Humans, Beasts and Ghosts - Stories and Essays

Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-231-15275-4
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 272 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 154 mm x 228 mm, Gewicht: 314 g

Reihe: Weatherhead Books on Asia

Qian Zhongshu was one of twentieth-century China's most ingenious literary stylists, one whose insights into the ironies and travesties of modern China remain stunningly fresh. Between the early years of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and the Communist takeover in 1949, Qian wrote a brilliant series of short stories, essays, and a comedic novel that continue to inspire generations of Chinese readers.

With this long-awaited translation, English-language readers can immerse themselves in the invention and satirical wit of one of the world's great literary cosmopolitans. This collection brings together Qian's best short works, combining his iconoclastic essays on the "book of life" from Written in the Margins of Life (1941) with the four masterful short stories of Human, Beast, Ghost (1946). His essays elucidate substantive issues through deceptively simple subjects-the significance of windows versus doors, for example, or the blind spots of literary critics—and assert the primacy of critical and creative independence. His stories blur the boundaries between humans, beasts, and ghosts as they struggle through life, death, and resurrection. Christopher G. Rea situates these works within China's wartime politics and Qian's literary vision, highlighting significant changes that Qian Zhongshu made to different editions of his writings and providing unprecedented insight into the author's creative process.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Zhongshu, Zhongshu

Qian, Zhongshu

Rea, Christopher G.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Hu, Dennis

Mao, Nathan

Mao, Yiran

Rea, Christopher G.

Williams, Philip

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Volkskunde: Sitten, Traditionen, Mythen, Legenden
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziologie des Brauchtums und der Traditionen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literatur: Sammlungen, Anthologien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

AcknowledgmentsIntroductionWritten in the Margins of Life and Human, Beast, GhostAuthor's Preface to the 1983 Editions of Written in the Margins of Life and Human, Beast, GhostWritten in the Margins of LifeDedicationAcknowledgmentsPrefaceThe Devil Pays a Nighttime Visit to Mr. Qian ZhongshuWindowsOn HappinessOn LaughterEatingReading Aesop's FablesOn Moral InstructionA PrejudiceExplaining Literary BlindnessOn WritersNotesHuman, Beast, GhostFirst Preface to the 1946 Kaiming EditionSecond Preface to the 1946 Kaiming EditionGod's DreamCatInspirationSouvenirNotesEditionsFurther Reading in EnglishTranslators

Über Autor(innen)

Qian Zhongshu (1910-1998), hailed as twentieth-century China's "foremost man of letters," is best known for his novel, Fortress Besieged, and his groundbreaking study of the Chinese literary canon, Limited Views: Essays on Ideas and Letters.

Christopher G. Rea is assistant professor of modern Chinese literature at the University of British Columbia.