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Literary journal puts authors abroad in focus

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-16 10:06

People's Literature, China's prestigious monthly literary journal, has dedicated its December issue to new overseas Chinese literature, with three novellas, one novel, one short story, one essay and a collection of poems.

According to editor Xu Zechen, all the contributors are those who left the Chinese mainland to go abroad after China's reform and opening up in 1979.

For instance, Chen Qian, author of Looking for the Wild Goose Flying South (望断南飞雁), went to the United States in 1989 to earn her Master's degree in electrical engineering and worked for a long time in the chip design industry, before becoming a freelance writer.

Her novella focuses on the identity of new immigrants, with a particular emphasis on the awakening of women's consciousness. Instead of merely assisting her husband and educating her child at home, its protagonist seeks to make her mark in society, even at the cost of her marriage.

Yuan Jinmei, currently a philosophy professor at Creighton University, looks at more metaphysical issues, such as comparisons between Eastern and Western cultures, in Lao Kang's Philosophy (老康的哲学).

"These writers find themselves in brand-new cultures and living conditions, [but at the same time] carry with them memories of contemporary Chinese history and literature," Xu says.

"They've seen and experienced what we [Chinese readers] haven't, which imbues their writings with special significance and value."

"Given the distance, they observe China from a different and more incisive perspective," says Xu, adding that overseas Chinese literature complements and inspires domestic literary circles.