This book provides a concise introduction to the intellectual trends in contemporary Chinese literature from the 1950s to the 1990s and the influence of overseas Sinology. The turbulent period of the second half of the 20th century in China witnessed a significant societal shift from a revolutionary to an economic focus. This transformation introduced and stimulated various ideas, reshaping public thought and reconstructing the historical landscape of contemporary Chinese literature. This book explores the response and self-exploration of domestic literary studies of the period, which were heavily influenced by the Western academic tradition and overseas Sinology studies. It examines critical phenomena, figures, and events in this context. The author's narrative vividly illustrates the interplay and dialogue of factors such as revolution, reform and opening up, and the rise of literature in the 1980s and 1990s. Combining the methodologies of literary and social history, and integrating personal historical experience with rigorous academic methods, this book provides a unique research framework for revisiting the cultural scene of the period. The title will appeal to scholars and students of contemporary Chinese literature and history. It will also attract general readers interested in Chinese culture and society in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature features more than fifty short essays on specific writers and literary trends from the Qing period (1895–1911) to the present. The volume opens with thematic essays on the politics and ethics of writing literary history, the formation of the canon, the relationship between language and form, the role of literary institutions and communities, the effects of censorship, the representation of the Chinese diaspora, the rise and meaning of Sinophone literature, and the role of different media in the development of literature. Subsequent essays focus on authors, their works, and the schools with which they were aligned, featuring key names, titles, and terms in English and in Chinese characters. Woven throughout are pieces on late Qing fiction, popular entertainment fiction, martial arts fiction, experimental theater, post-Mao avant-garde poetry, post–martial law fiction from Taiwan, contemporary genre fiction from China, and recent Internet literature. The volume includes essays on such authors as Liang Qichao, Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Eileen Chang, Jin Yong, Mo Yan, Wang Anyi, Gao Xingjian, and Yan Lianke. Both a teaching tool and a go-to research companion, this volume is a one-of-a-kind resource for mastering modern literature in the Chinese-speaking world.

The Routledge Handbook of Modern Chinese Literature presents a comprehensive overview of Chinese literature from the 1910s to the present day. Featuring detailed studies of selected masterpieces, it adopts a thematic-comparative approach. By developing an innovative conceptual framework predicated on a new theory of periodization, it thus situates Chinese literature in the context of world literature, and the forces of globalization. Each section consists of a series of contributions examining the major literary genres, including fiction, poetry, essay drama and film. Offering an exciting account of the century-long process of literary modernization in China, the handbook’s themes include: Modernization of people and writing Realism, rmanticism and mdernist asthetics Chinese literature on the stage and screen Patriotism, war and revolution Feminism, liberalism and socialism Literature of reform, reflection and experimentation Literature of Taiwan, Hong Kong and new media This handbook provides an integration of biographical narrative with textual analysis, maintaining a subtle balance between comprehensive overview and in-depth examination. As such, it is an essential reference guide for all students and scholars of Chinese literature.

This wide-ranging Companion provides a vital overview of modern Chinese literature in different geopolitical areas, from the 1840s to now. It reviews major accomplishments of Chinese literary scholarship published in Chinese and English and brings attention to previously neglected, important areas. Offers the most thorough and concise coverage of modern Chinese literature to date, drawing attention to previously neglected areas such as late Qing, Sinophone, and ethnic minority literature Several chapters explore literature in relation to Sinophone geopolitics, regional culture, urban culture, visual culture, print media, and new media The introduction and two chapters furnish overviews of the institutional development of modern Chinese literature in Chinese and English scholarship since the mid-twentieth century Contributions from leading literary scholars in mainland China and Hong Kong add their voices to international scholarship

This book explores Vladimir Nabokov's literary thoughts, which blend Russian traditions, American values, European heritage, and multiculturalism, manifesting the cosmopolitan character of his writings and aesthetic ideas. Nabokov’s literary thoughts and writings inherit the legacies of various cultural traditions. This book explores four major facets of Nabokov’s intellectual and artistic origins: “Russianness,” “Americanness,” “Europeanness,” and multiculturalism. It discusses his affinity with major trends in twentieth-century literary theory, including Russian formalism, Bakhtinian poetics, New Criticism, aestheticism, psychoanalysis, feminism, postcolonialism, and cultural identity. It also shows how Nabokov developed these ideas in his own unique way. In addition, this study provides a cross-cultural overview of his reception and influence in China, comparing his works and thoughts with several Chinese authors. This further illustrates the “cosmopolitanism” of his literary thought and the inclusiveness of his concept of world literature. This study helps to better understand Nabokov’s ideas and writings in a broader context and also to discover innovative approaches to the communication, integration, and complementarity of Western and Eastern literatures and cultures. This book will appeal to literature scholars, students, and anyone interested in Nabokov studies, literary theory, American literature, world literature, and comparative literature.

The Grand Scribe’s Record and Chinese Literature is one of Prof. Zhang’s most important works and the crystallization results of his lifelong research. It represents the achievements of Chinese scholars at the stage. Moreover, this book helps readers to understand The Grand Scribe's Records in the development history of Chinese literature, which shows its various connections and positions in Chinese literature. It includes a comprehensive analysis of The Grand Scribe's Records and a detailed analysis of classical pieces. The thematic analysis involves cultural background, system and attempt, ideological content, events, and people description as well as historical origin, exposing strict theoretical analysis and excellent literary expression. Therefore, it is good guidance for readers to understand The Grand Scribe's Records in depth with both academic as well as reading value. And, this book The Grand Scribe's Records and Chinese Literature was sponsored by the Chinese Academic Translation Project of the National Social Science Foundation for English Translation Version, which is a project that represents the highest level of academic work promotion in China.

This volume has brought together essays to explore, analyse and interpret the revolutionary tradition in modern Chinese literature over the past century from various angles. The authors examines the bodily or carnal dimension, especially the hidden implication of sexual passion, in revolutionary literature, formulate feminist critiques of the conception of women in literary expressions of revolution, explore the function of revolution as historical discourse and in historiographical representation, and discuss the reworking of “revolutionary classics” in recent literary and artistic endeavours. Here, revolution (in history and in literature) is conceptualized neither as an unquestionably progressive and creative force for a new world, nor an absolutely pejorative concept that necessarily leads to sociopolitical turmoil and tragedy. Insofar as “postrevolutionary writings” cannot but reappropriate the revolutionary spirit as their unavoidable and inseparable traumatic kernel, studies in revolutionary literature and culture, too, go through the zigzag experience of revolution in order to scrutinize its complex implications.