Popular novels in the modern Chinese literature: A study of Xu Xu and Wumingshi

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12869
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Chinese literature
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Sugimura Akiko 金沢大学, 国際基幹教育院, 准教授 (50334793)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 無名氏（Wumingshi） / 徐ク（Xu Xu） / 通俗小説 / 戦争

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Sinology in Japan has consistently ignored the existence of modern popular novels despite the fact that the study of classical popular novels is outstanding in the quality and in the number.
This study focused on Xu Xu（1908-80） and Wumingshi（1917-2002）, who were overwhelmingly popular writers in 1940’s. Although all their novels were at the top of the bestseller lists in those days, they were treated coldly by the Chinese literary world. This study examined the following two points: the “popular” factor and the “nonpolitical” factor in popular novels; the relationship between people and war in the modern Chinese literature.

Free Research Field

中国近現代文革