Chiang Yee and His Circle
Chinese Artistic and Intellectual Life in Britain, 1930–1950
9789888754137
Distributed for Hong Kong University Press
Chiang Yee and His Circle
Chinese Artistic and Intellectual Life in Britain, 1930–1950
Tells the story of a Chinese intellectual community in London in the 1930s and ‘40s.
Chiang Yee and His Circle celebrates the life and work of Chiang Yee (1903–1977), a Chinese writer, poet, and painter who made his home in London, England during the 1930s and 1940s. It examines Chiang’s relationship with his circle of friends and colleagues in the English capital and assesses the work he produced during his sojourn there. This edited volume, with contributions from eleven distinguished scholars, tells a story of a Chinese intellectual community in London that up to now has been largely overlooked. It portrays a dynamic picture of the London-based émigré life during the years that led up to the war and during the conflict that was the catalyst for many of them moving on. In addition, the book broadens our understanding of cultural interactions between China and the West in Hampstead, one of the most vibrant artistic communities in London.
Chiang Yee and His Circle celebrates the life and work of Chiang Yee (1903–1977), a Chinese writer, poet, and painter who made his home in London, England during the 1930s and 1940s. It examines Chiang’s relationship with his circle of friends and colleagues in the English capital and assesses the work he produced during his sojourn there. This edited volume, with contributions from eleven distinguished scholars, tells a story of a Chinese intellectual community in London that up to now has been largely overlooked. It portrays a dynamic picture of the London-based émigré life during the years that led up to the war and during the conflict that was the catalyst for many of them moving on. In addition, the book broadens our understanding of cultural interactions between China and the West in Hampstead, one of the most vibrant artistic communities in London.
244 pages | 4 color plates, 14 halftones | 6 x 9 | © 2022
History: Asian History, British and Irish History
Literature and Literary Criticism: Asian Languages
Table of Contents
Foreword by Yi-Fu Tuan
List of Illustrations
List of Contributors
Editors’ Introduction: Chiang Yee and His Circle: Chinese Artistic and Intellectual Life in Britain, 1930–1950
Part One: Chiang Yee
1. Chiang Yee’s Hampstead
2. Chiang Yee as Art History
3. Being Chiang Yee: Feeling, Difference, and Storytelling
4. Chiang Yee and British Ballet
5. The Silent Traveller at Home
6. Chiang Yee in Wartime
Part Two: Chiang Yee’s Circle
7. Navigating British Publishing and Finding an Anglophone Readership: Five Chinese Writers
8. Chiang Yee and the Hsiungs: Solidarity, Conviviality, and the Economy of Racial Representation
9. Shih-I Hsiung and Anglo-Chinese Films: ‘An Interesting Experiment’
10. A ‘Chinese Shelley’ in 1930s Britain: Wang Lixi’s Transnational Activism and Transcultural Lyricism
11. Mahjong in Maida Vale
Glossary of Chinese names
Selected Bibliography
Index
List of Illustrations
List of Contributors
Editors’ Introduction: Chiang Yee and His Circle: Chinese Artistic and Intellectual Life in Britain, 1930–1950
Part One: Chiang Yee
1. Chiang Yee’s Hampstead
2. Chiang Yee as Art History
3. Being Chiang Yee: Feeling, Difference, and Storytelling
4. Chiang Yee and British Ballet
5. The Silent Traveller at Home
6. Chiang Yee in Wartime
Part Two: Chiang Yee’s Circle
7. Navigating British Publishing and Finding an Anglophone Readership: Five Chinese Writers
8. Chiang Yee and the Hsiungs: Solidarity, Conviviality, and the Economy of Racial Representation
9. Shih-I Hsiung and Anglo-Chinese Films: ‘An Interesting Experiment’
10. A ‘Chinese Shelley’ in 1930s Britain: Wang Lixi’s Transnational Activism and Transcultural Lyricism
11. Mahjong in Maida Vale
Glossary of Chinese names
Selected Bibliography
Index