Del i serien Languages and Culture in History

French Language and the Making of Modern Chinese Intellectuals

New Selves, New Worlds

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

3 089 kr

Kommande

This book offers the first interdisciplinary study of how different generations of Chinese individuals learned and used the French language as an intrinsic part of their engagement with new worlds—both tangible and envisioned—and with their emerging selves.Drawing from Wittgenstein understanding of language as a “form of life”, learning a foreign language is, therefore, a social, cultural, and epistemological activity of traversing from one form of life to another. Through such “traversing,” one sees a new world and becomes a new self. The book explores not only how Chinese individuals acquired the language, including its ideological and cultural dimensions, the sociocultural milieux, the methods and materials involved and created, the institutions and networks formed, and the memories and emotions evoked, but also how they used the language to communicate new worlds and selves to different audiences. It demonstrates that, more than a tool for accessing Western science, thought, and culture, the French language profoundly shaped their development into, and their identity as, modern Chinese intellectuals.This book is suited for readers interested in the history of language and the history of modern Chinese intellectuals, while its interdisciplinary scope and transnational approach would also resonate with those passionate about Sino-French exchanges.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-11-23
Mått156 x 234 x undefined mm
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieLanguages and Culture in History
Antal sidor320
FörlagPallas Publications
ISBN9789048566181

Tillhör följande kategorier

ContentsAcknowledgments Chapter 1 IntroductionSino-French educational development, 1860s-1940sThe “language question” in Sino-French educational developmentNew selves, new worlds, and modern Chinese intellectualsChapter 2 Tongwenguan-Arsenal IntellectualsThe Fuzhou Arsenal School and Chen Jitong’s French language acquisitionThe arsenal school and “Confucian French”Paris and “Parisian French”The Tongwenguan schools and Lu Zhengxiang’s French studiesShanghai Tongwenguan and the lexical approachFrom Beijing to Saint Petersburg, and “diplomatic French”Chapter 3 Jesuit StudentsMa Xiangbo and the evolution of Jesuit Francophone educationThe development of Jesuit programsJesuit-produced textbooksZhang Ruogu and learning French at St. Ignace and l’AuroreSt. Ignace: en famille, language, and religion L’Aurore: language, literature, and the theatreChapter 4 Étudiant-Ouvrier GenerationThe work-study program and Li Jinfa’s linguistic developmentFlawed language programsReading, milieux français, and Baudelaire The higher education scheme and Shen Baoji’s engagement with FrenchEnhanced programsFort Saint-Irénée, self-governance, and RégnierChapter 5 New WorldsChen Jitong’s use of French and world civilizationPortraying China with l’esprit et le goût européensPreaching to and among the French publicZeng Pu’s translation of Victor Hugo and world literatureBecoming an independent, bilingual translatorTranslating Hugo, translating humanityChapter 6 New SelvesSheng Cheng’s self-realization and his family autobiography, Ma mèreBetween the original “I” and the present “I”The subject of death and the art of the journal intimeLi Jinfa’s self-identification and his poetry with “Francophone foreignness”Becoming China’s BaudelaireThe literary expression of the selfChapter 7 ConclusionBibliographyAppendixIndex