Chinese literature in the second half of a modern century : a critical survey

"... an important contribution to the study of recent Chinese literature." -- Choice"This fine, scholarly survey of Chinese literature since 1949... discusses such trends as modernism, nativism, realism, root-seeking and 'scar' literature, 'misty' poets, and political, feminist, and societal issues in modern Chinese literature." -- Library JournalThis volume is a survey of modern Chinese literature in the second half of the twentieth century. It has three goals: (1) to introduce figures, works, movements, and debates that constitute the dynamics of Chinese literature from 1949 to the end of the century; (2) to depict the enunciative endeavors, ranging from ideological treatises to avant-garde experiments, that inform the polyphonic discourse of Chinese cultural politics; (3) to observe the historical factors that enacted the interplay of literary (post)modernities across the Chinese communities in the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas. This Volume Offers A Survey Of Chinese Literature In The Second Half Of The Twentieth Century. It Has Three Goals: (1) To Introduce The Figures, Works, Movements, And Debates That Constitute The Dynamics Of Chinese Literature From 1949 To The End Of The Century; (2) To Depict The Reality Of Chinese Cultural Politics; And (3) To Observe The Historical Factors Behind The Interplay Of Literary (post)modernities In The Chinese Communities On The Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, And Overseas.--jacket. Farewell To The Gods: Contemporary Chinese Literary Theory's Fin-de-siècle Struggle / Zaifu Liu -- Taiwan Literature, 1945-1999 / Pang-yuan Chi -- Colonialism, The Cold War Era, And Marginal Space: The Existential Condition Of Five Decades Of Hong Kong Literature / William Tay -- Reinventing National History: Communist And Anti-communist Fiction Of The Mid-twentieth Century / David Der-wei Wang -- The School And The Hospital: On The Logics Of Socialist Realism / Su Wei -- Modernism And Its Discontents: Taiwan Literature In The 1960s / Ko Chíng-ming -- Beyond Nativist Realism: Taiwan Fiction In The 1970s And 1980s / Yang Chao -- Searching For Roots: Anticultural Return In Mainland Chinese Literature Of The 1980s / Li Qingxi -- Re-membering The Cultural Revolution: Chinese Avant-garde Literature Of The 1980s / Wu Liang -- Resistance To Modernity: Reflections On Mainland Chinese Literary Criticism In The 1980s / Li Tuo -- Feminism And Female Taiwan Writers / Chung Ling -- Breaking Open: Chinese Women's Writing In The Late 1980s And 1990s / Jingyuan Zhang -- The Cultural Imaginary Of A City: Reading Hong Kong Through Xi Xi / Stephen C.k. Chan -- Answering The Question: What Is Chinese Postmodernism/post-mao-dengism? / Xiaobin Yang -- Death Of The Poet: Poetry And Society In Contemporary China And Taiwan / Michelle Yeh -- A Bibliographic Survey Of Publications On Chinese Literature In Translation From 1949 To 1999 / Jeffrey C. Kinkley. Edited By Pang-yuan Chi And David Der-wei Wang. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. CONTENTS......Page 6 PREFACE......Page 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 12 EDITORS’ NOTE......Page 13 INTRODUCTION......Page 14 1 FAREWELL TO THE GODS Contemporary Chinese Literary Theory’s Fin-de-siècle Struggle......Page 48 2 TAIWAN LITERATURE,1945 –1999......Page 61 3 COLONIALISM,THE COLD WAR ERA, AND MARGINAL SPACE The Existential Condition of Five Decades of Hong Kong Literature......Page 78 4 REINVENTING NATIONAL HISTORY Communist and Anti-Communist Fiction of the Mid-Twentieth Century......Page 86 5 THE SCHOOL AND THE HOSPITAL On the Logics of Socialist Realism......Page 112 6 MODERNISM AND ITS DISCONTENTS Taiwan Literature in the 1960s......Page 123 7 BEYOND “NATIVIST REALISM ” Taiwan Fiction in the 1970s and 1980s......Page 143 8 SEARCHING FOR ROOTS Anticultural Return in Mainland Chinese Literature of the 1980s......Page 157 9 RE-MEMBERING THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION Chinese Avant-garde Literature of the 1980s......Page 171 10 RESISTANCE TO MODERNITY Reflections on Mainland Chinese Literary Criticism in the 1980s......Page 184 11 FEMINISM AND FEMALE TAIWAN WRITERS......Page 193 12 BREAKING OPEN Chinese Women’s Writing in the Late 1980s and 1990s......Page 208 13 THE CULTURAL IMAGINARY OF A CITY Reading Hong Kong through Xi Xi......Page 227 14 ANSWERING THE QUESTION What Is Chinese Postmodernism/Post-Mao-Dengism?......Page 240 15 DEATH OF THE POET Poetry and Society in Contemporary China and Taiwan......Page 263 APPENDIX A Bibliographic Survey of Publications on Chinese Literature in Translation from 1949 to 1999 1......Page 286 Contributors......Page 334 Index......Page 336 Indiana University Press CONTENTS 6 PREFACE 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 12 EDITORS’ NOTE 13 INTRODUCTION 14 1 FAREWELL TO THE GODS Contemporary Chinese Literary Theory’s Fin-de-siècle Struggle 48 2 TAIWAN LITERATURE,1945 –1999 61 3 COLONIALISM,THE COLD WAR ERA, AND MARGINAL SPACE The Existential Condition of Five Decades of Hong Kong Literature 78 4 REINVENTING NATIONAL HISTORY Communist and Anti-Communist Fiction of the Mid-Twentieth Century 86 5 THE SCHOOL AND THE HOSPITAL On the Logics of Socialist Realism 112 6 MODERNISM AND ITS DISCONTENTS Taiwan Literature in the 1960s 123 7 BEYOND “NATIVIST REALISM ” Taiwan Fiction in the 1970s and 1980s 143 8 SEARCHING FOR ROOTS Anticultural Return in Mainland Chinese Literature of the 1980s 157 9 RE-MEMBERING THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION Chinese Avant-garde Literature of the 1980s 171 10 RESISTANCE TO MODERNITY Reflections on Mainland Chinese Literary Criticism in the 1980s 184 11 FEMINISM AND FEMALE TAIWAN WRITERS 193 12 BREAKING OPEN Chinese Women’s Writing in the Late 1980s and 1990s 208 13 THE CULTURAL IMAGINARY OF A CITY Reading Hong Kong through Xi Xi 227 14 ANSWERING THE QUESTION What Is Chinese Postmodernism/Post-Mao-Dengism? 240 15 DEATH OF THE POET Poetry and Society in Contemporary China and Taiwan 263 APPENDIX A Bibliographic Survey of Publications on Chinese Literature in Translation from 1949 to 1999 1 286 Contributors 334 Index 336 ISBN-13:,9780253337108 Annotation "... an important contribution to the study of recent Chinese literature." -- Choice "This fine, scholarly survey of Chinese literature since 1949... discusses such trends as modernism, nativism, realism, root-seeking and 'scar' literature, 'misty' poets, and political, feminist, and societal issues in modern Chinese literature." -- Library Journal This volume is a survey of modern Chinese literature in the second half of the twentieth century. It has three goals: (1) to introduce figures, works, movements, and debates that constitute the dynamics of Chinese literature from 1949 to the end of the century; (2) to depict the enunciative endeavors, ranging from ideological treatises to avant-garde experiments, that inform the polyphonic discourse of Chinese cultural politics; (3) to observe the historical factors that enacted the interplay of literary (post)modernities across the Chinese communities in the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas. This volume introduces and analyzes the authors, works, movements, and debates that constitute Chinese literature from 1949 to the year 2000 from the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, as well as the overseas diaspora.Essays in Part One look at the mythology that deified Mao and his discourse, offer a comprehensive view of the changes and continuities in Taiwan's literature since 1945, and review literature from Hong Kong in the context of colonialism, Cold War ideology, and the politics of marginality. Part Two deals with the politics of writing and the formation (or deformation) of literary subjectivity in the 1950s and 1960s on the mainland and in Taiwan. Part Three evaluates the strategies that writers from all parts of China have employed in search of literary modernities. Part Four touches on some of the most prominent aspects of Chinese literature as it takes a postmodernist turn. In 1988, during a (transcribed) dialogue, "Thoughts and Feelings on Literature and Art," Li Zehou told me that he urged writers never to read literary theory: writers are endowed with their sensibility, understanding, and vitality of thought, but once they read theory, these are either extinguished or spirited away.