I Myself Am A Woman: Selected Writings of Ding Ling / Edition 1

by Ding Ling

Overview

A comprehensive collection of writings by the revolutionary writer, feminist, and literary dissident Ding Ling (1904-85), one of the most colorful and important Chinese women writers of the twentieth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807067475
Publisher:	Beacon Press
Publication date:	09/30/1990
Series:	Asian Voices Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	376
Sales rank:	740,124
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Ding Ling (1904-1986) was the pen name of Jiang Bingzhi. She was a prominent writer and active member of the Chinese Communist Party. Her published works, which were pioneering in their examination of gender issues and discrimination against women, include Miss Sophia’s Diary, The Sun Shines Over Sanggan River (which received the Soviet Union’s Stalin Prize in 1951), and I Myself Am a Woman: Selected Writings of Ding Ling. 

Ding Ling was sentenced to prison in 1957, and spent 12 years in hard labor. After she was released, she was able to travel to the United States, where she attended the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.

Editorial Reviews

This meticulously documented collection, introducing the feminist Chinese author Ding Ling (1904-1985), is an important addition to our store of Chinese literature in translation, although the 11 stories and two essays vary in quality. The least memorable are at heart moral tracts, paeans to Communist ideals. Early efforts, such as ``Miss Sophia's Diary,'' telling of the obsessive love of a tubercular woman for a Chinese emigre, also owe a debt to Europe an literature, particularly Flaubert. Later stories reaffirm the author's commitment to literature as a form of ``moral instruction'': ``New Faith'' concerns the brutal effects of Japanese occupation of China; ``Du Wanxiang'' describes the life of a peasant woman who is the epitome of a good Communist. Still, Ling's shrewd observations of the war between the sexes--coupled with her dramatic flair--will reward contemporary Western readers. Links between Ling's life and art are well traced in editor Barlow's lengthy biographical introduction. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The May 4th (1919) movement produced many of China's modern writers, of whom Ding Ling (1904-86) is one of the most important and influential. These 13 writings, comprised of journal entries, short stories, parts of long works, and essays, all written from 1927 to 1978, are enchanced by a long introduction, prefaces, and helpful notes. ``Miss Sophia's Diary,'' an early work, shows the influence of Flaubert's Madame Bovary , while later works, especially ``Du Wanxiang,'' strongly advocate the Communist line. From the beginning to the end of her long career, however, Ding Ling was always a feminist. Recommended.-- Kitty Chen Dean, Nassau Coll., Garden City N.Y.

Library Journal

This collection of works by one of modern China's most famous writers and cultural revolutionaries provides an insightful look at women swept up in China's long revolution. Short stories, an essay, a memoir, a novella and an unfinished novel reveal the evolution of Ling's feminist consciousness over a 50-year period. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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