Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism FROM THE PUBLISHER
This anthology of Chinese women's poetry in translation brings together representative selections from the work of some 130 poets from the Han dynasty to the early twentieth century." "These poets include empresses, imperial concubines, courtesans, grandmothers, recluses, Buddhist nuns, widows, painters, farm wives, revolutionaries, and adolescent girls thought to be incarnate immortals. Some women wrote out of isolation and despair, finding in words a mastery that otherwise eluded them. Others were recruited into poetry by family members, friends, or sympathetic male advocates. Some dwelt on intimate family matters and cast their poems as addresses to husbands and sons at large in the wide world of men's affairs." "The primary purpose of this anthology is to put before the English-speaking reader evidence of the poetic talent that flourished, against all odds, among women in premodern China.
SYNOPSIS
This anthology brings together representative selections from the work of about 130 women poets from the Han dynasty to the early 20th century. It provides evidence of the poetic talent that flourished against all odds among women in many walks of life in premodern China. In addition, specialists in Chinese poetry inspire new perspectives on both the Chinese poetic tradition and the canon of female poets within it, taking into account not only the poems but also the prose writings (prefaces, biographies, and theoretical tracts) that framed them. Edited by Kang-i San Chang (Chinese literature, Yale U.). Paper edition (unseen), $29.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Internet Book Watch - Internet Book Watch
This anthology has been long in coming and long needed. An impressive accomplishment from a number of perspectives, its 891 pages are organized into two sections, Part One: Poetry, pages 1-666, and Part Two, Criticism, 667-804, and followed by extensive notes and an impressive bibliography of the Chinese and English Languages sources for the selection. Each section is then organized chronologically by Chinese dynasty so that the reader can flip from the Poetry to the Criticism within a particular dynasty. Within each section, there are both short biographies of the authors and selections from the poetry of more than 150 women, with critical notes. Thus the anthology offers a wealth of literary and historical information and a breadth of coverage for translations of the many Women poets of China that has not been seen in the past.
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