Anecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance: Essays on the Shishuo xinyu (Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series)

Anecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance is a study of the Shishuo xinyu, the most important anecdotal collection of medieval China―and arguably of the entire traditional era. In a set of interconnected essays, Jack W. Chen offers new readings of the Shishuo xinyu that draw upon social network analysis, performance studies, theories of ritual and mourning, and concepts of gossip and reputation to illuminate how the anecdotes of the collection imagine and represent a political and cultural elite. Whereas most accounts of the Shishuo have taken a historical approach, Chen argues that the work should be understood in literary terms. At its center, Anecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance is an extended meditation on the very nature of the anecdote form, both what the anecdote affords in terms of representing a social community and how it provides a space for the rehearsal of certain longstanding philosophical and cultural arguments. Although each of the chapters may be read separately as an essay in its own right, when taken together, they present a comprehensive account of the Shishuo in all of its literary complexity. "This book is a study of the Shishuo xinyu, the most important anecdotal collection of medieval China-and arguably of the entire traditional era. In a set of interconnected essays, Jack W. Chen offers new readings of the Shishuo xinyu that draw upon social network analysis, performance studies, theories of ritual and mourning, and concepts of gossip and reputation to illuminate how the anecdotes of the collection imagine and represent a political and cultural elite. Whereas most accounts of the Shishuo have taken a historical approach, Chen argues that the work should be understood in literary terms. Thus, the central concern of Anecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance is an extended meditation on the very nature of the anecdote form, both what the anecdote affords in terms of representing a social community and how it provides a space for the rehearsal of certain longstanding philosophical and cultural arguments. Although each of the chapters may be read separately as an essay in its own right, when taken together, they present a comprehensive account of the Shishuo in all of its literary complexity"-- Provided by publisher Dedication Contents List of Illustrations A Prefatory Note and Acknowledgments Introduction 1 A Textual History of the Shishuo xinyu 2 On Social Networks 3 On Gossip and Reputation 4 On Performance, Praise, and Insult 5 On Competition and Composure 6 On Ritual and Mourning Conclusion: The View from across the River Appendix: Persons Appearing in the Shishuo xinyu Bibliography Index Пустая страница Пустая страница Пустая страница Пустая страница