Literature, religion, gender, and ethnicity (refined)

Author: Su Qikang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This book transcends the apparent temporal and spatial relationships between Chinese and Western literatures, recombining and interpreting the artistic and cultural features of medieval English romances, "One Thousand and One Nights" from the Middle East, and tales and poems from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty in "Taiping Guangji." Methodologically, it employs the historicism of humanities integration and source compilation, supplemented by textual exegesis, which is essential for reading ancient classics. However, its focus lies in highlighting how characters present themselves in different literary traditions and the impressions and impacts they create in foreign literatures. Thus, the book encompasses both literary and ethnographic perspectives, extending to themes of literature and religion, as well as archaeology and ethnic community phenomena. It serves as both an argument for literary analysis and cultural studies, utilizing a narrative style that blends humanities and history to shed light on social history.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: On the Crossroads of Eastern and Western Cultures
The Image of the Middle East in East-West Cultural Exchanges
Part I: Introduction: The Construction of the Other in European Romances
Chapter 1: The Saracens in Medieval English Romances
Part II: Introduction: Native Characters in Middle Eastern Literature
Chapter 2: Women in "One Thousand and One Nights" (76-103)
Chapter 3: Men in "One Thousand and One Nights" (104-131)
Part III: Introduction: The Hu People on the Silk Road
Chapter 4: Iranian and Uyghur Descendants in the Tang Dynasty
Chapter 5: Iranian-Hu Beauties in Tang Poetry
Chapter 6: Western Asian Characters in Tales from the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty
Conclusion
Index