Buch, Englisch, 386 Seiten, Format (B × H): 170 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 685 g
Life in the Socialist Chinese Literary System
Buch, Englisch, 386 Seiten, Format (B × H): 170 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 685 g
ISBN: 978-0-691-00198-2
Verlag: Princeton University Press
Why do people in socialist China read and write literary works? Earlier studies in Western Sinology have approached Chinese texts from the socialist era as portraits of society, as keys to the tug-of-war of dissent, or, more recently, as pursuit of "pure art." The Uses of Literature looks broadly and empirically at these and many other "uses" of literature from the points of view of authors, editors, political authorities, and several kinds of readers. Perry Link, author of Evening Chats in Beijing, considers texts ranging from elite "misty" poetry to underground hand-copied volumes (shouchauben) and shows in concrete detail how people who were involved with literature sought to teach, learn, enjoy, explore, debate, lead, control, and resist.Using the late 1970s and early 1980s as an entree to the workings of China's "socialist literary system," the author shows how that system held sway from 1950 until around 1990, when an encroaching market economy gradually but fundamentally changed it. In addition to providing a definitive overview of how the socialist Chinese literary system worked, Link offers comparisons to the similar system in the Soviet Union. In the final chapter, the book seeks to explain how the word "good" was used and understood when applied to literary works in such systems.Combining aspects of cultural and literary studies, The Uses of Literature will reward anyone interested in the literature of modern China or how creativity is affected by a "socialist literary system."
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Weitere Infos & Material
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
A NOTE ON DOCUMENTATION ix
INTRODUCTION 3
CHAPTER ONE Historical Setting 13
Warming, 1976-1979 15
Cooling, 1980-1983 22
Perspectives 36
CHAPTER TWO The Mechanics of Literary Control 56
A Spectrum of Newpoints 56
What Was Controlled? 59
The Literary Control System 63
The Mechanics of Relaxation 68
The Mechanics of Tightening 81
Soviet Comparisons 97
CHAPTER THREE Writers 104
Tradition of Responsibility 104
The Modern Crisis and the Idea of a "Path"106
Establishing National Guidelines 108
Effects of the Anti-Rightist Campaign 110
Maoist Utopianism in Command 113
Kinds and Groups of Writers 116
The Writers' Association 118
Generational Differences 122
Livelihood 129
Dissent 138
Purposes 142
CHAPTER FOUR Media and Market 167
Distribution: Official and Public 167
Distribution: Restricted, Semiofficial, and Unofficial 183
Related Media: Stage, Film, Radio, and Television 198
CHAPTER FIVE Readers: The Popular Level 210
Readership (Audience) Groups 212
Popular Entertainment 220
CHAPTER SIX Readers: Socially Engaged Level 249
Intrusive Politics 254
Special Privilege and Abuse of Power 258
Pervasive Corruption 260
Styles of Bureaucratism 263
The Need for Rule of Law 270
The Problem of Truth 272
The Place of Romance 278
CHAPTER SEVEN The Uses of Literature 284
The Party and Its "Engineering" 286
Problems with Engineering 289
Retreat ftom Engineering 294
Secondary Uses of Engineering 296
The Variety of Other Uses 300
Transcending "Uses" 319
Use and Quality 322
SELECT GLOSSARY OF CHINESE CHARACTERS 333
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CITED IN THE NOTES 339
INDEX 369
