Literature of China in the Twentieth Century

In this ground-breaking book, Bonnie S. McDougall and Kam Louie present the first comprehensive survey of twentieth-century Chinese literature—the fiction, poetry, and drama that have been inextricably linked with the politics and culture of modern China. Organized chronologically, The Literature of China in the Twentieth Century traces the development of Chinese literature from the Boxer Rebellion, when the strains of Western influence first emerged, to the Tiananmen Massacre, when dissident poets, such as Bei Dao, earned international acclaim as well as indefinite exile from the mainland.

Covering all the relevant genres, each chapter includes discussions of the individual authors and their work, historical and social background information, and analyses of subject matter and theme, which take into account the language, structure, style, and intended audience of the writings. With its exhaustive bibliography and informative glossary, the book will prove an essential reference and teaching tool.

Bonnie S. McDougall is professor of Chinese literature a Edinburgh University, author of Popular Chinese Literature and Performing Arts in the People’s Republic of China, 1949–1984, and translator of many modern Chinese novels by Bei Dao, Anyi Wang, and others. Kam Louie is professor of Chinese literature at the University of Queensland and author of Between Fact and Fiction: Essays on Post-Mao Chinese Literature and Society.

“We have long needed a readable, comprehensive, objectively written, and well-organized history of twentieth-century Chinese literature; with this book we will have one.” —Howard Goldblatt, co-editor, Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature