Reaffirming Loyalty and Legitimacy
Representations of Hui Multi-Layered Identity in Bai Lian’s “Mountain Pass”
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20249111 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mario De Grandis (0000-0001-9709-4821, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 141 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-22 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Humanities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2076-0787 • E-ISSN: 2076-0787 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/h13060141 |
| OpenAlex | W4403646907 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 13 |
In the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) left many writers severed from their cultural roots. Starting in the 1980s, literary authors sought to address this disconnection by turning their attention to rural communities. This tendency is exemplified by the emergence of two significant trends: root-seeking literature and new fiction from Tibet. Root-seeking authors focused on local customs, marginalized cultures, and minority groups to reinvigorate Chinese literature and fill the perceived cultural void. Around the same time, new fiction from Tibet featured diverse responses to post-Mao changes, with some idealizing Tibet as a repository of “authentic” traditions, while others criticized its perceived backwardness. Both trends have been interpreted in scholarship as responses, often critical, to state policies. The short story “Mountain Pass” (1985) by Hui writer Bai Lian intersects with these movements temporally and thematically. However, unlike them, Bai Lian’s portrayal of rural communities emphasizes the Hui’s historical role in resisting the Qing empire, pivotal to the emergence of the PRC, while also highlighting the group’s Arab and Persian origins. This three-layered identification with the local, national, and transnational enriches our understanding of the 1980s literary landscape, challenging the notion that this era was solely characterized by resistance to the central state
Aesthetics · Art · Legitimacy · Loyalty · Political science · Sociology · Theology · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · Chinese history and philosophy · Gender Studies · Law · Philippine History and Culture · Philosophy
China's Sent-Down Generation
Beyond the Pass
The Making of the Chinese State
Urbanization and Contemporary Chinese Art
The Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature
Making Borders in Modern East Asia
The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature
Early Modern China and Northeast Asia
Minority Rules
Echoes from the Himalayas
Chino, tibetano o todo lo contrario
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |