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Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-280) and index Publisher's description: In a famous episode of the eighteenth-century masterpiece The Dream of the Red Chamber, the goddess Disenchantment introduces the hero, Pao-yu, to the splendors and dangers of the Illusory Realm of Great Void. The goddess, one of the divine women in Chinese literature who inspire contradictory impulses of attachment and detachment, tells Pao-yu that the purpose of his dream visit is "disenchantment through enchantment," or "enlightenment through love." Examining a range of genres from different periods, Wai-yee Li reveals the persistence of the dialectic embodied by the goddess: while illusion originates in love and desire, it is only through love and desire that illusion can be transcended. Li begins by defining the context of these issues through the study of an entire poetic tradition, placing special emphasis on the role of language and of the feminine element. Then, focusing on the "dream plays" by Tang Hsien-tsu, she turns to the late Ming, an age which discovers radical subjectivity, and goes on to explore a seventeenth-century collection of classical tales, Records of the Strange from the Liaochai Studio by Pu Sung-ling. The latter half of the book is devoted to a thorough analysis of The Dream of the Red Chamber, the most profound treatment of the dialectic of enchantment and disenchantment, love and enlightenment, illusion and reality Inhalt: Acknowledgments. Abbreviations. Ch. 1. The Genealogy of Disenchantment, p. 3. Fu Rhetoric and the Fictional Imagination, p. 10. Fu Rhetoric and the Feminine Principle, p. 17. The Topos of the Ambiguous Divine Woman, p. 23. The Inward Turn of the Topos of the Ambiguous Divine Woman, p. 33. The Progeny of the Ambiguous Divine Woman, p. 41. Ch. 2. The Late-Ming Moment, p. 47. Comic Reconciliation in The Peony Pavilion, p. 50. Detachment through Attachment in The Story of Nan-ko, p. 64. The Ironic Vision of The Story of Han-tan, p. 69. The Lyrical Solution in The Palace of Everlasting Life, p. 77. The Philosophical Solution in Peach Blossom Fan, p. 81. Enchantment, Disenchantment, and Self-Representation, p. 83. Ch. 3. Desire and Order in Liao-chai chih-i, p. 89. The Confucian Solution to the Problem of Sensual Love, p. 89. Pu Sung-ling and the Taming of the Strange, p. 92. Metamorphosis and Desire, p. 100. Desire and the Order of Formal Symmetry, p. 105. Desire and the Logic of Ironic Inversion, p. 114. The Internal Balance of Desire: Mediation and Complementary Heroines, p. 122. The Structures of Order, p. 136. Ch. 4. Beginnings: Enchantment and Irony in Hung-lou meng, p. 152. The Rhetoric of Illusion and the Difficulty of Beginning, p. 159. Flaw and Supplement, p. 163. Problems in Literary Communication, p. 175. The Fate of a Rhetorical Figure, p. 179. From Myth to History, p. 185. The Illusory Realm of Great Void, p. 190. Ch. 5. Self-Reflexivity and the Lyrical Ideal in Hung- lou meng, p. 202. Lust of the Mind, p. 203. Stone as Narrator, p. 210. Enlightenment through Love, p. 216. Ch. 6. Disenchantment and Order in Hung-lou meng, p. 231. The World of the Precious Mirror of Love, p. 232. The Confusion of the Mythic and the Magical, p. 242. The Problem of Endings: Order and Return, p. 246. Ch. 7. Epilogue: The Compass of Irony, p. 257. Works Cited, p. 269. Index, p. 281 |
