This article collects and organizes relevant materials on the study of Lu Xun in the English-speaking world from the 1920s to the present, including English translations of Lu Xun’s works, as well as biographies, academic monographs, journal articles, and doctoral dissertations of Lu Xun in English. It also involves some literary history textbooks, selected readings, and encyclopedias related to modern Chinese literature in English, outlining the changes of Lu Xun’s images in the English-speaking world during different historical periods. On this basis, this article applies the theories of image studies, focusing on the construction of metaphorical and descriptive images. With the application of interdisciplinary methods, it sorts out images of Lu Xun in different media such as Lu Xun’s biography, translated works, academic research, and popular cultural media in the English-speaking world from the dimensions of intertextuality, context, and text. It analyzes the interaction between these images of Lu Xun and the historical, social, political, and cultural background of the English-speaking world and summarizes the common characteristics and dissemination of Lu Xun's images in the English -speaking world.

The concept of “world literature” is not only widely acknowledged as a plural and multifaceted phenomenon, but it also reflects the ongoing struggles of various nations seeking for literary and cultural influence. Proposed in the 18th century, the term “Weltliteratur” coincided with the emergence of the French comparative literature movement, often regarded as the origin of world literature studies in the French context. However, from the outset, a distinction existed between “comparative literature” and “general literature”. In the French context, the theory of “world literature” developed independently from comparative literature, initially understood as “general literature”. It was not until the 1990s that these two domains began to converge into a more integrated theoretical framework. Scholars associated with the “continental” tradition, such as Casanova, have conceptualized world literature as a dynamic and hierarchical literary field, laying the foundation for the evolution of the French notion of world literature. In contrast, the “archipelago” theory, which emerged within postcolonial discourse, focuses on the exploration of multicultural relationships and envisions a world cultural framework. Contemporary theoretical shifts in French world literature, including Glissant’s “poetics of relation”, Westphal’s “archipelago model”, and William Marx’s idea of the “world library”, reflect a distinct research paradigm that contrasts with the Anglo-Saxon approach to world literature.

This study examines the theoretical evolution of world literature within the French context, highlighting the convergence of the “continental” and “archipelago” models and their spatial dimensions. It also explores the distinctive theoretical features of French world literature, particularly in terms of its approach to theoretical construction, research methodologies, and literary historiography. Ultimately, the study seeks to deepen our understanding of French world literature theory and offer valuable insights for rethinking the broader discourse of world literature.

The study of Gabriel García Márquez’s novels has long been characterized by “Western-centrism”. When exploring the literary and cultural origins of Márquez’s novels, most of the relevant works emphasize the West over the East, especially ignoring the Arabic origins from the East. Literary research should return to historical events and focus on the facts of civilization intercommunication and the mutual influences between Eastern and Western literatures. A review of history shows that at least three threads of Arabic origin can be found in Márquez’s novels: Firstly, from the 8th to the end of the 15th century, the Arabic Empire ruled over the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe for nearly 800 years, profoundly influencing Western literature and, with the Western colonial activities, having a far-reaching impact on Latin American literature.Secondly, since the 18th century, amidst the “Oriental craze”, Western scholars have rediscovered and translated the classical Arabic literature work “The Arabian Nights”, promoting its widespread dissemination in Latin America. Thirdly, by the end of the 19th century, a large number of Arabic immigrants flooded into Latin America, profoundly affecting local society and culture. Based on these historical threads, Márquez’s novels not only received influences from the Arabic literary tradition and classical works through the mediation of the West, but were also directly influenced by the cultural traditions and social practices of Latin American Arabic immigrants. In works such as “Cien años de soledad” and “Crónica de una muerte anunciada”,he fused the long-standing traditions of Arabic civilization with the realistic situation of the Arab community, reflecting an equal view of civilization that differs from the theory of Western superiority.

The Great Preface plays an important role in the history of Chinese literature and literary theory, but most of the current studies on it are still limited to the domestic perspective, and the translation and research status of Western academic circles have not been objectively included in the vision of domestic researchers. By means of comparative literature interpretation and variation, this paper tries to understand the current research status of The Great Preface in the western academic circles in a macroscopic way, in order to make the methods and achievements of the Western academic circles as a supplement to the domestic academic circles, and to better realize the exchange and mutual learning between the ancient Chinese literary theories represented by The Great Preface and the western literary theories on the basis of mutual learning between the Chinese and Western literary theories.

Boris Pasternak’s simultaneous translation of Faust and writing of Doctor Zhivago between 1948 and 1951 allowed the ideas and symbolism of Goethe’s work to continue and develop in his writing, thus making his literary practice a typical example of intercultural dialogue. Pasternak’s juxtaposition of Faust and Hamlet embodies the philosophical distinction between the “doer” and the “contemplative”, and is projected in Doctor Zhivago as the dual character of the protagonist Yuri Zhivago: as a doctor, he devotes himself to the realities of salvation, perpetuating Faust’s quest for the meaning of life; as a poet, he questions the violence of the revolution and inherits Hamlet’s existentialist inquiries. This duality is not a simple opposition of character, but a profound definition of the nature of the “new man” by Pasternak — a “spiritual alchemist” who seeks transcendence in contradiction.

In the second part of Faust, Wagner creates the “Homunculus” through scientific experiments, an image that symbolises Enlightenment rationality’s quest for perfect humanity, but is doomed to extinction because of its lack of human nature. In the second part of Faust, Wagner creates the “Homunculus” through scientific experiments, an image that symbolises Enlightenment rationality’s quest for perfect humanity, but is doomed to extinction because of its lack of human nature. Pasternak projected this metaphor to the Russian Revolution, which was seen as a social experiment for the birth of a “new man”, whose initial aim was to break the shackles of the old order, but was reduced to the tragedy of “Homunculus” owing to violence and alienation. Faust’s grandiose project ended in a grave, and Zhivago’s manuscripts were lost in the turmoil, suggesting that no utopian construction can escape the mockery of history. Through this ending, Pasternak criticises the revolution’s devouring of individual values and reflects on the eternal conflict between Enlightenment reason and human nature. Pasternak’s work is not only an extension of Goethe’s legacy, but also a poetic summary of the fate of Russian intellectuals in the 20th century. Through a close reading of the text and cross-cultural comparisons, this paper reinterprets the philosophical depth of Doctor Zhivago and reveals how Pasternak responds to the complexity of the Russian Revolution within the framework of a Faust-Hamlet dialogue. The thesis provides new perspectives for understanding the exchange between Russian and German literature, and is also instructive for reflecting on the dilemma of the “new man” in the context of modernity.