C. T. Hsia on Chinese Literature

Erscheinungsjahr 2004
ISBN: 978-0-231-12990-9
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 544 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 228 mm, Gewicht: 850 g

Best known for the groundbreaking works A History of Modern Chinese Fiction (1961) and The Classic Chinese Novel (1968), C. T. Hsia has gathered sixteen essays and studies written during his Columbia years as a professor of Chinese literature. Wider in range and scope, C. T. Hsia on Chinese Literature stands beside his two earlier books as part of his critical legacy to all readers seriously interested in the subject.

C. T. Hsia's writings on Chinese literature express a candor rare among his Western colleagues. Thus the first section of the book contains three essays that place Chinese literature in critical perspective, examining its substance and significance and questioning some of the critical approaches and methods adopted by Western sinologists for its study and appreciation. The second section has two essays on traditional drama one on the Yuan masterpiece The Romance of the Western Chamber and the other a sophisticated study of the plays of the foremost Ming dramatist T'ang Hsien-tsu.

The third section is the richest and longest of the book, containing six essays on traditional and early modern fiction. At least four of these on "The Military Romance" and the novels Flowers in the Mirror, The Travels of Lao Ts'an, and Jade Pear Spirit are among the author's finest works. Finally, the fourth section of the book, covering modern fiction, includes one essay on the novel The Korchin Banner Plains, an essay on women in Chinese communist fiction, and three concise yet illuminating studies of the short story during the three republican decades before Mao, the first dozen years under Mao, and in Taiwan during the 1960s.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hsia, C. T.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Einzelne Sprachen & Sprachfamilien
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturen sonstiger Sprachräume Ost- & Südostasiatische Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

PrefaceAcknowledgmentsPart I. Chinese Literature in PerspectiveClassical Chinese Literature: Its Reception Today as a Product of Traditional CultureChinese Novels and American Critics: Reflections on Structure, Tradition, and SatireOn the "Scientific" Study of Modern Chinese Literature: A Reply to Professor PrusekPart II. Traditional DramaAn Introduction to The Romance of the Western ChamberTime and the Human Condition in the Plays of T'ang Hsien-tsuPart III. Traditional and Early Modern FictionThe Military Romance: A Genre of Chinese FictionArchetype and Allegory in the Dream of the Red Chamber: A CritiqueThe Scholar-Novelist and Chinese Culture: A Reappraisal of Ching-hua yuanYen Fu and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao as Advocates of New FictionThe Travels of Lao Ts'an: An Exploration of Its Art and MeaningHsu Chen-ya's Yu-li hun: An Essay in Literary History and CriticismPart IV. Modern FictionIntroduction to Modern Chinese Stories and Novellas, 1919-1949The Korchin Banner Plains: A Biographical and Critical StudyResidual Femininity: Women in Chinese Communist FictionForeword to Chinese Stories from Taiwan: 1960-1970Black Tears: An Introduction to Peng Ko's StoriesNotesGlossaryIndex

Über Autor(innen)

A bilingual author of wide influence among Chinese readers, C. T. Hsia has also published several volumes of criticism and essays in both Taiwan and mainland China, and coedited with Joseph S. M. Lau and Leo O. Lee Modern Chinese Stories and Novellas, 1919-1949 for Columbia University Press. He retired from teaching in 1991 and is now professor emeritus of Chinese at Columbia University.