How to Read the Chinese Novel

Rolston, David

ISBN 10: 0691606714 / ISBN 13: 9780691606712

Published by Princeton University Press, 2014

About this Item

Editor(s): Rolston, David L. Series: Princeton Legacy Library. Num Pages: 554 pages, black & white illustrations. BIC Classification: 2GDC; DSK. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 236 x 158 x 32. Weight in Grams: 854. . 2014. Paperback. . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780691606712

Bibliographic Details

• Title: How to Read the Chinese Novel
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691606714
• ISBN 13: 9780691606712
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Fiction criticism has a long and influential history in pre-modern China, where critics would read and reread certain novels with a concentration and fervor far exceeding that which most Western critics give to individual works. This volume, a source book for the study of traditional Chinese fiction criticism from the late sixteenth to the early twentieth centuries, presents translations of writings taken from the commentary editions of six of the most important novels of pre-modern China. These translations consist mainly of tu-fa, or "how-to-read" essays, which demonstrate sensitivity and depth of analysis both in the treatment of general problems concerning the reading of any work of fiction and in more focused discussions of particular compositional details in individual novels.

The translations were produced by pioneers in the study of this form of fiction criticism in the West: Shuen-fu Lin, Andrew H. Plaks, David T. Roy, John C. Y. Wang, and Anthony C. Yu. Four introductory essays by Andrew H. Plaks and the editor address the historical background for this type of criticism, its early development, its formal features, recurrent terminology, and major interpretive strategies. A goal of this volume is to aid in the rediscovery of this traditional Chinese poetics of fiction and help eliminate some of the distortions encountered in the past by the imposition of Western theories of fiction on Chinese novels.

Originally published in 1990.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Language Notes

Text: English, Chinese (translation)