- Overview
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This book contains essays that look back on issues in our society through Lu Xun’s major novels, including The True Story of Ah Q, A Madman's Diary, and other controversial works.
- Book Intro
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Lee Ukyeon is a Chinese literature scholar who has studied Lu Xun for decades. In this book, he examines the concerns of our times through Lu Xun's calm yet insightful words and prose, including class-based societies, political reform, generational conflicts, gender equality, communication, the fundamental problems of modernity, hope and despair, and remembering and forgetting. Lu Xun's words and prose asks readers to be themselves in the face of a restrictive world, filling readers with courage and the joy of growing up that transcends age.
This book looks back on issues in Korean society through Lu Xun’s major novels, including The True Story of Ah Q and A Madman's Diary and other controversial works. Lu Xun is one of the more well-known writers of modern China who resisted the prevailing order and the oppression of the majority to instead maintain his own point of view and critical voice. Since the Japanese colonial era, many Korean intellectuals have read Lu Xun to expand their perspectives across East Asia and examine the lives and reality of the Korean people. The older generation that transformed the world using the passion of their youth and the younger generation that’s currently struggling in their competitive societies are both invited to read Lu Xun and become better people. Lee suggests we become our true selves by reading Lu Xun and reflecting on the world today.
A long-time researcher and translator of Lu Xun, Lee Ukyeon claims that the reason we should read Lu Xun again is the vitality of his writing. Ever a prolific and active writer, Lu Xun confronted the times armed with his sharp perspectives and cool writing style. Lu Xun gives us the courage to stand up against a world that forces us to live like cowards.
- About the Author
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Lee Ukyeon
Lee Ukyeon received his BA and PhD in Chinese Literature from Korea University. He studied at the Graduate School of Beijing Normal University and served as a visiting professor at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard. He is currently a professor of Chinese Literature at Sogang University. To date, he has written Lee Ukyeon’s Chinese Class, China Talks to Me, and Close to China. He has translated Lu Xun’s The True Story of Ah Q, A Madman's Diary, and Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk.
- Selection
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Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, 2020, Sejong Books for Liberal Arts