Remembering May Fourth: The Movement and its Centennial Legacy is a collective work of thirteen scholars who reflect on the question of how to remember the May Fourth Movement, one of the most iconic socio-political events in the history of modern China. The book discusses a wide range of issues concerning the relations between politics and memory, between writing and ritualizing, between fiction and reality, and between theory and practice.
Remembering May Fourth thus calls into question the ways in which the movement is remembered, while at the same time calling for the need to create new memories of the movement.
Carlos Yu-Kai Lin, Ph.D. (2015), University of Southern California, is an Assistant Professor of Translation Studies at the City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on modern Chinese intellectual history, modern Chinese literature, and the history of Chinese fiction.
Victor H. Mair, Ph.D. (1976), Harvard University, is a Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the founder and editor of
Sino-Platonic Papers and General Editor of the
ABC Chinese Dictionary Series at the University of Hawaii Press.
Contributors
Introduction Carlos Yu-Kai Lin
Part 1: Histories and Politics
1
May Fourth as Affect Gloria Davies
2
The May Fourth Liberal Legacy in Chan Koonchung’s Jianfeng ernian Josephine Chiu-Duke
3
Two Versions of Modern Chinese History: a Reassessment of Hu Shi and Lu Xun Chih-ping Chou
4
Chinese Renaissance, Other Renaissances Gang Zhou
5
Hu Shi and the May Fourth Legacy Yung-chen Chiang
6
Theory and Practice in the May Fourth Period Shakhar Rahav
Part 2: Literature and Languages
7
Nature and Critique of Modernity in Shen Congwen: an Eco-Critical Reading Ban Wang
8
A New Vision of Life in Xiao Hong’s The Field of Life and Death Todd Foley
9
Aesthetic Cognition and the Subject of Discourse in Lu Xun’s Modern-Style Fiction Nicholas Kaldis
10
Literary Bombs: a Sketch of the May Fourth Generation and Bomb as Metaphor Chien-hsin Tsai
11
Utopian Language: from Esperanto to the Abolishment of Chinese Characters Chih-ping Chou
12
The Immortality of Words: Hu Shi’s Language Reform and His Reflection on Religion Gina Elia & Victor H. Mair
13
A Historical and Bilingual Perspective on the Concept of Vernacular Carlos Yu-Kai Lin
All who are interested in modern Chinese history, language, literature, culture.