Analogical Perspective from “Shengsheng” Philosophy on Virginia Hamilton’s Survival Writing in M.C. Higgins, the Great

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper's big idea (to take a shengsheng analytical point of view with the purpose of giving us a new understanding of MC Higgins, the Great) is interesting. Here are a few points as food for thought and possible improvement of your argument.

Since there is no evidence of an influence of shengsheng philosophy in Hamilton's poetics you need an alternative comparative concept that grounds methodologically your project. I would recommend the concept of analogy. It will help you to accurately describe the similarities between Hamilton's thematics and shengsheng philosophy, without rejecting the cultural implications of her poetics.

And then you may want to justify the significance of such a project. What do I mean? Let's say that someone asks, "So what if there is such an analogy… What does it mean or why do we care? What do we learn from your paper? What are the new insights regarding H.’ poetics that eluded us before reading it?" Your perspective is fresh, but it also has to be purposeful, meaningful in order to be original.

Apart from that, if I may add a reader’s reaction, the tone in your abstract is much more balanced than the stance you take when you discuss the existent research. For example, you claim that you want to liberate (sic) Hamilton from the critics’ overemphasis on racial opposition. This is quite strict, especially since you do not procure ample evidence that such an overemphasis actually exists. You only cite (without glossing) Hamilton’s remarks (lines 32-34). And then you cite Aggen’s praise about “Hamilton’s skill at breaking down the barriers of culture, race, and gender in order to show her reader that these barriers do not serve to promote survival”. The barriers exist and she explores and maps them and attempts to uncover the existential threat they pose. Maybe by explaining the analogy between her ethical vision and Shengsheng philosophy you try to highlight common areas of concern and connection between cultures that transcend differences? And maybe, at the same time, you propose a new understanding of the novel that conceives the relationship between cultural concerns and ethical vision as supplementary. Although Hamilton's ethical vision is not identical to shengsheng philosophy it can still be “translated” in its terms. And maybe this means that it can be shared across cultures in a larger new cosmopolitan framework. Somewhere there lays, I suspect, the justification of your interesting project.

Author Response

Comments 1: Since there is no evidence of an influence of shengsheng philosophy in Hamilton's poetics you need an alternative comparative concept that grounds methodologically your project. I would recommend the concept of analogy. It will help you to accurately describe the similarities between Hamilton's thematics and shengsheng philosophy, without rejecting the cultural implications of her poetics.

Response 1:  Thank you for pointing this out. I agree with this comment. Therefore, I have adjusted my way of thinking in arguing.  hrough the concept of analogy, the structure and argument can be more clearly in order to describe Hamilton’s survival writing with the correspondence to shengsheng philosophy. I decided to change the title as: “[Analogical Perspective from “Shengsheng” Philosophy on Virginia Hamilton’s Survival Writing in M.C. Higgins, the Great]”. Accordingly, the four parts have been changed as:  “[Living Environmental Crisis with Degradation of Shengsheng Virtue, “Feeling” for Environment and the Dead with Shengsheng Affect, M.C.’s Growth with Fulfilment of Shengsheng Disposition and The Killburns’ Survival Strategies with Shengsheng Fate]” There are also the according changes in the abstract and revisions of conclusions in details.

Comments 2: Maybe by explaining the analogy between her ethical vision and Shengsheng philosophy you try to highlight common areas of concern and connection between cultures that transcend differences? And maybe, at the same time, you propose a new understanding of the novel that conceives the relationship between cultural concerns and ethical vision as supplementary. Although Hamilton's ethical vision is not identical to shengsheng philosophy it can still be “translated” in its terms.

Response 2: Thank you again for illuminating me to think further what I try to argue for in this article. I have, accordingly, modified the approach with analogical comparison to emphasize my argument. I argue Hamilton’s concerns for “survival” is not only what has been discussed by the critics focusing on the aspects of the social and emotional. Breaking down the barriers of culture, race and gender is one side of Hamilton’s promoting survival. The other side is Hamilton’s concern of nature, cosmos, all that is living, which is corresponding with shengsheng philosophy.

Comments3 Apart from that, if I may add a reader’s reaction, the tone in your abstract is much more balanced than the stance you take when you discuss the existent research. For example, you claim that you want to liberate (sic) Hamilton from the critics’ overemphasis on racial opposition. This is quite strict, especially since you do not procure ample evidence that such an overemphasis actually exists. You only cite (without glossing) Hamilton’s remarks (lines 32-34).

Response 3: Agree. I have, accordingly revised the expression to emphasize this point. I have adjusted the tone and some details of this part. Specifically, see the revised article lines 34-51.

4. Response to Comments on the Quality of English Language

Point 1: no

Response 1:   Thank you!

5. Additional clarifications

Thank You

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

"Adversity and Survival in Virginia Hamilton's MC Higgins, the Great from the perspective of 'Shengsheng'"

The first question readers tend to ask when regarding an inventive thematic pairing is, "is this comparison plausible"? For some, that question leads to requests for proof that the author is aware of the tradition he or she echoes. This article's abstract argues that "shengsheng" is "well known" enough to "be drawn upon from a cross-cultural perspective."  However, more information about how Hamilton engages cross-culturally in her own work - and/or more information about how African and Chinese cultural traditions may overlap - could make this pairing more convincing.

The paper proceeds to offer a useful overview of shengsheng philosophy that helps us understand what makes it distinct from some Western philosophical traditions. This reader would be more convinced in the application of this philosophy to this text if 1) there is sourcing for Hamilton's interest in or awareness of global philosophical traditions and if 2) the thesis claim refrains from presenting an "either/or" that rejects "racial opposition" as a key theme in the work.  Surely the work can dramatize conflict and reconciliation at the same time. 

If shengsheng philosophy can't be directly connected with Hamilton, perhaps the author(s) can offer more specifics about how the application of shengsheng philosophy leads us to read this novel differently. Right now the ideas are presented as adjacent to each other; the author offers a list of key principles from shengsheng philosophy and parallels them with themes that appear in Higgins' text. I'd love to see explicit statements about what is generated for us via these correlations. In other words, what is the payoff, or the "so what," that justifies the extended comparison?

One promising moment along these lines comes on page five (lines 210 and following), when the author breaks away from the large umbrella concept of "Western culture" to be specific about how "African" traditions (which should of course be distinguished from African American traditions) come closer to Chinese ancestor worship than to some of the stereotypes of American rugged individualism. What research exists about connections between African and African American cultural and communal traditions and Chinese traditions?

In sum, as a reader I learned a lot about the thematic contours of Hamilton's novel, and I learned a lot about shengsheng philosophy. For the article to be as convincing and compelling as it has the potential to be, the author(s) should be clear about what true imperatives compel us to discuss this modern-day Appalachian novel alongside traditional Chinese philosophy.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Throughout, there are very small patterns of grammatical divergence from standard English sentence structures, as with the inclusion of the article when native speakers omit it (for example, see sentence three of the introduction). There are a few hiccups with subject/verb agreement, as in the sentence "Hamilton really care for survival and living" (line 39). The author should look for tiny typos as well (for example, "deconstruts" on line 451). These issues are minor and do not detract from a reader's understanding of the claim.

Author Response

Comments 1: The first question readers tend to ask when regarding an inventive thematic pairing is, "is this comparison plausible"? For some, that question leads to requests for proof that the author is aware of the tradition he or she echoes. This article's abstract argues that "shengsheng" is "well known" enough to "be drawn upon from a cross-cultural perspective."  However, more information about how Hamilton engages cross-culturally in her own work - and/or more information about how African and Chinese cultural traditions may overlap - could make this pairing more convincing.

Response 1:  Thank you for pointing this out. I agree with this comment. I have done some research on Hamilton's global awareness and the overlapping between African and Chinese cultural traditions. Please See the the second paragraph of page 2.

Comments 2:The paper proceeds to offer a useful overview of shengsheng philosophy that helps us understand what makes it distinct from some Western philosophical traditions. This reader would be more convinced in the application of this philosophy to this text if 1) there is sourcing for Hamilton's interest in or awareness of global philosophical traditions and if 2) the thesis claim refrains from presenting an "either/or" that rejects "racial opposition" as a key theme in the work.  Surely the work can dramatize conflict and reconciliation at the same time.

Response 2: Agree. I have, accordingly, added the resource for Hamilton's interest in  global cosmology and modified my tone to emphasize “survival writing” rather than "racial opposition". Please see the adjusted details in the abstract, conclusion, references and the first and second paragraph of page 2.

4. Response to Comments on the Quality of English Language

Point 1: Throughout, there are very small patterns of grammatical divergence from standard English sentence structures, as with the inclusion of the article when native speakers omit it (for example, see sentence three of the introduction). There are a few hiccups with subject/verb agreement, as in the sentence "Hamilton really care for survival and living" (line 39). The author should look for tiny typos as well (for example, "deconstruts" on line 451). These issues are minor and do not detract from a reader's understanding of the claim.

Response 1:  Yes, Thank you. I agree and I have corrected them in the re-submitted article.

5. Additional clarifications

Thank You

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Explore theoretical and methodological issues of comparative literature for your future studies.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I have completed a second review of this manuscript. The author added material that helps to justify this cross-cultural comparison. In addition, the author presents less of an antagonistic stance. This version is more welcoming to Hamilton's interest in racial justice and more accepting of existing scholarship on the works.

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Often, a revision that adds extra material adds additional sentence-level or grammatical errors. The most common pattern of error in this paper relates to definite articles (especially "the").  Very very careful English language editing seems to be the last step needed to make this piece acceptable for open-access publication.