Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies
The Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies school (鴛鴦蝴蝶派) was a popular genre of Chinese fiction in the first half of the 20th century, especially in the 1910s and 1920s. Mandarin ducks (which are frequently seen in pairs) and butterflies (from Butterfly Lovers) are traditional symbols of romantic love, but the genre encompassed more than romance stories: scandals and "high crimes" were also favorite subjects. Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies stories were disparaged by progressive writers of the May Fourth school for being essentially escapist and showing no social responsibility.[1] The genre gradually fell out of favor following Japanese invasions in the 1930s.
Influence of Socio-political Changes on the Genre
[edit]Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies fiction was widely consumed by urban readers and became especially prominent in Shanghai, which had a booming publishing industry during this time.[2] Stories were frequently serialized in popular newspapers and magazines, contributing to the rise of mass-market fiction.[3][4] This genre thrived on providing emotional comfort and entertainment to an audience experiencing the rapid changes of modernization and Westernization.
However, progressive May Fourth Movement intellectuals heavily criticized the genre. They disparaged it as escapist, arguing that it failed to engage with social issues and lacked the reformative zeal that modern Chinese literature should embody.[3] They saw it as a hindrance to the development of a more socially responsible literary tradition.[4] As a result of these critiques and changing socio-political climates, the popularity of Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies fiction waned, particularly after the Japanese invasion in the 1930s.[5]
Notable Works and Impacts
[edit]Zhang Henshui's 1930 novel Fate in Tears and Laughter is a representative work of this school. Su Manshu 's 'The Lone Swan', which captures the melancholic tones characteristic of the genre.[5]Despite its initial popularity, Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies literature was largely marginalized in later literary histories, but it has since attracted renewed academic interest for its role in reflecting the cultural anxieties and desires of early 20th-century urban Chinese society.[3][4]
See also
[edit]- Wuxia fiction, another popular genre of Chinese escapist fiction
References
[edit]- ^ Sun, Chao. "The Fate of Early Republic Mainstream Novelists During a Century". Fu Dan Xue Bao.She Hui Ke Xue Ban (3): 95–103 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Chow, Rey (1986). Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies: Toward a Rewriting of Modern Chinese Literary History (Ph.D. thesis). Stanford University.
- ^ a b c Doleželová-Velingerová, Milena (1984). "Review of Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies: Popular Fiction in Early Twentieth Century Chinese Cities". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 44 (2): 578–586. doi:10.2307/2719043. ISSN 0073-0548.
- ^ a b c Chow, Rey (1986). "Rereading Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies: A Response to the "Postmodern" Condition". Cultural Critique (5): 69–93. doi:10.2307/1354357. ISSN 0882-4371.
- ^ a b Chow, Rey (1985). "Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies: Female Melancholy as Fiction and Commodity". Selected Papers in Asian Studies: Western Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (21).
Further reading
[edit]- Link, Perry (1981). Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies: Popular Fiction in Early Twentieth Century Chinese Cities. University of California Press.
- Chow, Rey (1986). Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies: Toward a Rewriting of Modern Chinese Literary History (Ph.D. thesis). Stanford University.
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