The uses of literature : life in the socialist Chinese literary system
Why do people in socialist China read and write literary works? Earlier studies in Western Sinology have approached Chinese texts from the socialist era as portraits of society, as keys to the tug-of-war of dissent, or, more recently, as pursuit of "pure art." The Uses of Literature looks broadly and empirically at these and many other "uses" of literature from the points of view of authors, editors, political authorities, and several kinds of readers. Perry Link, author of Evening Chats in Beijing, considers texts ranging from elite "misty" poetry to underground hand-copied volumes (shouchauben) and shows in concrete detail how people who were involved with literature sought to teach, learn, enjoy, explore, debate, lead, control, and resist
Print Book, English, ©2000
Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., ©2000
Criticism, interpretation, etc
vi, 387 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
9780691001975, 9780691001982, 0691001979, 0691001987
41981983
Historical setting
The mechanics of literary control
Writers
Media and market
Readers: the popular level
Readers: socially engaged level
The uses of literature