Witness Against History: Literature, Film, and Public Discourse in Twentieth-Century China - Paperback

by Yomi Braester (Author)

Witness against History offers fresh readings of milestones in twentieth-century Chinese literature and cinema. The book reveals how these texts and films, which seem to proclaim faith in modernity, nevertheless doubt the possibility of changing the course of history. In the aftermath of violent events, the authors question their ability to rescue the nation or even create a space for public debate. The witness against history is ultimately a critique of witnessing itself.

Front Jacket

This study offers fresh, theoretically informed readings of milestones in Chinese fiction, film, and drama spanning the entire twentieth century. Drawing on rare archival material, it argues that they have challenged social reformers' call for changing the course of history. In doing so it makes a methodological point of interest to historians, literary scholars, and social scientists concerned with the relation between literature and testimony, literature and history, and literature and the public sphere. The book argues that literary texts are fundamentally different from historical texts and from programmatic essays.
Many important literary texts are discussed here for the first time in any language. Arguing for the need for attention to literary dynamics, the book challenges existing concepts of Chinese modernity. While the prevalent belief is that modern Chinese literature has been mobilized for nation building, Braester shows that many texts criticize the idea that literature and other forms of expression might change the course of history.

Back Jacket

This study offers fresh, theoretically informed readings of milestones in Chinese fiction, film, and drama spanning the entire twentieth century. Drawing on rare archival material, it argues that they have challenged social reformers' call for changing the course of history. In doing so it makes a methodological point of interest to historians, literary scholars, and social scientists concerned with the relation between literature and testimony, literature and history, and literature and the public sphere. The book argues that literary texts are fundamentally different from historical texts and from programmatic essays.
Many important literary texts are discussed here for the first time in any language. Arguing for the need for attention to literary dynamics, the book challenges existing concepts of Chinese modernity. While the prevalent belief is that modern Chinese literature has been mobilized for nation building, Braester shows that many texts criticize the idea that literature and other forms of expression might change the course of history.

Author Biography

Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and a member of the Cinema Studies Program at the University of Washington.