Description
Book SynopsisXiang Kairan, who wrote under the pen name The Unworthy Scholar from Pingjiang, is remembered as the father of modern Chinese martial arts fiction. In this book, John Christopher Hamm shows how Xiang Kairan's work and career offer a new lens on the transformations of fiction and popular culture in early twentieth-century China.
Trade ReviewRecommended. * Choice *
The Unworthy Scholar from Pingjiang offers an impressively well researched, stunningly thorough and balanced study of the most important author of Republican-era martial arts fiction, his life and oeuvre. -- Roland Altenburger * Modern Chinese Literature and Culture *
The Unworthy Scholar from Pianjiang Republican-era martial arts fiction is a critical step in the right direction. -- Tom Ue * Rescue and Recovery *
In
The Unworthy Scholar from Pingjiang, Hamm traces the life and work of Xiang Kairan, one of the most important martial arts novelists of the Republican period. Hamm broadly situates Xiang Kairan into the larger cultural and political landscape of Republican China and investigates the intricacies of the martial arts fiction genre. Hamm is one of the most important literary critics studying martial arts fiction, and this book is a most "worthy" contribution to our understanding of this understudied corner of the modern Chinese literary world. -- Michael Berry, University of California, Los Angeles
An exquisite literary biography,
The Unworthy Scholar from Pingjiang is also a definitive study of genre. Hamm demonstrates that Republican-period martial arts fiction was as much part of Chinese modernity as were the highbrow oeuvres of the New Culture movement. His masterful study changes our perception of contemporary Chinese culture. -- Meir Shahar, Tel Aviv University
Hamm has written a fascinating study of Xiang Kairan, one of the most influential practitioners of the Chinese martial arts (
wuxia) novel. In addition to being an exemplary literary biography,
The Unworthy Scholar from Pingjiang is a meticulous history of the modern development of the
wuxia genre and an insightful reconsideration of the capacious literary category of
xiaoshuo (“fiction”). -- Christopher Rea, author of
The Age of Irreverence: A New History of Laughter in ChinaHamm’s illuminating book paints a vivid picture of the complex literary world of early Republican China, beyond the well-known narratives of New Literature. Like its subject, it bridges traditional and modern Chinese fiction, exploring the literary, economic, and political values mediated by the periodical press and the dominant discourses of the era. An engaging, fresh approach. -- Margaret Wan, University of Utah
Hamm’s book spells out the significance of a writer who had a lasting effect on his chosen genre, but whose works remain little known outside China. * Times Literary Supplement *
By digging deep into the historical background and illustrating details of Xiang Kairan's writings, this book implied that as insignificant as the destiny of an individual may seem to be, it is tightly related with the progression of the society and might potentially help drive it further. * Publishing Research Quarterly *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Notes on Conventions
Introduction
1. The Writer’s Life
2. Xiang Kairan’s Monkeys:
Xiaoshuo as a Literary Genre
3. Thematic Subgenre: Martial Arts Fiction
4. Form and Medium: The Serialized Linked-Chapter Novel and Beyond
5.
Marvelous Gallants of the Rivers and Lakes6.
Chivalric Heroes of Modern TimesConclusion: The Unworthy Scholar from Pingjiang
Notes
Bibliography
Index
