It has often been argued that the majority of 'western' literary theories are of limited use to the study of non-western literatures, as they base themselves on western norms and views of literature. Nevertheless, scholars throughout the world have been using and discussing these theories, and they are often doing so within the confines of a specific country or area. This book brings together thirteen essays by specialists in Chinese and Japanese literature who comment on their understanding of literature and their use of theory. Ranging from philology to deconstruction, from textual criticism to cultural sociology, and from classical to modern writing, both the literary works and the approaches to literature treated in this volume represent centuries of creative thought and expression by intellectuals both from East Asia and the western world. The authors confront the literatures and the theories through general discussions and specific case studies, focusing on the question of how culturally specific or universal literary theories really are.