The subversive self in modern Chinese literature
Subtitle: the Creation Society's reinvention of the Japanese shishōsetsu
By: Christopher T. Keaveney.
Edition: 1st ed.
Series: Comparative perspectives on modern Asia; Comparative perspectives on modern Asia series
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2004
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 212
Subjects: Chuang zao she; Chinese literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism; Chinese literature -- Japanese influences; Autobiographical fiction, Japanese -- History and criticism
Other titles: Creation Society's reinvention of the Japanese shishōsetsu.
Description: "The Shishosetsu (I-novel) is often characterized by Japanese literary scholars as the quintessential Japanese form of fiction in the twentieth century. Christopher Keaveney suggests that the scope of the shishosetsu's influence also extended beyond Japan and had an impact on the May Fourth literary coterie known as the Creation Society, the members of which had all been educated in Japan. Keaveney argues that the Creation Society's innovation was to see in this autobiographical form the potential for social and political critique. In the process, these young writers developed a form of fiction that simultaneously looked inward at the subjective experiences of the author and homeward to critique a China in the throes of tumultuous social upheaval. By letting their work retian both self-referentiality and articulations of social concerns, the Chinese authors were able to make the form far more political than it ever was in the hands of Japanese writers."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [191]-201) and index.