Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.74 (885 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 019539206X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-01-29 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
The book includes Chinese characters for names, titles, and key terms.. Knight also illuminates the role of elite patronage; the ways literature has served the interests of specific groups; and questions of canonization, language, nationalism, and cross-cultural understanding. This Very Short Introduction tells the story of Chinese literature from antiquity to the present, focusing on the key role literary culture played in supporting social and political concerns. Perhaps nowhere else has literature been as conscious a collective endeavor as in China, and China's survival over three thousand years may owe more to its literary traditions than to its political history. From ancient historical records through the modernization and globalization of Chinese literature, Knight draws on lively examples to underscore the close relationship between ethics and aesthetics, as well as the diversity of Chinese thought. Embracing traditional Chinese understandings of literature as encompassing history and philosophy as well as poetry and poetics, storytelling, drama, and the novel, Sabina Knight discusses the philosophical foundations of literary culture as well as literature's power to address historical trauma and cultivate moral and sensual passions
Sabina Knight is Associate Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at Smith College and the author of The Heart of Time: Moral Agency in Twentieth-Century Chinese Fiction.
It's beautifully written and a genuine pleasure to read." -- David L. "Very much to the point, starts in antiquity." --Tyler Cowen, The New York Times Magazine ("A Really Short Book Review" section) "This short book is a marvel of economy, substance, and style."--Tyler Cowen, George Mason University (on his blog Marginal Revolution) "To summarize almost 3,000 years of literature in just 120 pages is no doubt a very difficult task; nevertheless, Sabine Knight has done so brilliantly." -- Taciana Fisac, The China Journal"Sabina Knight has managed to square the circle in presenting a lucid and engaging survey of the main trends, authors and works of three thousand years of Chinese l
Accessible and insightful richard As evocative as its subject, and often lyrical in its exposition, Knight's _Chinese Literature_ addresses Chinese writings from poems, oral narratives, folk ballads, and promptbooks, to dialogues, allegories, drama, tales and novels. Informative without becoming overwhelming, the book offers a compelling overview and analysis of key terms, concepts, periods, and figures of Chinese literary history.Along the way, she prov. Tech Geek said Brilliantly concise introduction to a vast topic. Aficionados of Oxford's Very Short Introductions series have had this experience. You know little or nothing about a subject, but are curious to learn more. You pick up a VSI book, read it, and it's like a whole new world of possibilities opens up. You've had a taste and you want more. More importantly, you know where to go next to find out more.Knight's Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction delivers such an expe. A masterful survey! C. Tation I buy the slim volumes in the VSI series for smart briefings on broad subjects, and _Chinese Literature: A VSI_ doesn't disappoint. This book kept me moving through several millennia of Chinese writing and culture, with just enough detail to pique my interest but not slow me down. I particularly liked Chapter 2, with its analysis of the Chinese synthesis of poetry, painting and calligraphy. Also, check out Knight's subtl