91桃色

Why do people in socialist China read and write literary works? Earlier studies in Western Sinology have approached Chinese texts from the socialist era as portraits of society, as keys to the tug-of-war of dissent, or, more recently, as pursuit of 鈥減ure art.鈥� The Uses of Literature looks broadly and empirically at these and many other 鈥渦ses鈥� of literature from the points of view of authors, editors, political authorities, and several kinds of readers. Perry Link, author of Evening Chats in Beijing, considers texts ranging from elite 鈥渕isty鈥� poetry to underground hand-copied volumes (shouchauben) and shows in concrete detail how people who were involved with literature sought to teach, learn, enjoy, explore, debate, lead, control, and resist.


Using the late 1970s and early 1980s as an entree to the workings of China’s 鈥渟ocialist literary system,鈥� the author shows how that system held sway from 1950 until around 1990, when an encroaching market economy gradually but fundamentally changed it. In addition to providing a definitive overview of how the socialist Chinese literary system worked, Link offers comparisons to the similar system in the Soviet Union. In the final chapter, the book seeks to explain how the word 鈥済ood鈥� was used and understood when applied to literary works in such systems.


Combining aspects of cultural and literary studies, The Uses of Literature will reward anyone interested in the literature of modern China or how creativity is affected by a 鈥渟ocialist literary system.鈥�

Awards and Recognition

• One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2000