Red-light novels of the late Qing / Chloe F. Starr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Starr, Chloë, 1971-

Series:

China studies ; 14.

China studies ; 14

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese fiction--Qing dynasty, 1644-1912--History and criticism.

Chinese fiction.

Courtesans in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (319 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden : Brill ; Biggleswade : Extenza Turpin [distributor], 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Chinese literature has traditionally been divided by both theorists and university course providers into ‘classical’ and ‘modern.’ This has left nineteenth-century fiction in limbo, and allowed negative assessments of its quality to persist unchecked. The popularity of Qing dynasty red-light fiction – works whose primary focus is the relationship between clients and courtesans, set in tea-houses, pleasure gardens, and later, brothels – has endured throughout the twentieth century. This volume explores why, arguing that these novels are far from the ‘low’ work of ‘frustrated scholars’ but in their provocative play on the nature of relations between client, courtesan and text, provide an insight into wider changes in understandings of self and literary value in the nineteenth century.

Contents:

Preliminary Material / C.F. Starr

Chapter One. Text And Context / C.F. Starr

Chapter Two. The Narrator Framed / C.F. Starr

Chapter Three. Characterisation In Context / C.F. Starr

Chapter Four. Structure: The Textual Representation Of Itself / C.F. Starr

Bibliography / C.F. Starr

Index / C.F. Starr.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [275]-285) and index.

ISBN:

9786611920951

9781281920959

1281920959

9789047428596

9047428595

OCLC:

505128114

Publisher Number:

10.1163/ej.9789004156296.i-293 DOI