Mirror of Enigma and Mirror of Magic: a Comparative Study

Given the huge linguistic, cultural, historical and social differences between the East and the West, what constitutes the ground for comparison poses a serious challenge to our comparative work. For Chinese-Western comparative studies, it is very important not just to make theoretical claims, but to establish the validity of comparison through a display of concrete examples as textual evidence to reveal the affinities of different literary traditions. Without textual evidence, comparisons may sound empty and unconvincing, and jumping from abstract concepts to jargon-laden obscurantism only reduce the value of comparative literature and damage its respectability. Through discussion of the comparability of a concrete image—that of the mirror—this talk will show the importance of textual evidence as methodologically meaningful for East-West comparative studies.