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Across Invisible Divides in Chinese Fiction Studies
Organizer: Ming Dong Gu, Rhodes College
Chair: Liangyan Ge, Notre Dame University
Discussants: Rania Huntington, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Tina Lu, University of Pennsylvania
In the field of Chinese fiction studies, there is a series of invisible divides such as those between fiction and other literary genres, pre-modern and modern fiction, Chinese fiction and world fiction, traditional and postmodern approaches, and fictional and non-fictional discourses. Theoretically, no one has drawn these demarcations, but in practice, these divides have effectively constituted invisible but powerful barriers that few scholars are willing to cross. In our opinion, these divides are imagined barriers humanly constructed because of the academic need for specialization and have remained intact due to critical inertia. Rigid observance of these divides tends to overlook the inherent interrelatedness of literature, history, and culture, the mutual interaction between different types of discourses produced in a historical period, the overt and covert impact of early discourse upon later discourse, and the reciprocal process through which the past has shaped the present and the present reshapes the past. Not a few scholars in the Sinological circles have felt the restricting strains by these divides and are making experimental moves to change the situation. We believe that fiction is a totalizing genre and the totality of fiction defies divides and barriers. To cross those invisible and humanly constructed divides, we have organized a panel that hopes to contribute to the emerging trend. In different ways, each presentation attempts to cross one or more of the recognized barriers. Exploring the feasibility of crossing the boundaries in literary Sinology, the panel is firmly rooted in the practical purpose of fiction criticism. We attempt to demonstrate how border crossing may enlarge the horizons of fiction studies and deepen our understanding of a particular fictional work from a broadened perspective.
The Chinese Fictional Canon Reconsidered: The View from European Book Acquisitions, 1720-1860p
Patricia A. Sieber, Ohio State University
In studies of Chinese fiction, scholars have focused on works of Ming and Qing fiction from the point of view of the longevity and breadth of their impact on the Chinese literary canon. Alternatively, scholars of comparative literature have explored the impact of select Chinese novels on various East Asian and European literary cultures. However, no study has systematically surveyed European acquisitions in order to determine the popularity of Chinese fictional narratives in different regions in Qing China. This paper examines Chinese fictional narrative from the vantage point of European book acquisitions conducted during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by individuals affiliated with Russian, French, English, and German institutions. Questions to be considered include the following: To what extent did the designation of “books of genius” make a difference in the reception of Chinese fiction within Chinese literary culture and among European book buyers respectively? To what extent did regional differences influence acquisitions of fictional texts undertaken in Beijing and in Guangzhou respectively? To what extent did acquisitions change in response to the publication of new fictional texts? Finally, do potential differences in the contours of Chinese fiction stem from European preferences for certain types of books or do these acquisitions reflect what was popularly available in various Chinese book markets at the time? By expanding the examination of the Chinese book market to include European acquisitions, the paper seeks to bridge regional, transregional, and translinguistic perspectives in order to enhance our understanding of the formation of the canon of Chinese fictional narratives.
Placing the “Popular” Novel in the Qing
Margaret Baptist Wan, University of Utah
What was the relationship between “popular” and “literati” literature in the mid-Qing, and how does it affect our understanding of vernacular fiction? My paper explores the relationship between the great novels, popular fiction, and performance genres by examining their audiences, aesthetics, and cultural contexts during the nineteenth century. The dominant paradigm in fiction criticism divides extended vernacular fiction of the Ming and Qing into two groups, the “literati” novels and “chapbooks.” This bifurcation appears in Lu Xun’s pioneering literary history Zhongguo xiaoshuo shilüe (1924), in which he suggests that the novel’s readership split in the Qianlong period into “literati” and “folk” audiences. In a way, this idea was implied in the fiction commentary by Jin Shengtan and his imitators, who elevated some novels to the status of “art” at the expense of the genre. In contrast to this binary model, the martial arts novel demonstrates how material moves across genres and audiences in the mid-Qing. Lü mudan (1800), one of the earliest martial arts novels, lies at the center of a network of literary relations connecting many of the significant genres of fiction in its day. Its close ties to both drum ballads and erudite novels like Jing hua yuan remind us of the fluidity of culture in the mid-Qing. Lü mudan, contrary to stereotyped generic expectations, not only has a readership as intellectually and geographically diverse as the ‘masterworks,’ but also shares much of the latter’s aesthetic. It brings about a convergence of audiences and aesthetics across the range of vernacular fiction in the nineteenth century.
Lu Xun’s Old Tales Retold: Modernist Experiments with Border Crossing
Ming Dong Gu, Rhodes College
Lu Xun has been recognized as an experimental writer whose thematic, formal, and stylistic innovations have enriched the tradition of Chinese literature and pioneered new ways for Chinese writing. Not enough attention, however, has been paid to his bold experiments with border crossing in literature. His experiments find an concentrated expression in his last story collection, Old Tales Retold. It is easy to recognize his rewriting of old tales from classical Chinese literature, but little has been acknowledged of his attempts to cross well established divides. I suggest that the collection represents his attempts to cross a series of divides between the past and present, the public and the private, the social and psychological, the political and the poetic, history and literature, prose fiction and other genres, pre-modern and modern fiction, and between traditional and postmodern approaches to literature. In this presentation, I will focus one of the stories, “Forging the Swords.” I argue that Lu Xun did not simply take over the old theme of revenge in the classical tale, amplifying it and making it more enthralling and captivating in the way many writers retell old stories. He employs the old story’s plot only as a framework for a broad array of creative intentions. Into the old story he infused his profound insights into human existence, the meaning of life, the forces of society, the dialectics of self and other, and other existential problems facing Chinese people in particular and all people in general. Moreover, he pours into the retold tale his vision about literary creativity, fictionalization, the fusion of tradition and modernity, and carries out extraordinary formal and stylistic innovations. I also argue that by crossing the series of divides, Lu Xu’s rewriting of old stories achieves an artistic effect that is not only modern but also modernist and postmodern.
Shaping the Provincial Identity with Films: Zhang Yimou’s Geographical Imagination
Yuan Gao, University of Memphis
The first eight films by Zhang Yimou are based on the novels by different authors, and these works have drawn much attention from the audience, both domestic and international. Zhang and his teams create the storylines in his later works which have drawn much criticism. Most scholars have understood Zhang and his films against the national and international background, resulting in diverse comments about China’s politics and cross-cultural issues. This paper attempts to provide an interdisciplinary interpretation, drawing ideas from geography, fiction, film studies, and cultural studies. Basically, I argue that Zhang’s filmic representations have unconsciously helped strengthen the provincial identity of Shaanxi, his home province. My paper first discusses the geographical identity as a conceptual framework for approaching the films. Instead of using the provincial boundaries, I’ll adopt what I wish to call the provincial scale, which is predicated on the fact that the powerful provincial governments have been creating clear provincial identities and the Chinese still have a strong tendency to categorize people mostly according to provinces. I will then examine Zhang’s local culture complex by showing the repeated presence of the Yellow Earth, Qin (state/dynasty)-style cultural customs, and local-centered music in this films. Finally, I will address the topic of translocality as manifested in Zhang Yimou’s films. Given the populous migration, looser social control, and easier access to modern media, cultures spread fast. By adding a diverse array of national customs to Shaanxi culture-centered films, I argue that Zhang is shaping the translocal imaginary of Shaanxi identity.