Robert E. Hegel, Washington University, St. Louis
Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)
Experimentation with lengthy prose narratives took many forms during the middle and late Ming period: in language style, structural elements, in theme, in methods of characterization. Certain novels seem to have been written for the appreciation of friends and like-minded readers who could appreciate their imaginative literary play. By the 1640s, commentator Jin Shengtan took on the job of teaching readers how to read the novel; clearly he anticipated wider audiences by that time. The speaker will focus on that first century of development of the novel form in China, until around 1630, when readers’ personal responses were recorded in marginal and interlinear comments, and before the commentators took on the role of lecturer on theories of literature.
ccs@berkeley.edu, 510-643-6321