Lu Xun and Western Literature

Abstract

Literary history of a near contemporary period is notoriously difficult to write. It often reads like a catalogue of names and titles or the sort of annual summary one finds in the New York Times Book Review. The writers and works covered are not “distanced” enough to be seen in true perspective and yet not near enough so as not to require too much background knowledge. As literary fashions come and go, literary reputations have their ups and downs, and the particularly popular names of one generation often suffer a particularly bad eclipse in the generation immediately after.

A public lecture the author delivered at the Ohio State University and the University of Minnesota in early summer, 1980.