Studies of Literature from Marginalized Nations in Modern China, with a Focus on Eastern European Literature

This book presents the first systematic study of the 100-year history of translation, research, reception, and influence of Central and Eastern European literature in China from the late Qing Dynasty to the end of the twentieth century. This study of Eastern European literature from the perspective of Sino-foreign literary relations is based on extensive research into the translation and reception of Central and Eastern European writers such as Milan Kundera, Sándor Petofi, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Julius Fucik, and Bertolt Brecht. Since the late nineteenth century, the major Chinese writers have paid special attention to the literature of the marginalized Eastern European nations when they have to translate from translations since few of them understand Eastern European languages. The book seeks to identify what attracted the founders of new Chinese literature to Eastern European literature and to define its unique significance for the construction of modern Chinese literature.