1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910828871503321

Autore

Starr Chloë F

Titolo

Red-light novels of the late Qing [[electronic resource] /] / Chloë F. Starr

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Leiden, : Brill

Biggleswade, : Extenza Turpin [distributor], 2007

ISBN

1-281-92095-9

9786611920951

90-474-2859-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (319 p.)

Collana

China studies ; ; 14

Disciplina

895.134809

Soggetti

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

Courtesans in literature

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

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

Nota di contenuto

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.

Sommario/riassunto

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.