“The hound and the antelope : Faulkner in China” (Publication, 1982)
Year
1982
Text
Stoneback, H.R. The hound and the antelope : Faulkner in China. In : Faulkner : international perspectives. Ed. by Doreen Fowler and Ann J. Abadie. (Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 1984). (Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha, 1982). (Faul4)
Type
Publication
Contributors (1)
Stoneback, H.R.
(Philadelphia 1941-) : Professor of English, State University of New York at New Paltz
Mentioned People (1)
Faulkner, William
(New Albany, Miss. 1897-1962 Byhalia, Miss.) : Schriftsteller, Nobelpreisträger
.
.
Subjects
Literature : Occident : United States of America
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References / Sources
Chronology Entries (5)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
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| 1 | 1932-2000 |
William Faulkner and China : general. 2011 Tao, Jie. Review and analysis of William Faulkner studies in China over the past 60 years [ID D30363]. Abstract. For almost half a century, scholars, editors, translators, and university professors did not pay much attention to William Faulkner, the world-famous American novelist. Faulkner was first introduced to Chinese readers by Xian dai in the1930s, which, however, did not stir up much interest. In 1950, when Faulkner won the Nobel Prize for literature, some Chinese scholars became interested . Unfortunately, political campaigns, especially the Cultural Revolution, interrupted further study of Faulkner. The neglect of Faulkner in the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China was no surprise as translations and discussions of the former Soviet Union and East-European literature dominated the field of foreign literature studies. It was not until the late 1970s that a new wave of Faulkner scholarship was initiated. The decade of 1979-1989 witnessed Faulkner's growing popularity among Chinese readers, writers as well as scholars. Young writers like Zhao Mei, Mo Yan and Zhang Kangkang all acknowledged his influence. Focusing on The Sound and the Fury and A Rose for Emily, literary critics mainly discussed the characters and themes of his novels, and his use of stream of consciousness and other modernist techniques. The study of Faulkner in China reached its height during the1990s, accompanied by large-scale translation and readings of Faulkner's novels and Faulkner studies in the West. Critical studies on Faulkner in this period focused on introducing his life and art, but with increasing comprehensiveness and sophistication. Remarkably, there is a lasting interest in Faulkner's reflections on women and race among literary critics at home and abroad. An examination of the essays published in China in the 1990s demonstrates that Chinese scholars have engaged in a dialogue with their Western counterparts sharing in-depth views on research topics and methods. Faulkner studies in China have made rapid progress since the beginning of the new century, featured by the involvement of an increasing number of young scholars, a broadening interest in Faulkner's works besides The Sound and the Fury and A Rose for Emily, a diversification of research approaches, and a gradual increase in academic papers and books in terms of comparative criticism. On the whole, Faulkner studies began rather late in China but have developed fast since the late 1970s. Chinese scholars of Faulkner have made great achievements in spite of some overlapping and repetitive discussions around such topics as race, gender, the fictional kingdom, and the function of time. Further studies on Faulkner's later works and his use of realist techniques are therefore recommended . 1983 Tao Jie : The teahouse in Chinese villages and towns, like the courthouse square and village store in Faulkner's stories, is the center of activity where news and gossip of the living, and legends and tales of the past are swapped, passed around, and handed down in the lively oral tradition. A comparison between Faulkner's humor and that of the Chinese writers shows that they have a lot in common. Much of Faulkner's humor is in the oral tradition, based on some kind of trickery. It is intended to reveal flaws in human nature. This kind of humor can be found in Chinese folklore. Another similarity between Faulkner and some Chinese writers is that their humor grows out of a deep understanding of the locale where they were born and have lived most of their lives. The most important aspect of Faulkner's humor and that of the Chinese writers lies in that they suggest more than they ever say. 1992 Tao Jie : I believe Faulkner's appeals to many Chinese readers just because they see themselves in the fate of his characters and because Faulkner depicts so well the emotions and feelings they too share but are unable to articulate. 1982 H.R. Stoneback : Human passions, joy, love, strong characters are alien to Faulkner, as are images of fighters for the rights and dignity of man. His world is a world of dying and dissolution. I am told that such representative early Soviet views of Faulkner were shared by the Chinese into the 1960s. Because China is still in large part a rural country that Faulkner will soon have a vast audience there, that particularly because China is a rural country on the brink of modernization Faulkner will be 'very necessary' and extremely popular over the coming decades. 2007 Feng Yi : In his novels, Faulkner employs many modern avant-garde writing techniques, including the stream of consciousness, the interior monologue, juxtaposition, and multiperspective techniques, expatiatory sentences in which he often uses obscure words and suspends punctuation and paragraphing, and ambiguous story lines, all of which have become major objects of Chinese critical analysis. Chinese critics utilize different perspectives to explore Faulkner's use of language and narrative. Some critics employ Freudian psychology to analyze his stream of consciousness writing ; some employ aesthetics and modern painting theory to demonstrate the similarities between his artistic language and modern art ; some probe into the deep motivations of his unique narrative style by conducting research investigating his personal life experiences ; and some comment on his extremely modern manipulations of time, space, and the like. After Faulkner's narrative style and art of language, it is his female characters that have captured the hearts of Chinese critics. Most Chinese critics employ feminist theory to analyze the female characters in the Yoknapatawpha novels, of whom Emily in A rose for Emily and Caddy in The sound and the fury are the most heavily discussed and studied characters in all Faulkner's novels. Most Chinese critics take the view that Faulkner demonstrates deep concern and sympathy for Southern women, whom he successfully depicts as oppressed and persecuted by Puritanism. Some critics, still argue that in Yoknapatawpha female characters are overwhelmed by male characters. Chinese scholars have drawn comparisons between Faulkner and various British and American authors, including Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Ernest Hemingway, and Toni Morrison, and also viewed his writings in the context of those of modern and contemporary Chinese authors, including Lu Xun, Ba Jin, Shen Congwen, Mo Yan, Su Tong, and Zhang Wei. |
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| 2 | 1955 | William Faulkner was invited by the Chinese government to come to Beijing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of Walt Whitman's Leaves of grass. Faulkner declined the invitation. |
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| 3 | 1978 |
Li, Wenjun. [Fukena]. In : Meiguo wen xue jian shi [ID D29603]. Li Wenjun writes with admiration for Faulkner's stylistic achievement, his moral vision and he speaks well of such positive characters as Dilsey - "the only healthy person in the book, whose loyalty, perseverance, endurance and compassion constitute a resurrection of humanity". He concludes that while Faulkner presents a vivid picture of the South he also "explores the major problems of modern man : man's relationship with society, sin and redemption, the burden of the past and how to deal with this burden, the corruption of modern civilization and how to maintain one's purity, etc." He also notes that "these are issues often discussed by the middle class and its intellectuals in the West", that Faulkner "takes the stand of a sensitive intellectual, the stand of humanism and democracy" and thus embodies the "spirit of his age" ; therefore, he asserts, Faulkner is crucial for Chinese readers who would understand the "major problems of the West". Concerning style, he notes that Faulkner's stream-of-consciousness method is a "step forward from James Joyce", that his "works of many dimensions and their complex narrative methods further reflect the complexity of modern life". Then he suggests that "it is still too early to say whether his methods are the best. But, at least, he offers some experience for us in the development of technique in writing". |
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| 4 | 1982 |
Faulkner, William. Shall not perish. In : Story ; vol. 23, no. 102 (July-August, 1943). H.R. Stoneback : By the responses of Chinese readers, one of the most neglected of all Faulkner stories, Shall not perish evoked powerfully certain crucial Faulkner notions about place and community, about the dignity and pride of the country people or the peasantry in China. Some passages were singled out for elucidation and praise by Chinese readers. |
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| 5 | 1982 |
["China letters" from Chinese correspondents in Beijing about William Faulkner.] (1) I think you will be interested to hear that many Chinese students are enjoying Faulkner's works. I taught 'Spotted horses' and 'Pantaloon in black' to my students here last semester – they liked them very much. And they all think Faulkner is greater than Fitzgerald or Hemingway. These two stories have started them on their way to further readings. I have recommended The potable Faulkner and Light in August. I don't want them to feel frustrated after reading The sound and the fury. It is a bit too difficult for them at present. (2) Last semester a Fulbright professor gave a Faulkner seminar at Beijing University. This semester another Fulbright professor is giving a seminar on Cather and Faulkner, and teaching The sound and the fury and Light in august in her novel course. She is also supervising graduate students working independently on Faulkner. I continue to work on my translations of the stories and teach various Faulkner stories in my classes. (3) Faulkner's achievement in style is now highly acclaimed here and, as you know, there are many brave attempts to introduce him to the Chinese reader. Aside from all the translation, critical essays on him are coming out, too, on his style and his themes. Two graduate students at my university want to write about his technique and the initiation problem in his works. These are ambitious topics. They are young people full of original ideas and some of them very good. I've learned a lot from them. As for other American writers, I like some of Hemingway and Fitzgerald but I prefer Faulkner because he has more depth. My students feel the same way, too. Fitzgerald's prose is graceful and his stories are affecting and touching. But they are a bit shallow, and they are concerned with very trivial matters, maybe too personal. But Faulkner had a deep understanding of human beings with all their vice and virtue… Also, the collapse of a big family is a familiar and recurrent theme in Chinese literature. So is the burden of the past, though not racial problems or original sin, but the sin committed by one's ancestry… |
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Cited by (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zentralbibliothek Zürich | Organisation / ZB |
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