Triangular System in Chinese Studies of African Literature

Abstract Drawing on the dynamic and historically layered relationships among Africa, China, and the West, a “triangular system” serves as an analytical framework for understanding the evolution of studies of African literature in China. Tracing a four-stage periodization reveals how Western epistemologies have shaped Chinese interpretations of African literature. At the same time, it also illuminates China’s efforts to assert intellectual autonomy. A fluid, geometry-based triangulation model that accommodates multiplicity, foregrounds African agency, and fosters direct Afro-Chinese literary engagement is essential for meaningful South-South collaboration in literary studies, which must resist epistemic dependency and nationalist instrumentalization, and instead emphasize mutual learning and structural transformation.