Event

This talk is part of a longer article that challenges the common view that Zhuangzi 26 (“Waiwu”) is nothing more than a ragbag of odds and ends. Specifically for this talk, I focus on the illustrious final section of this chapter, the so-called fishnet allegory. I argue that this section does not—as is often assumed—deal with the dynamics of the relation between ‘language’ and ‘meaning,’ but that it is better explained as making a distinction between two very different ways of linguistic engagement with a given social context. Rather than being inspired by a broader narrative of Daoist or even Zhuangzian philosophy, this position is the result of a reading which places this section squarely within its chapter (pian) level context. Such reading is possible because the fishnet allegory shares three sets of explicit verbal connections with other sections of chapter 26. I will explicate these conections and their key terms, and draw out the implications for the final section. As a useful reading practice in general, I wish to draw attention to the value of immediate textual context in determining meaning. 

* East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department Rickett Lecture