Selina Lai-Henderson

Mark Twain in China

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Selina Lai-Henderson is Research Assistant Professor of American Studies at The University of Hong Kong.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 176
• Erscheinungstermin: 13. Mai 2015
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 237mm x 161mm x 20mm
• Gewicht: 399g
• ISBN-13: 9780804789646
• ISBN-10: 0804789649
• Artikelnr.: 41753309

Autorenporträt

Selina Lai-Henderson is Research Assistant Professor of American Studies at The University of Hong Kong.

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
0Introduction
chapter abstract
This chapter charts the continued popularity and influence of Mark Twain in
the US and around the world a century after his death, and what prominent
Chinese writers such as Lu Xun and Lao She have said about Twain as an
American writer, anti-imperialist, and supporter of Chinese rights at home
and abroad. Introducing Twain's lifelong connection with the Chinese and
posthumous voyage in China, the chapter addresses the significant
transition that Twain underwent in his attitudes toward the Chinese as a
result of his global travels. While most Chinese scholars and readers tend
to neglect Twain's early perception of and prejudice toward the Chinese,
the introduction calls to attention the important correlation between the
writer's moral journey and the posthumous impact of his work in China, and
the necessity to consider this transition while examining the reasons to
Twain's lasting popularity there.
1Sam Clemens the Missourian: Early Acquaintances With "Chinamen"
chapter abstract
This chapter begins with Clemens's early adventures in the American West in
the 1860s. What Clemens witnessed in the frontier would contradict the
founding ideals that he once learned as a child in Missouri. The everyday
scenario of the American police and Irish oppression of the Chinese in the
streets of San Francisco compelled him to reflect upon a country that was
founded on democratic ideals but was also ironically plagued by racism. In
1870, Twain married and settled down with Olivia Langdon in New York. His
father-in-law, Jervis Langdon, played an important role as an abolitionist
in influencing Twain's racial attitude toward slavery. Around the same
time, a figure that had an influence on Twain regarding the use of Chinese
protagonists in his work was Bret Harte. The two collaborated on the play,
"Ah Sin," which unfortunately brought the end of their friendship.
2From the Mississippi to the Big Sea: Voyages Across the Pacific
chapter abstract
This chapter examines the impact of two Pacific voyages that Twain
undertook on his attitude toward the Chinese. Sent by the Sacramento Union
as a correspondent to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) in 1866, Twain
supported US annexation of the Islands and the importation of Chinese
"coolie" labor to the plantations there. On this trip Twain became friends
with Anson Burlingame, the then US Minister to China (1861-1867), who
helped to deepen Twain's understanding of and acquaintance with the
Chinese. As Twain revisited the Sandwich Islands thirty years later in 1895
as part of his lecture series along the equator, he had become increasingly
skeptical of European, and soon after, American colonization by means of
economic dominance and missionary involvements in foreign territories. The
cultural and ethnic diversity that Twain encountered beyond the American
shore complicated the racial assumptions that he grew up with in the
slave-holding South.
3Mark Twain the Chinese Boxer: Reflections & Reformation of a Red-Hot
Anti-Imperialist
chapter abstract
This chapter discusses Twain's anti-imperialist position and involvement
with the American Anti-Imperialist League as he returned from Europe in
1900. Twain was infuriated as imperial powers including the US were taking
land by force not only from the Chinese, but also from Filipinos, Cubans,
and other people of color. What he once perceived as "human vermin" turned
out to be nobler than many of the so-called "civilized" people. Admitting
to once being a "red-hot imperialist," he returned home declaring himself a
Chinese Boxer against European and American imperialism. The author
discusses a few important anti-imperialist pieces, such as "To the Person
Sitting in Darkness," "To My Missionary Critics," "The United States of
Lyncherdom," and "The Fable of the Yellow Terror," and examines the factors
that led Clemens to take issue with the Rev. William Ament and the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM).
4Lighting Out for the Chinese Territory: Mark Twain's Posthumous Journey
Across China
chapter abstract
This chapter explores the socio-historical and political background in
China into which Twain was first introduced. Brought to Chinese readers by
Liang Qichao during his exile in Japan in late Qing China, Twain's work
indispensably contributed to the early process of transnationalism in the
Chinese literary community across China, Japan, and the US. Huckleberry
Finn, in particular, was used to revolutionize literature, language, and
society in China as the nation was undergoing a series of westernization
reforms and as a political tool during the Cold War era. Nevertheless, the
travels of Huck Finn from the Chinese Mainland to Hong Kong and Taiwan
during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) suggests that
translating Twain's work in these places functioned in part as a means of
distancing themselves from communism and Chinese civilization as it was
being constructed in the Mainland at the time.
5Translation, Appropriation & Continuation: Huck Finn's Chinese Adventures
in the late 20th Century & Beyond
chapter abstract
This chapter examines specific passages from Huck Finn and explores how
Chinese translators approach Twain's work in the late 20th century and
beyond-how they conveyed appropriate contexts and elucidated elements that
were unfamiliar to Chinese readers. Drawing on a few representative works
of translation from different periods, the chapter explores some of the
challenges that Chinese translators have been confronted with when it comes
to translating the language of a fourteen-year-old boy, Pap Finn's racist
attitude, and Jim's black vernacular. It looks at how Twain's work was used
to portray America in different spatial and historical moments, as well as
how American race relations get transposed into other cultural contexts,
and whether the critiques of racism embodied in Twain's work get passed on
to readers in China.
6Epilogue
chapter abstract
In the final chapter of Huckleberry Finn, Huck concluded that he "got to
light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's
going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there
before." While Huck's refusal to be "sivilized" speaks of Twain's own
skepticism about white Americans' construction of the term, the epilogue
will present a somewhat different picture of what "sivilization" means when
Huck Finn is put into different Chinese contexts, i.e. Mainland China,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet. It concludes with
an overview of the history and nature of Chinese culture and the frontier,
and how it thereby influences the understanding of Huck Finn in China. It
suggests that, however ironic, the brilliance and lasting popularity of
Twain's work lies in it being effectively used to suit different political
implications in politically-conflicting regions.