Kam Louie (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789888083794
- eISBN:
- 9789882209060
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888083794.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This chapter focuses on “Love in a Fallen City” (1943) and “Red Rose, White Rose” (1944), stories that were produced at a time when China was in the midst of Japanese invasion and occupation, so that ...
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This chapter focuses on “Love in a Fallen City” (1943) and “Red Rose, White Rose” (1944), stories that were produced at a time when China was in the midst of Japanese invasion and occupation, so that the standard cultural norms did not operate totally under the usual social constraints. The central male characters in these stories, Liuyuan and Zhenbao, were considered “ideal modern Chinese men”. However, Eileen Chang reveals that despite the social acclaim they both receive from their good social positions and university educations, their gentlemanly image is only a veneer. Their self-seeking behaviour is no different from those of other men who have never been abroad.Less
This chapter focuses on “Love in a Fallen City” (1943) and “Red Rose, White Rose” (1944), stories that were produced at a time when China was in the midst of Japanese invasion and occupation, so that the standard cultural norms did not operate totally under the usual social constraints. The central male characters in these stories, Liuyuan and Zhenbao, were considered “ideal modern Chinese men”. However, Eileen Chang reveals that despite the social acclaim they both receive from their good social positions and university educations, their gentlemanly image is only a veneer. Their self-seeking behaviour is no different from those of other men who have never been abroad.
