Chinese Literature in the Second Half of a Modern Century

This fine, scholarly survey of Chinese literature since 1949, which includes 15 chapters by various authors on the literature of Taiwan, mainland China, and Hong Kong, discusses such trends as modernism, nativism, realism, root-seeking and "scar" literature, "misty" poets, and political, feminist, and societal issues in modern Chinese literature. All the chapters are thoroughly endnoted and extremely well translated when originally written in Chinese, as most are. A long introduction by Wang (Chinese literature and East Asian languages and culture, Columbia Univ.) gives an excellent overview, while a useful and thorough appendix by Jeffrey C. Kinkley discusses publications of these works in other languages and concludes with a list of publishers of such well-known authors as Ai Bei, Bei Dao, Eileen Chang, Feng Jicai, Mo Yan, Wang Anyi, and Xi Xi, among many others. Many anthologies and studies of modern Chinese literature are also included. Highly recommended for academic and large public libraries.DKitty Chen Dean, Nassau Coll., Garden City, NY