Literary History Writing Forms and Cultural Politics

Author: Chen Guoqiu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: The modern tradition of writing "History of Chinese Literature" began in the late 19th to early 20th centuries and has now spanned a century. However, the essence and significance of this writing activity, or the review of its related outcomes, have only matured relatively recently. The approach of this book shares similarities and differences with the aforementioned research. The differences lie in that this book primarily focuses on individual "literary history" writing texts. In short, it follows the approach proposed by Zhu Xingyuan, namely the "writing method" and "reading method." The chapters of this book are discussed in roughly chronological order: starting from the establishment of the modern "literary" discipline concept in the late Qing-era Beijing University's "Regulations" and its relationship with the early writing of "literary history," to Hu Shi's influential literary historical perspective constructed through the "White Language Movement" around the May Fourth Movement, to Lin Geng's "Poetic Heart" that evokes "surprise" in his "History of Chinese Literature" in the 1940s, then to the two completely different types of literary history writing by Liu Cunren and Sima Changfeng in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1970s, and finally to two "ongoing" writing activities—examining the various writing issues that arise when adding a "Hong Kong Literature" section to "History of Chinese Literature," or when "Hong Kong Literature" enters the process of becoming part of "literary history."