On The Compilation Of The General History Of Chinese Literature In American Sinology

This thesis focuses on the compilation of the general history of Chinese literature in American Sinology,and examines its changes from the 1960 s to the beginning of the 21 st century.What are the similarities and differences in the compilation at different stages? What are the factors that caused these similarities or differences?What are the characteristics? The thesis discusses the development of the compilation of the general history of Chinese literature from three aspects: the context,the practice,and the idea.Finally,in the light of theories of World Literature,the thesis uses case studies to further explain the issues discussed above,and explores the way of compiling the history of Chinese literature in the World Literature era.The introduction briefly introduces the research background and research purpose,the current status of research at home and abroad,and the research content and methods.The first chapter explores the historical and theoretical context of the compilation of the general history of Chinese literature in American Sinology.Chinese literature research in the United States began in the early development of Sinology.With the move of the center of Western Sinology from Europe to the United States after WWII and the adjustment of the US national education policy in the late1950 s,American Sinology transformed into Chinese Studies and entered a mature academic period in the late 1980 s.Under this influence,the Chinese literature research in the United States,which had been developing slowly,began to enter a track of rapid development,with various literary anthologies and research works published one after another.In addition,in the practice of “rewriting literary history”since the 1980 s,various types of Chinese literary history books have continuously emerged.At last,the compilation of the history of Chinese literature in other Western countries,which began in the mid-19 th century,also laid a solid foundation for the compilation of the history of Chinese literature in American Sinology.The second chapter discusses the compiling practice of general history of Chinese literature in American Sinology.First,the five literary history books and their editors are introduced,with focus on each one’s most prominent features.Then,the similarities of the five,including interest in Chinese language and characters,and emphasis on the influence of foreign literature and its discourse on Chinese literature,are analyzed.Finally,the differences in the compilation at two different stages are explored.Each of the three books in the 1960 s was written by one individual Chinese author.The books,which are mainly based on introduction and translation,are similar in the selection and evaluation of writers and works,the anecdotes,and text excerpts.The two books in the early 21 st century are mainly based on research.Both are completed by multiple authors who have different academic personalities and writing styles and often interpret and evaluate writers and works,various literary trends and literary phenomena in different ways.The third chapter discusses the compiling idea of the general history of Chinese literature.First,from the perspective of the concept of literature,since the authors of the three literary histories in the 1960 s were all Chinese scholars who went to the United States in the 1930 s and 1940 s,they were all influenced by the pure literary concept of China at that time.Under the dominance of pure literary concept,they only included poetry,prose,novel,and drama in the history of Chinese literature.In the wave of “cultural studies” and “cultural turn” after the 1980 s,the writers of the two literary histories in the early 21 st century insisted on comprehensive literary concept and extended literature to the cultural field,paying particular attention to the political,social,and material culture related to literature.Second,from the perspective of historical view of literature,the three literary histories of the 1960 s were all guided by Hu Shi’s “historical literary concept” and adopted the historicist view of literary history.Under the premise that the author and creative age of the work,the golden age and its representative writers and works can basically be determined,the development of various literary styles is described,and the impact of writers’ lives and social,political,and cultural backgrounds on literary creation is emphasized.The two literary histories in the early 21 st century adopted the new historicist view of literary history and emphasized the uncertainty of the text and the constructiveness of literary history.Therefore,they pay more attention to the formation and circulation of literary texts,the investigation of the history of literary acceptance,and the filtering and reconstruction of past literature in later generations.Chapter four discusses the compilation of the history of Chinese literature in the age of World Literature with three case studies combined with World Literature theory.First,the compilation of literary history from the perspective of World Literature should have a comparative and global point of view.In this regard,the compilation of a general history of Chinese literature in American Sinology is commendable.The five literary histories attach great importance to the comparative study of Chinese and Western literature,and extend Chinese literature to “Greater China” literature.Second,the list of literary classics in the World Literature era is always changing,and the compilation of literary history should pay attention to the new classic writers and works and their canonization.In this regard,the narratives of Han Shan and Eileen Chang by the two literary histories of the early 21 st century are undoubtedly a useful attempt.Third,the compilation of literary history in the era of World Literature should pay attention to the bridging role of translation.In this regard,the discussion of translation of Chinese literary terms and literary texts in the five literary histories is of great significance.In conclusion,the similarities and differences in the compilation practice of the general history of Chinese literature in the American Sinology in different periods and the evolution of the compilation concept can give inspiration and reference to the domestic academic community.At the same time,as a cross-cultural and inter-lingual communication practice,the compilation of the general history of Chinese literature in American Sinology is more attractive to overseas readers and more efficient for the overseas dissemination of Chinese literature.