Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Comparative Literature Department, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Yale University, 1999. / Directors: David Der-wei Wang; Charles Laughlin. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-203).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Michigan, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references.

abstract: This thesis examines the play Qian Dayin zhichong Xie Tianxiang, written by the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) playwright Guan Hanqing (c.1225-1302). The first chapter of this paper provides brief background information about northern style Yuan drama (zaju) as well as a plot summary and notes about the analysis and translation. Through a close reading of the play, I hope to illustrate how the play's complicated ending and lack of complete resolution reveals why it has received relatively little attention from scholars who have previously discussed other strong, intelligent female characters in Guan Hanqing's plays. The second chapter of this thesis includes translation of the play that is comprised of a wedge preceding the four acts. Before each act of the play is a critical introduction and analysis of the act to follow. Although many of Guan Hanqing's plays have been translated into English, this play has never been translated. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Asian Languages and Civilizations 2011

ix, 106 p. / This thesis focuses on the metafictional elements in selected works of the contemporary Chinese authors Gao Xingjian, Huang Jinshu, and Wang Xiaobo. I define metafiction as both a formal feature inherent in the text and the result of an approach towards that text. I argue that metafiction confronts us with the (postmodern) issues of 1) the ontological status of the text, 2) the figure of the author and reader, and 3) the (ambiguous) relationship between fiction and reality. Simultaneously, it accepts and celebrates this self-conscious and ambiguous character, encouraging readers to do the same. By combining elements from the indigenous literary tradition and international literary movements, contemporary Chinese metafiction is a valuable contribution to the study of metafiction. Ultimately, it shows what it means to write and read in a Chinese as well as in a global context. / Committee in charge: Prof. Alison Groppe, Chairperson; Prof. Maram Epstein, Member; Prof. Xiaoquan Raphael Zhang, Member

This thesis represents an investigation into the strategies used by postsocialist Chinese male subjects to articulate their subjecthood and desires. The introduction explains the choice for using a phenomenological methodological approach in addressing the issue and also lays out the simultaneous goal of this thesis to inaugurate a move away from political allegorical interpretations as the standard for reading contemporary Chinese literature. The body chapters look at two different contemporary Chinese works to help illuminate the arrival of the Chinese subject. Using Wang Xiaobo's novella "Sentiments Like Water" and the anonymously penned online novel Beijing Story as case studies, this thesis investigates the ways alternative epistemologies and uses of history can undo pathological understandings of queerness and create new identities for Chinese subjects. The thesis concludes with thinking about the direction of the queer and Chinese studies fields and offers future points of investigation.

Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Gao Xingjian is well known especially as an author of drama and novels Soul Mountain and One Man's Bible. This thesis examines his early novellas and short stories that were created at the end of the 70s and in the 80s. An analysis of meaning contruction is focused primarily on motifs and narrative techniques. It explores the process of his literary creation in context of official ideological requirements on literature as well as in context of literature genres known as "scar literature", "literature of reflection" and "root seeking" literature. This thesis shows how Gao Xingjian is trying to create a unique and individual worldview of his characters.

The thesis deals with early short stories and novellas by Chinese woman writer Can Xue. The first part of the thesis presents the work of Can Xue in the context of author's life and focuses on finding motifs associated with her life experiences. The second part outlines historical development of Chinese literature in the 80s of the 20th century, observes position of Can Xue in the "avant-garde literature", and describes the writers literary sources of inspiration and authors own view on literary-historical context of her works. The third part is based on the analysis of specific stories. In the context of what other critics have discussed the thesis determines two main approaches to the interpretation of Can Xues work - the political and the psychological. The thesis concludes that there is a significant element of personal experience in Can Xues works. It should not, however, be considered a dominant element, as it mainly serves as means of examining general aspects of human psyche. The introspective nature of Can Xues works is also the key reason why this thesis puts the psychological interpretation of her works above the political interpretation.

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