UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Towards an Itinerant Sinophone: Transnational Literary Collaboration in the Writings of Xiao Hong, Zhang Ailing, and Lao She Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2qm6x1xk Author Iwasaki, Clara Chiyoko Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Towards an Itinerant Sinophone: Transnational Literary Collaboration in the Writings of Xiao Hong, Zhang Ailing, and Lao She A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures by Clara Chiyoko Iwasaki 2015 © copyright by Clara Chiyoko Iwasaki 2015 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Towards an Itinerant Sinophone: Transnational Literary Collaboration in the Writings of Xiao Hong, Zhang Ailing, and Lao She by Clara Chiyoko Iwasaki Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles, 2015 Professor Shu-mei Shih, Chair The increasing prevalence of literature which pushes the boundaries of national literatures as well as the difficulty that the methodology of comparative literature has with negotiating texts without a clear-cut national provenance has led to the increasing interest in reviving the term “world literature.” While most of the current theories of world literature are concerned with the migration of texts or authors unidirectionally, from the periphery to the center, this study is interested in tracing the migration of authors and texts along their itineraries. The benefit of this model is the way that it allows multidirectional movement, texts and authors move back and forth between countries, languages, and literatures in ways that current models of both comparative literature and world literature do not account for. The itineraries of the three writers and their texts also reveal the ways that the geopolitics of the time influenced literary movement: writers moved south to avoid Japanese conquest in the 1930s and 1940s and moved westward to the United States in the 1950s. Xiao Hong’s itinerary takes her ever southward, through the ii shifting map of the Republic of China at the time. While she is most commonly identified as a Northeastern writer, Xiao Hong wrote most of her most famous works in exile in Shanghai. Her works must be understood in light of her self-imposed exile. Zhang Ailing’s itinerary took her to the British colony of Hong Kong as a young woman. After returning to Shanghai, she earned literary fame writing tales of exotic colonial life for a Shanghai audience. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang returned to Hong Kong briefly before immigrating to the United States. She had hopes for an Anglophone career, introducing American audiences to China, but remained ultimately unsuccessful in retooling herself. Nevertheless, Zhang found lasting fame among Sinophone audiences in Hong Kong and Taiwan, styling herself as “the last aristocrat” of lost Shanghai. Lao She had a wide and varied itinerary, however one portion which remains relatively understudied is his sojourn in the United States shortly after the end of World War II. While there, Lao She played an active role in shaping his Anglophone career following the success of Evan King’s translation of Camel Xiangzi (Luotuo Xiangzi) as Rickshaw Boy. Lao She collaborated in the translation of three of his other novels into Chinese, The Yellow Storm, The Drum Singers, and The Loves of Lau Lee. Eventually Lao She grew disillusioned with American publishing and returned to China, taking with him several unpublished manuscripts which were later lost. The Chinese translator Ma Xiaomi, later translated the English translations of these manuscripts and restored them to the original Chinese manuscripts. In charting the circulation of writers and texts along their itineraries, it is possible to see the way in which different writers of different languages and literatures intersect. Rather than looking at the movement of Chinese literature into the canon, I look at the globalized connections which have occurred through travel, collaboration, and contestation in several different languages and literatures. iii The dissertation of Clara Chiyoko Iwasaki is approved. Christopher Hanscom Jack Chen Andrea Goldman Shu-mei Shih, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2015 iv In memory of George Tokunaga and Shirley Sakata v Table of Contents Acknowledgments vii Vita ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Homeless in the Fatherland: Xiao Hong’s Migrant Geographies 19 Chapter 2 Working Both Sides: Zhang Ailing’s Dual Literary Careers 65 Chapter 3 “A Mirror Restored?”: The Travels of Lao She’s The Yellow Storm and The Drum Singers 118 Conclusion 162 Bibliography 167 vi Acknowledgements Although graduate school can be a very lonely endeavor, I have not often found it so. I have learned so much from all of the people that I have met in the last seven years. I am grateful to my advisor Shu-mei Shih for taking me on as a student and for guiding my intellectual progress throughout my career. She has always encouraged me to think boldly about this project and has always challenged me to continue to improve. The dissertation would not be what it is without her rigorous vision and insightful comments. I am also incredibly grateful to Andrea Goldman, whose kind words of encouragement and sharp, incisive readings of my work have always inspired me to keep writing and growing as a scholar, as well as her help with my research in mainland China. I am proud to be an “honorary student of the history department.” Chris Hanscom, in his role as both committee member and director of graduate studies, has been very generous with his time and always offering sound advice, both practical and academic. Jack Chen, in all of the many hats he wears, has guided me through too many aspects of the graduate process to name, for which I am very thankful. Keith Camacho, Thu-huong Nguyen-vo, Torquil Duthie, Namhee Lee, and Ted Huters have played important roles in my intellectual and professional development. Ari Larissa Heinrich and Yuming He first encouraged me on this path many years ago. I have been guided through the many administrative pitfalls of graduate life by Asiroh Cham, Emily Le, and Shan Shan Chi-Au, who have shown great forbearance with all of my many administrative questions. Dave Hull, Guangyi Li, Nathaniel Isaacson, Josh Herr, Yin Wang, Winnie Chang, and Brian Bernards have all been excellent xuezhang, providing patient advice and encouragement. My fellow graduate students, who I am honored to call my friends, Sarah Walsh, Hannah Lim, vii Nic Testerman, Spencer Jackson, Jason Coe, Carlos Piocos, Asiroh Cham, Emily Le, and Gal Gvili have made graduate life in various parts of the world feel like home through stimulating discussions, camaraderie, and laughter. My classmate, roommate, co-advisee, and best friend Liz Evans Weber made life in Los Angeles a delight through ice-cream breaks, kitchen chats, Trader Joe’s visits, and, most importantly, the generous dispensation of her wisdom and wit. I am and will always be grateful for her friendship. My study and dissertation research at UCLA has been supported by the Eugene Cota- Robles Fellowship, the Mellon Pre-Dissertation Fellowship, the Fulbright IIE, the Hiroshi Wagatsuma Memorial Fellowship, the UCLA Graduate Research Mentorship, and the UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship. I have also been fortunate to receive multiple Graduate Summer Research Mentorship awards and FLAS awards which have been invaluable for giving me the time and space to learn and grow. Finally, I thank my family for their unwavering support of my decision to go to graduate school for Chinese literature, particularly my mother, my father, and my grandmothers, Yemi Tokunaga and Sumi Iwasaki. This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather, George Tokunaga, and my aunt, Shirley Sakata, who did not live to see this degree completed, but who are always remembered and always missed. Our cats, Musubi and Momo deserve special thanks for their unwillingness to ever leave my lap, which always compelled me to sit and write for a little while longer. This dissertation would never have been completed without the steadfast and uncomplaining support of Evan Nicoll-Johnson. Meeting him has been graduate school’s greatest gift. viii Vita 2005 B.A., Chinese Literature Reed College Portland OR 2008 Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship Graduate Division University of California, Los Angeles 2009 Teaching Assistant University of California, Los Angeles 2010 Graduate Research Mentorship Graduate Division University of California, Los Angeles M.A., Chinese Literature Asian Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles 2011 Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship Graduate Division University of California, Los Angeles 2012 Mellon Pre-Dissertation Fellowship Graduate Division University of California, Los Angeles American Fulbright Junior Scholar Hong Kong University Fulbright Institute of International Education Hiroshi Wagatsuma Memorial Fellowship Asia Institute University of California, Los Angeles 2013 Teaching Fellow University of California, Los Angeles 2014 Dissertation Year Fellowship Graduate Division University of California, Los Angeles Presentations “Working Both Sides: Zhang Ailing’s Many Literary Careers.” Paper delivered at 2014 Western Conference Association for Asian Studies, Tempe, October