World Literature and the Chinese Compass, 1942-2012

Abstract

This dissertation explores the mutual shaping between world literature and contemporary Chinese literature from 1942 to 2012. It is divided into two parts. The first part studies the receptions of contemporary Chinese literature abroad; the second part simultaneously re-evaluates contemporary Chinese literature it relation to its past and theories of nationalism and postcolonialism in relation to world literature. The framework I propose provides a potentially new paradigm for assessing the social and cultural factors that construct world literature and contemporary Chinese literature and the relationship between the two categories.