Sinophone Malaysian Literature

Sinophone Malaysian Literature
Author: Alison M. Groppe
Publisher:
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2013
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 9781604978551

China's recent economic growth has fed a rapid increase in the study of modern Chinese language and literature globally. In this shifting global context, authors who work on the edges of the literary empire raise important questions about the homogeneity of language, identity and culture that is produced by the modern Chinese literary canon. This book examines a key segment of this literature and asks, "What does it mean to be of Chinese descent and Chinese-speaking outside of China?" While there have been several excellent works that deal with individual Chinese authors from Malaysia, there is to date no broadly framed and comprehensive study of the body of Chinese diasporic literature emerging from this multiethnic, polylinguistic country. This neglect is surprising given the vibrant development of Chinese Malaysian literature.This book fills the gap by looking specifically at how diasporic Chinese subjects make sense of their Chinese and Malaysian identities in postcolonial Malaysia. This book will be of value to scholars and students of Chinese-language literature and culture.It will also appeal to scholars and students in the fields of Chinese and Southeast Asia studies as well as those interested in postcolonial, diaspora, migration, Asian American studies, and world literature.

Sinophone Studies

Sinophone Studies
Author: Shu-mei Shih
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 473
Release: 2013-01-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 0231527101

This definitive anthology casts Sinophone studies as the study of Sinitic-language cultures born of colonial and postcolonial influences. Essays by such authors as Rey Chow, Ha Jin, Leo Ou-fan Lee, Ien Ang, Wei-ming Tu, and David Wang address debates concerning the nature of Chineseness while introducing readers to essential readings in Tibetan, Malaysian, Taiwanese, French, Caribbean, and American Sinophone literatures. By placing Sinophone cultures at the crossroads of multiple empires, this anthology richly demonstrates the transformative power of multiculturalism and multilingualism, and by examining the place-based cultural and social practices of Sinitic-language communities in their historical contexts beyond "China proper," it effectively refutes the diasporic framework. It is an invaluable companion for courses in Asian, postcolonial, empire, and ethnic studies, as well as world and comparative literature.

Supernatural Sinophone Taiwan and Beyond

Supernatural Sinophone Taiwan and Beyond
Author: Chia-Rong Wu
Publisher:
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2016-03-30
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 9781604979213

"This book examines some interesting, significant types and aspects of Sinophone Taiwan fiction, as well as a number of prominent writers and representative works. Focusing on the narratives of the strange, it connects the trope of ghost haunting with Taiwan's complex ethnoscapes and historical, colonial trauma. In addition to investigating 'ghost island' narratives, it explores literary representations of magical nativism--including magical localism and translocalism. It offers an excellent, timely study on the important but understudied Sinophone Taiwan literature." -Yenna Wu, Distinguished Teaching Professor and Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature, University of California, Riverside "This book travels in a new direction in Taiwanese fiction studies. Through the theme of 'ghost, ' this book links various historical phases, landscape features, and ethnic relations in response to the transformation of Taiwan's social environment and aesthetics of fiction. With a thought-provoking discourse, this book also provides a pleasurable reading experience." -Ming-ju Fan, Professor and Director of the Graduate Institute of Taiwanese Literature at the National Chengchi University "Writing from and of the margins, Supernatural Sinophone Taiwan and Beyond examines the trope of Taiwan as a ghost island through the lens of zhiguai, the premodern Chinese concept of the strange or supernatural. The focus on marginal and liminal narratives facilitates a Sinophone reading of Taiwanese literature and culture beyond the dominant literary taxonomy of modern Chinese literature. Despite its specific focus, the book surveys Taiwanese literature with a study of texts by authors such as Pai Hsian-yung, Li Ang, Chu T'ien-hsin, Wu He, and Giddens Ko to propose a genealogy of ghost island literature as an alternative way of understanding Taiwan as a nation. This first single-authored book on Sinophone Taiwan, which intellectually treads on untouched terrains of a unique literary tradition, is a very welcome addition." -E.K. Tan, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Stony Brook University; and author of Rethinking Chineseness "In Supernatural Sinophone Taiwan and Beyond, Chia-rong Wu argues convincingly that the modern zhiguai genre offers Taiwan writers a way of engaging internal difference-particularly as it pertains to gendered and ethnic difference, as well as sites of historical trauma-while at the same time imagining modern Taiwan as a site of difference within a broader Chinese, or Sinophone, cultural imaginary" -Carlos Rojas, Associate Professor of Chinese Cultural Studies, Women's Studies, and Arts of the Moving Image, Duke University See http: //www.cambriapress.com/books/9781604979213.cfm to read excerpts and for more information.

Writing the South Seas

Writing the South Seas
Author: Brian C. Bernards
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2016-01-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 029580615X

Postcolonial literature about the South Seas, or Nanyang, examines the history of Chinese migration, localization, and interethnic exchange in Southeast Asia, where Sinophone settler cultures evolved independently by adapting to their "New World" and mingling with native cultures. Writing the South Seas explains why Nanyang encounters, neglected by most literary histories, should be considered crucial to the national literatures of China and Southeast Asia.

Visuality and Identity

Visuality and Identity
Author: Shumei Shi
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2007-06-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520249445

A vanguard excursion into sophisticated cultural criticism situated at the intersections of Chinese studies, Asian American studies, diaspora studies & transnational studies, this text argues that the visual has become the primary means of mediating identities under global capitalism.

Sound and Script in Chinese Diaspora

Sound and Script in Chinese Diaspora
Author: Associate Professor Jing Tsu
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2010
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0674055403

Native and foreign speakers, mother tongues and national languages have jostled for distinction throughout the modern period. The fight for global dominance between the English and Chinese languages opens into historical battles over the control of the medium through standardization, technology, bilingualism, pronunciation, and literature in the Sinophone world. Encounters between languages, as well as the internal tensions between Mandarin and other Chinese dialects, present a dynamic, interconnected picture of languages on the move. --

Rethinking Chineseness

Rethinking Chineseness
Author: E. K. Tan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2013-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781604978407

"Rethinking Chineseness: Translational Sinophone Identities in the Nanyang Literary World is the first book devoted to Sinophone Southeast Asian literature in the English-speaking world. Conceptually innovative and flawlessly written, this book makes an important contribution not only to the emergent and growing field of Sinophone studies, but also to Southeast Asian studies, Chinese studies, comparative literary studies, diaspora studies, and minority and multicultural studies. Anyone interested in questions of identity calibrated through such vectors as language, culture, history, geography, and nationality will find this book to be extremely valuable. This is an impressive accomplishment." - Professor Shu-mei Shih, University of California at Los Angeles "E. K. Tan has done magnificent work in rethinking literary and cultural politics in the context of Sinophone articulations. In Rethinking Chineseness he looks into sources drawn from the Sinophone communities in Southeast Asia, identifies indigenous and diasporic contestations, and teases out the radical elements in the contemporary debate about Chinese identities. Both historically engaged and theoretically provocative, Tan's book is a most important source for anyone interested in Chinese and Sinophone literary and cultural studies." - Professor David Der-wei Wang, Harvard University "With his illuminating historical and theoretical mapping of the concepts, from Overseas Chinese to Chinese Diaspora, Chineseness to Sinophone, E.K. Tan has done a brilliant job in this highly challenging, interdisciplinary project by weaving together discourses in various academic fields and providing an integrated cross-referential discussion. His selection of works by Singaporean and Malaysian writers fills in glaring gaps and further contributes to the richness and complexities of the notion of Sinophone literature and culture. It is a definitive basic reference in this field." - Professor Quah Sy Ren, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature

The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature
Author: Kirk A. Denton
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 818
Release: 2016-04-05
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0231541147

The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature features more than fifty short essays on specific writers and literary trends from the Qing period (1895–1911) to the present. The volume opens with thematic essays on the politics and ethics of writing literary history, the formation of the canon, the relationship between language and form, the role of literary institutions and communities, the effects of censorship, the representation of the Chinese diaspora, the rise and meaning of Sinophone literature, and the role of different media in the development of literature. Subsequent essays focus on authors, their works, and the schools with which they were aligned, featuring key names, titles, and terms in English and in Chinese characters. Woven throughout are pieces on late Qing fiction, popular entertainment fiction, martial arts fiction, experimental theater, post-Mao avant-garde poetry, post–martial law fiction from Taiwan, contemporary genre fiction from China, and recent Internet literature. The volume includes essays on such authors as Liang Qichao, Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Eileen Chang, Jin Yong, Mo Yan, Wang Anyi, Gao Xingjian, and Yan Lianke. Both a teaching tool and a go-to research companion, this volume is a one-of-a-kind resource for mastering modern literature in the Chinese-speaking world.

Queer Sinophone Cultures

Queer Sinophone Cultures
Author: Howard Chiang
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2013-11-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1135069778

The Sinophone framework emphasises the diversity of Chinese-speaking communities and cultures, and seeks to move beyond a binary model of China and the West. Indeed, this strikingly resembles attempts within the queer studies movement to challenge the dimorphisms of sex and gender. Bringing together two areas of study that tend to be marginalised within their home disciplines Queer Sinophone Cultures innovatively advances both Sinophone studies and queer studies. It not only examines film and literature from Mainland China but expands its scope to encompass the underrepresented ‘Sinophone’ world at large (in this case Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and beyond). Further, where queer studies in the U.S., Europe, and Australia often ignore non-Western cultural phenomena, this book focuses squarely on Sinophone queerness, providing fresh critical analyses of a range of topics from works by the famous director Tsai Ming-Liang to the history of same-sex soft-core pornography made by the renowned Shaw Brothers Studios. By instigating a dialogue between Sinophone studies and queer studies, this book will have broad appeal to students and scholars of modern and contemporary China studies, particularly to those interested in film, literature, media, and performance. It will also be of great interest to those interested in queer studies more broadly.

Slow Boat to China and Other Stories

Slow Boat to China and Other Stories
Author: Kim Chew Ng
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2016-03-01
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 023154099X

"Dream and Swine and Aurora," "Deep in the Rubber Forest," "Fish Bones," "Allah's Will," "Monkey Butts, Fire, and Dangerous Things"—Ng Kim Chew's stories are raw, rural, and rich with the traditions of his native Malaysia. They are also full of humor and spirit, demonstrating a deep appreciation for human ingenuity in the face of poverty, oppression, and exile. Ng creatively captures the riot of cultures that roughly coexist on the Malay Peninsula and its surrounding archipelago. Their interplay is heightened by the encroaching forces of globalization, which bring new opportunities for cultural experimentation, but also an added dimension of alienation. In prose that is intimate and atmospheric, these sensitively crafted, resonant stories depict the struggles of individuals torn between their ancestral and adoptive homes, communities pressured by violence, and minority Malaysian Chinese in dynamic tension with the Islamic Malay majority. Told through relatable characters, Ng's tales show why he has become a leading Malaysian writer of Chinese fiction, representing in mood, voice, and rhythm the dislocation of a people and a country in transition.