Author(s)

Li Gu

Affiliation(s)

School of International Studies/Center for Southeast Asian Studies, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, Guangdong, China.

Corresponding Author

Li Gu

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the formation and theoretical development of Chinese Literary Geography. It places this field within the global intellectual shift towards spatial analysis, known as the "Spatial Turn." The study outlines a central tension shaping the discipline between two approaches: the "Geographical Perspective," influenced by Western theories of space, power, and representation, and the "Literary Perspective," grounded in traditional Chinese methods of mapping authors and regional literary history. The article follows the field's philosophical progression, noting its move from a human-centered view to a "Geographical Ontology" that emphasizes the fundamental material relationship between people and their environment as a basis for literature. In terms of method, it assesses how Chinese scholars have applied and adapted Western frameworks like Geocriticism, Imaginative Geographies, and digital literary mapping to bridge detailed textual study with broader pattern analysis. The argument concludes that the path forward for Chinese Literary Geography is through a deliberate synthesis of its diverse traditions. This "New Literary Geography" aims to combine empirical research with spatial theory, focusing on the literary text as the core site where geographical reality is constructed and transformed.

KEYWORDS

Chinese Literary Geography; Spatial Turn; Geographical Ontology; Geocriticism, Literary Cartography; Man-earth relationship

CITE THIS PAPER

Li Gu. From the Spatial Turn to Geographical Ontology: the development of Chinese Literary Geography. Trends in Social Sciences and Humanities Research. 2025, 3(8): 30-36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/tsshr3201.

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