Chinese Literature Flashcards
Tang era poet of “The River Merchant’s Wife” (which was translated by Ezra Pound) “Quiet Night Thoughts” and “Drinking Alone by the Moonlight.”
Li Po
Tang era younger contemporary of Li Po whose most famous work is Song of the Wagons.
Du Fu
Chinese (emigrant to France) writer and 2000 Nobel Prize winner of the grand and celebrated work Soul Mountain, inspired by his trek through China after a misdiagnosis of lung cancer.
Gao Xingjian
Leading author of the May Fourth Movement who is known for “A Madman’s Diary” partially inspired by the Diary of a Madman written by Gogol and his novella “The True Story of Ah Q.”
Lu Xun
2012 Nobel Prize winner who wrote the vast 50 year epic “Red Sorghum” discussing how China has changed from democracy to World War II to communism.
Mo Yan
American writer of Indian origin who wrote such works as the short story collection “The Interpreter of Maladies” about Indians and Indian Americans’ struggle to reconcile their traditions with the new world and “The Namesake” about a Bengali couple who have named their son “Gogol.”
Jhumpa Lahiri
Bestselling non-expatriate Indian author of “God of Small Things” about how small things affect people’s lives and against casteism.
Arundhati Roy
This author received a fatwa for The Satanic Verses is also known for Midnight’s Children about kids born the hour of Indian independence. Other famous works of his include Shame and Grimus.
Salman Rushdie
Indian author and LGBT activist of “The Golden Gate” about San-Fran yuppies and “A Suitable Boy” about arranged marriage.
Vikram Seth
Bengali author of the famous “Gitanjali” poetry collection, the poem “The Golden Boat,” the novel “Home and the World” about a love triangle conflict between the rational pacifist Nikhilesh and the passionate activist Sandip, and the dramatic play Red Oleanders.
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