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Article: The Columbia History of Chinese Literature.(Book Review)
- Article from:
- The Journal of the American Oriental Society
- Article date:
- January 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 American Oriental Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Edited by VICTOR H. MAIR. New York: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2002. Pp. xxiii + 1342. $65.
This is a monumental contribution to the field of Chinese literary studies. Aside from expected chapters on the development of prose and poetry, history, drama and fiction, with an analysis of distinctive genres within each of these categories, the book devotes considerable additional space to less expected subjects such as "Language and Script," "Myth," "The Supernatural," "Wit and Humor," the mutual relation between literature and art, classical exegesis, literary criticism, religious texts, regional and ethnic minority literatures, women's literature, even the reception ...