The Shadow of the Past: Ge Fei's "Encounter" with History

By examining a selection of early short stories by the contemporary mainland Chinese author Ge Fei, this paper traces the writer's literary emplotment of personal, quotidian history on the one hand, and national, state history on the other. First, the paper explores how h/History initially &quo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sungkyun journal of East Asian studies 2013, 13(1), , pp.53-75
Main Author: Payne, Christopher N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
학제간연구
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:By examining a selection of early short stories by the contemporary mainland Chinese author Ge Fei, this paper traces the writer's literary emplotment of personal, quotidian history on the one hand, and national, state history on the other. First, the paper explores how h/History initially "shadows" the narratives in "The Lost Boat" and "New Year's Eve," before finally stepping more fully into the action in "The Encounter" and "Prognostication Chart." It is argued that the accumulative demands of constantly re-imagining and critically engaging with personal history and State History in literature eventually weighed too heavily upon Ge Fei's early creative endeavours, foreclosing his prior more challenging narratives in favor of stories that have more closely followed official State records. KCI Citation Count: 0
ISSN:1598-2661
2586-0380
DOI:10.21866/esjeas.2013.13.1.003