![]() The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature | |
Editor | Yunte Huang |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Poetry and urban fiction anthology |
Published | 2016 |
Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company |
Publication place | New York City, United States |
Pages | 624 |
ISBN | 978-0-393-35380-8 |
The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature: Writings from the Mainland in the Long Twentieth Century is an anthology of Chinese literature edited by Yunte Huang and published in 2016 by W. W. Norton & Company. Huang, a professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara, [1] described the book as a "search for the soul of modern China" in the introduction. [2]
The book is 600 pages long and has works spanning about 100 years until its publishing date, with almost 50 authors represented. [3] The works were translated by multiple people. [1]
At the beginning of the anthology, Huang reveals that copyright conflicts prevented the inclusion of works that would have otherwise been a part of the anthology, specifically Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang and Fortreess Besieged by Qian Zhongshu. [4]
The works were placed in three sections: the Republican Era which spans from 1911 to 1949 and includes works from the New Culture Movement; the Revolutionary Era, spanning 1949 to 1976; and the Post-Mao Era, which has works since 1976. The portions of the book post 1990 are heavily focused on poetry and have less emphasis on urban fiction. [1]
Julia Lovell of The New York Times wrote that "it’s heartening to see a serious publisher, one whose list is geared to the general reader, invest in an anthology that manages to combine the established canon with less-well-known selections." [1] She argued that the book should have included works by Eileen Chang, and that male writers were represented too heavily in this anthology of modern Chinese writing. [1]
Eileen Chang (traditional Chinese: 張愛玲; simplified Chinese: 张爱玲; pinyin: Zhāng Àilíng; Wade–Giles: Chang1 Ai4-ling2;September 30, 1920 – September 8, 1995), also known as Chang Ai-ling or Zhang Ailing, or by her pen name Liang Jing (梁京), was a Chinese-born American essayist, novelist, and screenwriter.
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