Classic Manufacturing: Cultural Politics of Jin Yong Studies

Author: Chen Shuo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: This book revolves around the theme of "classic" in Jin Yong's novels. It first points out how Jin Yong created the "classic" image for his works, then further explores the series of cultural phenomena reflected in the different "classicization" processes of Jin Yong's novels in the three regions of China, leading to the cultural political significance embedded in the Jin Yong studies phenomenon in these regions. This is a cultural studies work that focuses on the shaping process in the cultural production of "canon," the ideological struggles, and keeps the research object firmly anchored in a specific social context. Chen Shuo has a deep passion for the humanities. Although she obtained a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, she persistently pursued a Master's degree in the humanities at her alma mater and later earned a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Lingnan University, achieving outstanding results. The highly original, meticulously analyzed, and extensively cited Jin Yong monograph she has now published is based on the revision and expansion of her master's thesis. The focus of The Making of Classics: The Cultural Politics of Jin Yong Studies is not to negate or reaffirm the literary value of Jin Yong's novels, but rather to practice a meta-critical approach—studying the study of Jin Yong. It places this topic within the socio-cultural context of the three regions of China to examine the interactions between "Jin Yong studies" and the classicization of Jin Yong—from ideological differences, cultural value tendencies to the dynamics of power relations. Chen Shuo has now achieved such an outstanding academic level, and at the time of the publication of this monograph, I wish her even greater heights in research and even more outstanding academic achievements in the near future.