by E. Manning, A. Munster, B. M. Stavning Thomsen. L.: Open Humanities Press, 2019.
Lee S. E. History of Far Eastern Art. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall, 1994.
Lee T. K. Visuality and Translation in Contemporary Chinese Literary Art: Xu Bing’s A Book from the Sky and A Book from the Ground // Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies. 2014. Vol. 1 (1).
Liu A. The Living Word: Xu Bing and the Art of Chan Worldplay // Xu Bing and Contemporary Chinese Art: Cultural and Philosophical Reflections / ed. by Hsingyuan Tsao and R. T. Ames. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011.
McCausland S. Copy and Transmitting, Knowledge and Nonsense: From the Great Encyclopaedia to A Book from the Sky // Original Intentions: Essays on Production, Reproduction and Interpretation in the Arts of China / ed. by N. Pearce, J. Steuber. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.
Obermeyer-Kolb K. A Contemporary Spin on Tradition: Xu Bing’s Cultural Exploration // Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University. 2011. Vol. 11.
Sease A. Anxiety of the Unknown in Art: Xu Bing’s A Book from the Sky // Undergraduate Research Awards. Hollins: Hollins University, 2014.
Teo W. Words Divide, Images Connect: The Politics of Language and the Language of Politics // Xu Bing’s ‘Book from the Sky’ and ‘Book from the Ground’ // Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art. 2018. Vol. 5. Iss. 1.
Vinograd R. Making Natural Languages in Contemporary Chinese Art // Xu Bing and Contemporary Chinese Art: Cultural and Philosophical Reflections / ed. by Hsingyuan Tsao and R. T. Ames. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011.
Xu Bing. The Making of Book from the Sky // Tianshu: Passages in the Making of a Book / ed. by K. Spears. L.: Bernard Quaritch Limited, 2009.
Русский
