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Two "Best 20th-century Chinese literature / fiction" Lists


mandel1luke

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Thank you for sharing the lists.  It will be interesting to look at the technical points, rationale and other aspects of evaluation from the panel.

 

It is a great pity that this author 高行健 Gao Xingjian (Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000) is not in the lists.

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E8%A1%8C%E5%81%A5

 

 

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Hi eslang,

 

Gao Xingjian was not really that well known until he won the Nobel Prize in 2000, so it's not a surprise that he wasn't selected in the lists. In China he seems more well known for his drama. The Nobel Prize changed everything of course.
 

But at least Mo Yan is in. :)

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I googled and found out a bit more about the Asia Weekly list:

 

The panel:

 

  中国大陆:余秋雨、王蒙、王晓明、刘再复、谢冕 
 
   香港:刘以鬯、黄继持、黄子平 
 
   台湾:南方朔、施淑 
 
   马来西亚、新加坡:潘雨桐、黄孟文 
 
   北美地区:郑树森、王德威 
 
According to the Asia Weekly website:
 
而整个评审过程历经了大半年时间,首先由编辑部列出包括五百多本书的参考名单,然后邀请十四位文学家,一起根据参考名单投票选出最后的一百强。在评选前十名时轻易达成共识,但越往后,竞争就越激烈,因为多部文学作品的所得分数非常接近。一百本书的诞生也经十月怀胎的艰辛,终呈现在读者眼前。
 
As for the 百年百种优秀中国文学,
 
评选委员会由白桦,李敬泽,赵园,谢冕,雷达等人组成,其中复评委员会主任为杨匡汉,终评委员会主任为朱寨和严家炎。
 
The criteria for selection I believe is much like the Modern Library Best 20th-century novels list. But I've no idea how many votes each panel member was given or even how the points were awarded. I personally suspect the first list is generated a bit like how IMDB ranks their movies. (But it's just my personal guess of course)
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Hi mandel1luke

 

Thank you for taking the trouble to find the panel name lists as well. :)

 

I was wondering about the differences in the evalution system -- 呐喊 by 鲁迅 as an example.

 

《亚洲周刊21世纪中文小说前100强》

1、呐喊 鲁迅
 
《百年百种优秀中国文学图书》
10、《呐喊》 鲁 迅
 
 
The subject title reads as "Best 20th century Chinese literature/ficture".
Wouldn't 21世纪 be 21st Century? Could it be a typo-error?
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Yeah, a typo on my part.  :(  I've made changes. Thanks!

 

The second list is in chronological order, not ranked.

 

From the preface to the books:

 

  评选“百年百种优秀中国文学图书”是1999年文学界、出版界的一件盛事,评选的发起者、组织者系人民文学出版社和北京图书大厦。评选的创意堪称知机趁势,卓越宏大。评选以完全的公开性杜绝暗箱操作,数轮评选邀记者监票,程序謹严,无可挑剔。评审委员会之构成坚持了学术的权威性、广泛性、代表性诸原则,果有群言一堂、和而不同之胜伏,评选标准固然是以思想情趣健康、艺术特点突出为主,兼顾作品的开拓价值、代表地位及影响面,而评委们更是用历史的、发展的、整体的眼光来把握20世纪的中国文学,共斟共酌中国社会百年之沧桑,重读重温中国文学百年之佳作,用理性和激情去擦亮一块块文学丰碑。
 
...BLAH BLAH...
 
鉴于许多读者以各种方式表达了畦齐百种图书的愿望,人民文学出版社、中国青年出版社、解放军文艺出版社、作家出版社、生活、读书、新知三联书店、南海出版公司以及北京图书大厦,决定协同行动,将百年百种优秀中国文学图收重新出版,由于技术上的原因,《射雕英雄传》、《家变》及《北岛诗选》未能列入重版,经几家出版单位协商,遂将终评排名紧随百种之后的《可爱的中国》、《尘埃落定》和《酒徒》补入。这样,百种图书中有小说51种,诗歌23种,散文17种,报告文学2种,戏剧7种。丛书书目按初版时间先后排序,附在每种书中,同时还附有复评委员和终评委员名单,让我们对评委们辛勤的工作保持长久的敬意。
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Thank you for correcting the title and adding the year publication and category for the 2nd list, that is really useful.

 

At least, it looks better and makes much more sense now.

 

According to the synopsis for 《亚洲周刊20世纪中文小说前100强》 (after some digging around on baidu) :

一百强中的文学精华,主要是三四十年代的作品
中国大陆 1949 年以后,有 25 本,其中 23 本在文革后创作;
香港: 12 本;
台湾: 28 本。

另:有人指出第六十一位的《京华烟云》是英文小说,故此不应入选。

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_in_Peking

 

京华烟云》是林语堂旅居巴黎期间用英文写成的长篇小说, 1939 年底在美国 出版,引起轰动。小说写于中国抗日战争爆发不久,作者一改平日的幽默超脱, 题献给“英勇的中国士兵”以纪念全国在前线为国牺牲之勇男儿。林语堂自己认为 这部小说是“非无所为而作也”。

 

Reading through the whole synopsis of 《亚洲周刊20世纪中文小说前100强》 is pretty interesting, I must say.

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Yeah, the top novels are the usual suspects, but what makes this list interesting are those works which are ranked lower. Plenty of genre fiction, wuxia like 金庸, 古龙, 梁羽生 and 还珠楼主,plus romance novelists like 亦舒 and 琼瑶, sci-fi like 倪匡.  I have a book by short story writer 穆时英 and I'm surprised that such an obscure writer is on the list. No 高行健 though.  :)

 

They sort of "cheated" with 京华烟云. :D 

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Discovered another list of 《亚洲周刊20世纪中文小说前100强》(读者投票版)(Reader's list)

 

The link is here: http://readcolor.com/lists/547757b13063e1fecc0002ba

 

The top 10 in order are:

 

1. 呐喊   鲁迅

2. 射雕英雄传   金庸
3. 天龙八部   金庸
4. 鹿鼎记   金庸
5. 围城  钱钟书
6. 家   巴金
7. 骆驼祥子   老舍
8. 台北人   白先勇
9. 边城   沈从文
10. 半生缘   张爱玲
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It is kind of you to share the complete list of shortlisted fiction (512) with us. I really appreciate it.  It certainly helps to know what are the other works that were shortlisted but didn't make it to the 100 selection.  

 

Considering that there are obscure writer and "cheating" in the 100 selection, it is a great pity that 高行健 is missing from the list. 

 

I was surprised to learn that my young Chinese friends have not heard of the Nobel Laureate 高行健 or even 戴思杰 though they were majoring in French language (supposedly).

 

Anyway, the Reader's List (读者投票版)is a nice welcome too, with the book covers in small thumbsize, I might make a "motif design" for my own little project.   Have a nice weekend.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

 藍血人 is probably one of the more literary of Ni Kuang's novel. I'm sorry I can't help you here, I only remember reading some Ni Kuang in my younger days in newspaper instalments. I don't think it is the first Wisely. It may well be that 藍血人, being one of the longest Ni Kuang sci-fi (courtesy Wikipedia), is considered more "substantial".

 

Same thing with Jin Yong, whose 射雕英雄传 was chosen and ranked higher than, say, 天龙八部。The thing is 射雕英雄传 is a more "archetypal" Wuxia novel than 天龙八部 or 鹿鼎记, which are generally considered by more literate-minded readers as his best. 射雕 is also morally more "orthodox" than the later 天龙八部 or 鹿鼎记.

 

As for 朱天文, it's a typo (I lifted this list from a website). Have made the necessary changes.

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mandel1luke,

 

Many thanks for these lists. These are very useful. I hope to branch out from focusing solely on language study to also checking out some contemporary literature in the next year or so. These lists will be my first stop when engaging in this endeavor. Thanks again.

 

Warm regards,

Chris Two Times

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