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Western Han
A Yangzhou Storyteller's Script. NIAS Monographs 139
Genres:
Other performing arts,
Literary studies: classical, early & medieval,
Asian history,
Antiques & collectables: books, manuscripts, ephemera & printed matter,
Film, TV & radio,
Anthologies (non-poetry),
Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 ,
Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers
Synopsis
This mammoth study is a major contribution to the study of Chinese literature, making available to scholars a genuine storyteller's script from China's Yangzhou oral tradition, dated to the late Qing period (1880-1910). This rare script is published in its complete form (all 367 pages), both in facsimile and transcription, with an English translation also made. Its publication is of high importance not only to preserve knowledge about one of the famous oral traditions of China, but also as a unique documentation of the interplay between orality and literacy in Chinese storytelling. The book is also the first translation into a European language of the popular 'Western Han' narrative, one of a corpus of Chinese semi-historical romances brought to life in recent decades after the discovery in 1974 of the terracotta army commemorating the life and achievements of the first Chinese emperor. Moreover, this storyteller's version is unique and entertaining. The work is an ideal classroom book for students studying Chinese history, literature, oral literature, storytelling, etc.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
"This discovery of a genuine storyteller's script has huge implications for scholars of traditional Chinese literature, since the novel was modeled on oral storytelling and the exact relationship between them has been a subject of ongoing debate. Publishing the full script will allow scholars to use this rare find to investigate many vital questions in Chinese popular culture" (Margaret Wan). "[A]n excellent collaborative effort between two of the most accomplished scholars in the study of Chinese oral literature" (Mark Bender).