Contested Modernities in Chinese Literature

Through an exploration of a wide range of literary and visual texts, 12 American academics critically examine the myth of modern Chinese culture as a belated or diluted form of the Western experience of modernity. Topics include (for example) Bai Wei and the literary left of the 1930s, Chinese women's autobiographical practice in the 1990s; and public residences and private streets in Taipei films. The papers were originally presented at a conference held at Columbia U. in April 2000. Editor Laughlin teaches Chinese literature at Yale University. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR