Abstract
MASCULINE MYSTIQUE illustrates the masculine ideal of wenren or poet-scholar, as promulgated in traditional Chinese drama and as exemplified by Xu Zhimo, a Chinese poet who appears in three Asian American works (as well as in Pearl Buck’s writing). Xu is depicted as a charismatic idealist in Younghill Kang’s autobiographical novel, as a bicultural literary vanguard adored by both British and Chinese intellectuals in Pang-Mei Natasha Chang’s memoir, and as Pearl Buck’s romantic soul mate and lover in Anchee Min’s fiction. His allure can be traced to his cultural hybridity, spirited personality, intellectual generosity, and the ability to draw together a literary community. The chapter also revives a matching feminine ideal, exemplified by the brilliant women of letters to whom Xu is irresistibly attracted.
An early version of this chapter was delivered as one of the keynote presentations at the joint Renmin University of China and UCLA Conference on American Literature and the Changing World (June 30–July 1, 2012, Beijing). I thank Professor Diao Keli for the tremendous work he had done to make possible this collaboration.
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Cheung, KK. (2016). Masculine Mystique: Xu Zhimo 徐志摩, Younghill Kang, Pang-Mei Natasha Chang, and Anchee Min. In: Chinese American Literature without Borders. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-44177-5_4
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