Lin Yutang (1895–1976) was the modern Chinese writer and intellectual best known to the Western world in the twentieth century. Hailed as a “Chinese philosopher,” Lin was the de facto spokesman for China and Chinese culture and played the role of cultural ambassador between China and the United States. This critical volume representing the best international scholarship on Lin Yutang studies to date is a first attempt at a comprehensive study on the cross-cultural legacy of Lin’s literary practices in and across China and America. The essays collected here most of which were first presented at the international conference on the cross-cultural legacy of Lin Yutang in China and America held at the City University of Hong Kong in December 2011 offer different perspectives on Lin’s cross-cultural legacy.
Qian Suoqiao (also Qian Jun) is professor and chair of Chinese studies at Newcastle University, UK. He is the author of Liberal Cosmopolitan: Lin Yutang and Middling Chinese Modernity (2011) and editor of Cross-Cultural Studies: China and the World (2015), Little Critic: The Bilingual Essays of Lin Yutang (2012), and Chinese American Literature: An Annotated Bilingual Bibliography (2011), in addition to other publications. He has just finished a monograph tentatively titled Lin Yutang: Journey across China and America, 1895–1976.
Education: B.A. in English, Beijing Foreign Studies University; M.A./Ph.D. in comparative literature, University of California, Berkeley
“The editor and contributors of the volume are to be lauded for presenting diverse aspects but centered on the unifying theme of Lin Yutang and his writings. Particularly praiseworthy is the lack of repetition in the chapters a common downfall of many edited volumes on historical figures. [...] Lin Yutang’s background and writings deserve closer attention from scholars today and this volume is one step in that direction.” —Chris White Purdue University Journal of Chinese Overseas Volume 14: Issue 1.
276 pp.6 x 9
9781557291691$32.00|£27.00Paper
Dec 2015