The purpose of this study is to arrive at a critical overview of politics and literature in the Chinese context. The relationship has increasingly become a "field" of studies and theoretical inquiry that most scholars in either disciplines are wary to tread. This thesis tries to venture into this problematic field by a theoretical examination as well as an empirical critique of Chinese literature and politics, where the relationship seems even more paradoxical, but adds more insight into the argument. The Introduction and Chapter One set up a framework by asking some general but fundamental questions: what literature is, and how it is to be related to politics. Chapter Two examines the historical function of literature and Chinese writers in society to establish the basis of argument in the Chinese context. Chapter Three focuses the discussion on the relationship between politics and literature during the Mao era and after. Chapters Four analyses the literary works published during the post-Mao period to establish the argument that literature, as part of our perception of the world, is most concerned with human society and social amelioration and participates in the socio-political development by contributing to it through a discourse that is otherwise inaccessible. Chapter Five explores the argument further by extending it into the field of cinema, which basically comes from the same narrative tradition of prose literature, but offers a wider and different dimension to the argument pursued. Chapter Six and the Conclusion try to draw together the argument by examining literature as both form and content to argue how and why literature is related to politics and how it has functioned in a political manner in Chinese society. To summarise, Chinese literature in this period will b& shown to be involved In a process of political reform and development by way of bringing the reader to participate in a critical and philosophical dialogue with power, history and future. In the long run, it offers emancipating visions and possibilities revealed to the reader in ways that are historical, developmental, philosophical and comparative. This study focuses on the prose fiction published in this period, for it is the leading force in China's cultural development and constitutes the major trunk of the modern Chinese canon. In addition, the research also extends to drama and films, and the way they, together with prose fiction, make up the most popular perception and intellectual discovery of contemporary Chinese society and politics and best inform the argument of the study of politics and literature.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Zoology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Zoology / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Business / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

The first year of undergraduate education is a significant transition period. During this time, students are confronted with a variety of new academic and social challenges, which require different emotional abilities so as to support the successful transition in the first year. As such, the study aims to investigate the values of emotional intelligence in facilitating the first year experience. Specifically, a conceptual model is proposed, which postulates that emotional intelligence would have an impact on self-directed learning and student engagement, which in turn, affect the first year learning outcomes. According to Salovey and Mayer (1990), emotional intelligence encompasses the abilities of the appraisal, expression and regulation of the emotions in the self and others as well as the utilization of emotions for problem solving. Its relationship with self-directed learning can be revealed from the analysis of McCombs and Whisler (1989), who suggested that three important elements drive the occurrence of self-directed learning: (i) motivation and positive affect; (ii) self-regulation and (iii) locus of control. They are, indeed, all closely associated with emotional intelligence. Building on abundant evidence showing its relationship with academic study and positive social relationships, emotional intelligence is also expected to influence student engagement. Fredrickson’s (1998, 2001) broaden-and-build theory also lays the ground for the relationship between the two, as it proposed that the experience of positive emotions promotes exploration and approach behaviour, which, in turn, creates more learning opportunities. Individuals who are more emotionally intelligent are better at harnessing positive emotions. A mixed-method approach with two stages of data collection was employed in this study. In stage one, a total of 1760 first year students at a university in Hong Kong responded to a survey measuring emotional intelligence and self-directed learning during the registration period. In stage two, a follow-up survey gauging students’ engagement and learning outcomes was administered to all participants from stage one at the end of the first year, with 560 responses collected in total. Four focus groups with 18 first year participants with high and low levels of emotional intelligence were also used to explore how they differed in terms of their attitudes and behaviours on self-directed learning and student engagement. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the interrelationships among emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement. The findings affirmed the values of emotional intelligence in influencing self-directed learning and student engagement, which were found to be significantly linked with student learning outcomes. As a whole, the model proposed was able to explain 14% of the variance of GPA and 34% to 40% of the variance of the cognitive, social and self-growth outcomes. The study not only unveils the interrelationships among emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement, but more importantly, it sheds light on how best to improve the quality of the first year undergraduate education as the findings suggest that the enhancement of emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement can have direct or indirect effects to desirable learning outcomes. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

by Siu-ming Chan. / Bibliography: leaves 247-259 / Thesis (M.Ph.)-- Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1984

by Wo-wing Cheng. / Thesis (M. Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1981. / Bibliography: l. 265-272.