This project aims at carrying out research into the Chinese modernists’ reception of the French leftist intellectuals in the 1930s and 1940s. The Chinese modernists’ reception of the Western aesthetic modernism and their contribution to the construction of Chinese modernity have been convincingly argued by scholars in the last three decades. (Lee Ou-fan 1980, 1990, 1999; Shih Shu-mei 1997; Peng Hsiao-yen 2010) On the other hand, discussions on their attachment to the leftist ideologies in China and in Europe have been very limited. It was not until the 1990s that scholars have re-examined the reciprocal influences between the Chinese modernist and leftist literature (Zhang Tongdao 1997; Liu Jianmei 2003; Li Hongwa 2012). A large corpus of Chinese modernists’ writings and translations related to the Leftist intellectuals in Europe, especially in France, has been overlooked, making it a missing chapter in the study of Chinese modernist literature.

The Chinese modernists, deeply inspired by views of the French leftist intellectuals on aesthetics and politics, re-examined their own position on the controversial issues stemming from literature’s role in politics during the politicization of Chinese literary community, during the periods of the League of Left-wing Writers (1930-1936) and Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The project will focus on three major Chinese modernist “writers-translators-editors,” namely Shi Zhecun, Dai Wangshu and Ye Lingfeng. They translated over 80 titles of literary and political writings by Romain Rolland, André Gide, Henri Barbusse, Paul Vaillant-Couturier, Louis Aragon and André Malraux. Under their editorship, the literary journals and supplements have also published translations of articles from French leftist newspapers and literary reviews including the Humanité, the Commune, the Feuille rouge, and the Monde. By examining their criticism, translations and editorial activities, the project will investigate the Chinese modernists’ reconstruction of French leftist intellectuals’ political-literary figures as well as their re-interpretation of French leftist literature in a Chinese historical context.

The project seeks to contribute to academic studies in three ways. First, it will bring forward an important but long-neglected chapter to the study of Chinese modernist literature and shed new light on the association between this study and French leftist trends. This will deepen our understanding of the transcultural and hybrid nature of Chinese literary modernity. Second, it will break new ground in the study of Twentieth-century Chinese and French comparative literature, as previous studies have been largely focused on Chinese modernists’ attachment to French Symbolism and Modernism. Lastly, as Chinese Left-wing writers were mostly influenced by the Russian and Japanese proletarian movements, the project will extend the research scope of Chinese reception of leftist ideologies and literature by including the contribution from modernist writers.

本計劃以香港《立報》(1938-1941)的三個副刊為研究對象。1937年抗日戰爭開始不久，內地大城市相繼淪陷，大量人口流向南方。由於英國採取中立的立場，英治的香港成為避難和策動宣傳攻勢的重要地方，為數眾多的報刊在香港創辦，生產出大量文學作品。

香港《立報》是其中一張新辦的報紙，由南下的文化人主持，以秉承上海《立報》的精神為號召，在1938年至1941年間，發表了數量可觀的小說、散文和翻譯作品。以往不少學者忽略了香港《立報》副刊裡不同的聲音，而把它視為單一陣營的喉舌。本計劃由材料分析出發，重新描繪《立報》三個副刊的面貌，特別注意副刊之內和副刊之間各種不和諧之處，由此探討當時文學生產過程中不同力量的對抗、協商和合作。

本計劃的意義在於引入新的研究方向，以考察文學生產的機制來呈現香港文學的特點，突破過往對作者是否具備「香港意識」、「香港身份」的長期爭辯。同時，本計劃也會發掘南來文人多樣化的文學實踐，以期改變學術界對這些作者的單一印象。

This research project is an analysis of a large body of ci 詞 poetry written during the late Qing period (1840-1911), focusing on the transformation of the practice of cishi 詞史. It argues that the concept and practice of cishi have initiated reflections among poets on the style of ci poetry and changed their form of expression. Understanding the transitional changes of works in this period will help us to reconsider the common impression that late Qing ci poetry is “conservative”, “obscure” and “unrelated to the real world”.

There are two objectives of the study. First of these is to define the nature of cishi poetry (ci that reflects or relates to historic events known to or experienced by poets). I will research into different forms of expression and outline a gradual and subtle change in writing practices. The second objective is to explain how the change is related to the “stubbornly traditional” image of ci towards the end of Qing and early Republican era.

Reaching its pinnacle in the Song dynasty, ci has formed a unique tradition in form, styles, subject matter and language. It is commonly believed that ci is more suitable for expressing personal feelings than narrating events or casting satire. Despite being an independent genre, ideas from shi 詩 poetics have been continuously introduced in order to elevate the status of ci. The notion cishi comes from shishi 詩史, and gained great popularity among the ci poets who experienced the upheavals of late Qing, and felt the need to record current events and voice out their social and political concerns through ci. The term cishi recurs often in the commentary of contemporary critics of the poets.

The introduction of cishi to both the theory and practice of ci confronted the poets with the lyrical tradition of ci and the narrative nature of recording shi 史. This research illustrates the tensions between narrative and lyrical, arising both in the discussion of poetics and associated writing practices. By re-evaluating the nature of ci and cishi, poets gradually “return” to a more traditional lyric mode of expression. They are, however, not acted upon by the tradition, but create something new by recapturing the old. The project will review and explain this change in an attempt to shed new light on the nature and development of late Qing ci poetry.