The substance of fiction : literary objects in China, 1550-1775 / Sophie Volpp
- Author
- Volpp, Sophie, 1963-
- Additional Titles
- Literary objects in China, 1550-1775
- Published
- New York : Columbia University Press, [2022]
- Physical Description
- x, 245 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
- Series
- Contents
- Acknowledgments - Introduction. The substance of fiction -- Chapter One. The python robe of 'The Plum in the Golden Vase' -- Chapter Two. Ling Mengchu's shell -- Chapter Three. Du Shiniang's jewel box -- Chapter Four. Li Yu's telescope -- Chapter Five. The plate-glass mirror in 'The Story of the Stone' -- Chapter Six. Historicizing recession via 'The Story of the Stone' and the Juanqinzhai -- Conclusion. Literary objects -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
- Summary
- "Do the portrayals of objects in literary texts represent historical evidence about the material culture of the past? Or are things in books more than things in the world? Sophie Volpp considers fictional objects of the late Ming and Qing that defy being read as illustrative of historical things. Instead, she argues, fictional objects are often signs of fictionality themselves, calling attention to the nature of the relationship between literature and materiality. Volpp examines a series of objects - a robe, a box and a shell, a telescope, a plate-glass mirror, and a painting - drawn from the canonical works frequently mined for information about late imperial material culture, including the novels 'The Plum in the Golden Vase' and 'The Story of the Stone' as well as the short fiction of Feng Menglong, Ling Mengchu, and Li Yu. She argues that although fictional objects invite readers to think of them as illustrative, in fact, inconsistent and discontinuous representation disconnects the literary object from potential historical analogues. The historical resonances of literary objects illuminate the rhetorical strategies of individual works of fiction and, more broadly, conceptions of fictionality in the Ming and Qing. Rather than offering a transparent lens on the past, fictional objects train the reader to be aware of the fallibility of perception. A deeply insightful analysis of late Ming and Qing texts and reading practices, 'The Substance of Fiction' has important implications for Chinese literary studies, history, and art history, as well as the material turn in the humanities"--
- Subject(s)
- 1368-1912
- Chinese fiction—Ming dynasty, 1368-1644—History and criticism
- Chinese fiction—Qing dynasty, 1644-1912—History and criticism
- Roman chinois—1368-1644 (Dynastie des Ming)—Histoire et critique
- Roman chinois—1644-1912 (Dynastie des Qing)—Histoire et critique
- Chinese fiction
- Chinese fiction—Ming dynasty
- Qing Dynasty (China)
- Genre(s)
- ISBN
- 9780231199643 hardcover ; acid-free paper
0231199643 hardcover ; acid-free paper
9780231199650 trade paperback ; acid-free paper
0231199651 trade paperback ; acid-free paper
9780231553223 electronic book - Bibliography Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Endowment Note
- Ann Menges Libraries Endowment
View MARC record | catkey: 40544538