The Politics of Cultural Capital: China's Quest for a Nobel Prize in Literature

In the 1980s China’s politicians, writers, and academics began to raise an increasingly urgent question: why had a Chinese writer never won a Nobel Prize for literature? Promoted to the level of official policy issue and national complex, Nobel anxiety generated articles, conferences, and official delegations to Sweden. Exiled writer Gao Xingjian’s win in 2000 failed to satisfactorily end the matter, and the controversy surrounding the Nobel committee’s choice has continued to simmer. Julia Lovell’s comprehensive study of China’s obsession spans the twentieth century and taps directly into the key themes of modern Chinese culture: national identity, international status, and the relationship between intellectuals and politics. The intellectual preoccupation with the Nobel literature prize expresses tensions inherent in China’s move toward a global culture after the collapse of the Confucian world-view at the start of the twentieth century, and particularly since China’s re-entry into the world economy in the post-Mao era. Attitudes toward the prize reveal the same contradictory mix of admiration, resentment, and anxiety that intellectuals and writers have long felt toward Western values as they struggled to shape a modern Chinese identity. In short, the Nobel complex reveals the pressure points in an intellectual community not entirely sure of itself. Making use of extensive original research, including interviews with leading contemporary Chinese authors and critics, __The Politics of Cultural Capital__ is a comprehensive, up-to-date treatment of an issue that cuts to the heart of modern and contemporary Chinese thought and culture. It will be essential reading for scholars of modern Chinese literature and culture, globalization, post-colonialism, and comparative and world literature.

With roots firmly in the oral storytelling tradition, Kimo Armitage's The Healers weaves multiple narrators and time periods into a novel of remarkable breadth, giving insight into Hawaiian culture where nature, man, and the spirit world coexist seamlessly. Echoing the voices of long ago, the book celebrates the connection to stories of Hawaii as once told by grandparents and great-grandparents. In the world of The Healers, family and place are revered and aloha is heartfelt.

Cousins Keola and Pua, chosen as the next generation of healers by their family, initially have an idyllic life as respected apprentice healers. Their days are spent training with their grandmother, investigating the healing properties of plants, and treating ailments of community and family members. Troubling dreams, however, foreshadow a sea change to come. One day, Pua meets and is immediately attracted to Tiki, a descendant of a powerful healing family from Tahiti, who has been mysteriously abandoned by his parents. Months later, Keola is sent across the island to train with Laka, the family's most knowledgeable healer, who was born with no arms or legs. A life-threatening challenge awaits this close-knit unit, and they must call upon generations of ancestral knowledge and skill to save those that stand at the precipice of death.

This compelling novel fills a gap in the Hawaiian literary canon of works for young adult readers.

Contents Acknowledgments Prologue Chapter One. Introduction: Diagnosing the Complex Chapter Two. The Nobel Prize for Literature Philosophy and Practice Chapter Three. Ideas of Authorship and the Nobel Prize in China, 1900 – 1976 Chapter Four. China’s Search for a Nobel Prize in Literature, 1979 – 2000 Chapter Five. The Nobel Prize, 2000 Afterword Notes Glossary of chinese terms Bibliography Index Making use of research, including interviews with Chinese authors and critics, this book offers a comprehensive treatment of an issue that cuts to the heart of modern and contemporary Chinese thought and culture. It is for scholars of modern Chinese literature and culture, globalization, post-colonialism, and comparative and world literature.