Chinese Women Writers and the Feminist Imagination, 1905–1948 Chinese Women Writers and the Feminist Imagination, 1905–1948 provides a compelling study of leading women writers in modern China, charting their literary works and life journeys to examine the politics and poetics of Chinese transcultural feminism that exceed the boundaries of bourgeois feminist selfhood. Unlike recent literary studies that focus on the discursive formation of the modern Chinese nation state and its gendering effects, Yan explores the radical degrees to which Chinese women writers re-invented their lives alongside their writings in distinctly conditioned and fundamentally revolutionary ways. The book draws on these women’s voluminous works and dramatic lives to illuminate the range of Chinese women’s literary and artistic achievements and offers vital sources for exploring the history and legacy of twentieth-century Chinese feminist consciousness and its centrality in the Chinese Revolution. It will be of great interest to scholars of gender studies, literary and cultural studies and performance studies. Yan Haiping is Associate Professor of Critical Studies at the School of Theatre, Film and Television, University of California at Los Angeles; and Zijang Chair Professor of the Arts and Humanistic Studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai. Asia’s Transformations Edited by Mark Selden, Binghamton and Cornell Universities, USA The books in this series explore the political, social, economic and cultural consequences of Asia’s transformations in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The series emphasizes the tumultuous interplay of local, national, regional and global forces as Asia bids to become the hub of the world economy. While focusing on the contemporary, it also looks back to analyse the antecedents of Asia’s contested rise. This series comprises several strands: Asia’s Transformationsaims to address the needs of students and teachers, and the titles will be published in hardback and paperback. Titles include: Debating Human Rights Mao’s Children in the New Critical essays from the United States China and Asia Voices from the Red Guard generation Edited by Peter Van Ness Yarong Jiang and David Ashley Hong Kong’s History Remaking the Chinese State State and society under colonial rule Strategies, society and security Edited by Tak-Wing Ngo Edited by Chien-min Chao and Bruce J Dickson Japan’s Comfort Women Sexual slavery and prostitution during Korean Society World War II and the US occupation Civil society, democracy and the state Yuki Tanaka Edited by Charles K Armstrong Opium, Empire and the Global The Making of Modern Korea Political Economy Adrian Buzo Carl A Trocki The Resurgence of East Asia Chinese Society 500, 150 and 50 Year perspectives Change, conflict and resistance Edited by Giovanni Arrighi, Edited by Elizabeth J Perry and Mark Selden Takeshi Hamashita and Mark Selden Chinese Society, 2nd edition Japan’s Quiet Transformation Change, conflict and resistance Social change and civil society in the Edited by Elizabeth J Perry and Mark Selden 21st century Jeff Kingston Ethnicity in Asia Edited by Colin Mackerras Confronting the Bush Doctrine Critical views from the Asia-Pacific The Battle for Asia Edited by Mel Gurtov and Peter Van Ness From decolonization to globalization Mark T Berger China in War and Revolution, 1895–1949 State and Society in 21st Peter Zarrow Century China Edited by Peter Hays Gries and Stanley Rosen Asia’s Great Cities. Each volume aims to capture the heartbeat of the contempo- rary city from multiple perspectives emblematic of the authors own deep familiarity with the distinctive faces of the city, its history, society, culture, politics and economics, and its evolving position in national, regional and global frame- works. While most volumes emphasize urban developments since the Second World War, some pay close attention to the legacy of the longue durée in shaping the contemporary. Thematic and comparative volumes address such themes as urbanization, economic and financial linkages, architecture and space, wealth and power, gendered relationships, planning and anarchy, and ethnogra- phies in national and regional perspective. Titles include: Bangkok Representing Calcutta Place, practice and representation Modernity, nationalism and the colo- Marc Askew nial uncanny Swati Chattopadhyay Beijing in the Modern World David Strand and Madeline Yue Dong Singapore Wealth, power and the culture of Shanghai control Global city Carl A. Trocki Jeff Wasserstrom Hong Kong Global city Stephen Chiu and Tai-Lok Lui Asia.com is a series which focuses on the ways in which new information and communication technologies are influencing politics, society and culture in Asia. Titles include: Japanese Cybercultures The Internet in Indonesia’s New Edited by Mark McLelland and Democracy Nanette Gottlieb David T Hill and Krishna Sen Asia.com Chinese Cyberspaces Asia encounters the Internet Technological changes and political Edited by K C Ho, Randolph Kluver and effects Kenneth C C Yang Edited by Jens Damm and Simona Thomas Literature and Society is a series that seeks to demonstrate the ways in which Asian Literature is influenced by the politics, society and culture in which it is produced. Titles include: The Body in Postwar Japanese Chinese Women Writers and the Fiction Feminist Imagination, 1905–1948 Edited by Douglas N Slaymaker Haiping Yan Routledge Studies in Asia’s Transformations is a forum for innovative new research intended for a high-level specialist readership, and the titles will be available in hardback only. Titles include: 1 The American Occupation of 5 Chinese Media, Global Japan and Okinawa * Contexts Literature and memory Edited by Chin-Chuan Lee Michael Molasky 6 Remaking Citizenship in 2 Koreans in Japan * Hong Kong Critical voices from the margin Community, nation and the global city Edited by Sonia Ryang Edited by Agnes S Ku and Ngai Pun 3 Internationalizing the Pacific 7 Japanese Industrial The United States, Japan and the Governance Institute of Pacific Relations in War Protectionism and the licensing state and Peace, 1919–45 Yul Sohn Tomoko Akami 8 Developmental Dilemmas 4 Imperialism in South East Asia Land reform and institutional change ‘A Fleeting, Passing Phase’ in China Nicholas Tarling Edited by Peter Ho 9 Genders, Transgenders and 10 Fertility, Family Planning and Sexualities in Japan Population Control in China Edited by Mark McLelland and Edited by Dudley L Poston, Che-Fu Lee, Romit Dasgupta Chiung-Fang Chang, Sherry L McKibben and Carol S Walther * Now available in paperback Critical Asian Scholarshipis a series intended to showcase the most important indi- vidual contributions to scholarship in Asian Studies. Each of the volumes presents a leading Asian scholar addressing themes that are central to his or her most significant and lasting contribution to Asian studies. The series is committed to the rich variety of research and writing on Asia, and is not restricted to any particular discipline, theoretical approach or geographical expertise. Southeast Asia China’s Past, China’s Future A testament Energy, food, environment George McT Kahin Vaclav Smil Women and the Family in The Chinese State in Ming Chinese History Society Patricia Buckley Ebrey Timothy Brook China Unbound Evolving perspectives on the Chinese past Paul A Cohen Chinese Women Writers and the Feminist Imagination, 1905–1948 Yan Haiping First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor &Francis Group,an informa business © 2006 Yan Haiping This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Yan, Haiping. Chinese women writers and the feminist imagination / by Yan Haiping. p. cm. -- (Asia's transformations) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-415-23288-0 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Chinese literature--Women authors-- History and criticism. 2. Chinese literature--20th century--History and criticism. 3. Feminism in literature. I. Title. II. Series. PL2278.Y36 2005 895.1'099287'0904--dc22 2005016118 ISBN10: 0-415-23288-0 ISBN13: 978-0-415-23288-3 To Mother and all those whose presence has made this book possible.