Routledge Companion to Shen Congwen by Zhou, Gang; Chen, Sihe; Xinying, Zhang;

Short description:

This volume is about studies of Shen Congwen (1902-1988), one of the most important writers in modern China, and about how Shen Congwen has been received in and beyond Mainland China.  The editors propose a new way to approach the topics of canonic writers, modern Chinese literature, and world literature. 

Long description:

This volume is about studies of Shen Congwen (1902–1988), one of the most important writers in modern China, but more importantly, it is about how Shen Congwen has been received in and beyond Mainland China. By presenting the best literary criticism on Shen Congwen in Mainland China over the past 80 years, and views of how Shen Congwen has been understood, interpreted, and appreciated in Japan, the US, and Europe, the editors propose a new way to approach the topics of canonic writers, modern Chinese literature, and world literature.

This is itself a translated project. Its Chinese edition appeared in May 2017. The bilingual rendering of the best criticism of Shen Congwen from a global perspective intends to initiate and advance dialogues between Chinese- and English- language scholarly communities. We strive to explore the complexities of “worldwide” images and interpretations of Shen Congwen. By calling attention to the foreign spaces into which overseas Shen Congwens and modern Chinese literature are reborn as world literature, we acknowledge and celebrate the study of Shen Congwen and modern Chinese literature as ongoing and endless cross-cultural dialogues and manifestations.

Table of Contents:

Contents

Foreword

1. A Short Biography of Shen Congwen, by Ding Qianhan; Jeffrey C. Kinkley, tr.










Survey of Research on Shen Congwen









2. The Study of Shen Congwen in China, by Yuan Yiyue; Philip F. Williams, tr.











3. The Study of Shen Congwen in Japan, by Hisao KOJIMA; Hisao Kojima and Jeffrey C. Kinkley, tr.











4. American Shen Congwens: A Search for Translators, by Gang ZHOU











5. The Translation and Reception of Shen Congwen in France and Elsewhere in Europe, by Isabelle Rabut and Angel Pino










Research on Shen Congwen in China









6. Border Town and "Portrait of Eight Steeds," by Liu Xiwei (Li Jianwu); Gang Zhou, tr.











7. The Loneliness of Shen Congwen, by Wang Zengqi; Eugene Eoyang, tr.











8. Looking at Shen Congwen from the Perspective of Cultures in Confrontation: Miao and Han; Chinese and Western, by Ling Yu; Jeffrey C. Kinkley, tr.











9. Shen Congwen and Chu Culture, by Liu Yiyou; Yuan Rongjie, tr.











10. Temporal Form in Shen Congwen’s Fiction, by Liu Hongtao; Jingyuan Liu, tr.











11. Code Words for Communications Media in Long River: Shen Congwen’s Imaginaries of the Nation and of the Modern, by Wu Xiaodong; Jeffrey C. Kinkley, tr.











12. From Enlightenment to the Folk: Border Town, by Chen Sihe; Jeffrey C. Kinkley, tr.











13. Shen Congwen and Twentieth Century China, by Zhang Xinying; Jeffrey C. Kinkley, tr.










Research on Shen Congwen Outside of China









14. Comparative Research on the Work of Shen Congwen and Nakagami Kenji, by Shiroya Takeo; Paul Bevan, tr.











15. "Dreams" and "Reality" in Shen Congwen’s Wartime Works, with Special Focus on "Dreams and Reality" (1940), "Plucking Stars" (1943), and "Gazing at Rainbows" (1943), by Imaizumi Hideto; Pamela Hunt, tr.











16. How Shen Congwen Became a "Believer in Music": Wandering among Sensory Descriptions in Nightmares of Seven Colors, by TSUMORI Aki











17. English Translations of Shen Congwen’s Masterwork, Bian cheng (Border town), by Jeffrey C. Kinkley











18. Freud in Hunan: Translating Shen Congwen’s "Xiaoxiao," by Eugene Eoyang











19. The Transformations of Work and Life: On Shen Congwen's Texts of Self-Explication, by Isabelle Rabut; Guo Xinyun and Charles A. Laughlin, tr.











20. Shen Congwen’s Literary Thought and the Development of Chinese Modern Literature, by Rosa Lombardi

Works Cited and Major References