Rereading the Stone: Desire and the Making of Fiction in Dream of the Red Chamber
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
Rereading the Stone: Desire and the Making of Fiction in Dream of the Red Chamber
By (Author) Anthony C. Yu
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press
16th October 2001
United States
Classifications
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Literary studies: general
Regional / International studies
895.1348
Physical Properties
Paperback
344
Width 152mm, Height 229mm
482g
Description
The eighteenth-century Hongloumeng, known in English as Dream of the Red Chamber or The Story of the Stone, is generally considered to be the greatest of Chinese novels. It masterfully blends realism and romance, psychological motivation and fate, daily life and mythical occurrences, as it narrates the decline of a powerful Chinese family. In this pathbreaking study. Anthony Yu goes beyond the customary view of Hongloumeng as a vivid reflection of late imperial Chinese culture by examining the novel as a story about fictive representation. He argues that the narration of desire is the heart of this novel. It appears in this tale as the defining trait and problem of human beings and at the same time shapes the novel's literary invention and effect. According to Yu, this focalizing treatment of desire may well be Hongloumeng's most distinctive accomplishment. Spanning a wide range of comparative literary sources. Yu creates a new conceptual framework in which to reevaluate this masterpiece.
Reviews
"Yu's book is one of the most important studies on Hongloumeng to appear in recent decades. It is full of insights and refreshing readings. It is a work of erudition and intellectual discernment, and it will undoubtedly become a classic in Honglou meng study. One of its many important contributions is its success in drawing our attention to the centrality of desire in premodern Chinese culture and its intimate relationship with Chinese literature."--Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
Author Bio
Anthony C. Yu is the Carl Darling Buck Distinguished Service Professor in the Humanities at the University of Chicago, where he is also Professor in the Divinity School, in the departments of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, English, and Comparative Literature, and serves on the Committee on Social Thought. He is best known for his complete, annotated translation of The Journey to the West.
