The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature, by Joseph S. M. Lau (HC, 726 pages, 1995, $3.50)
At the beginning of the twentieth century China had seen better days. It had lost the Opium Wars of 1842. The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 had failed. Thus, most Chinese also saw their culture as having failed. Lau considers modern Chinese literature to have started in the 1920s. Writers then could write their own interpretation of their situation, and they didn't spare the self-criticism.
When Mao came to power, literature was suddenly only allowed for propaganda purposes. Alternative writing could only take place in Taiwan. But in the post-Mao era, Chinese writers "have entered a brave new world of narrative possibilities that enables them to circumvent political taboos and illuminate the realities of China through forms and techniques as diverse as parable, farce, modernism, avant-gardism, and, more recently, magical realism."
Included here are examples of fiction, poetry and essays. Drama has been excluded due to lack of the space to do it justice. Look for this book in the literature section.
