Unpacking Průšek’s Conception of the “Lyrical”: a Tribute and Some Intercultural Reflections

The essay was written in commemoration of Jaroslav Průšek (1906–1980) by his former student Leo Ou-fan Lee. The author offers a rereading of Průšek’s groundbreaking research on modern Chinese literature assessing his theoretical insights which have made profound impact on the discipline and have remained a constant source of inspiration for Chinese literature studies. It discusses the implications of Průšek’s two famous papers – one on individualism and subjectivism, the other on a “confrontation” between traditional Chinese literature and modern European literature – and re-examines their relevance to the study of modern Chinese literature today as cultural history.

1. Chan, Leonard K. K. (2008). "The Conception of Chinese Lyricism: Průšek's Reading of Chinese Literature Tradition." In Olga Lomová (ed.), Paths toward Modernity: Conference to Mark the Centenary of Jaroslav Průšek. Prague: The Karolinun Press, 19–32.

2. Chan, Leonard K. K. (Chen Guoqiu 陳國球) and Wang, David (Wang Dewei 王德威) (2014). Shuqing zhi xiandaixing: shuqing chuantong lunshu yu Zhongguo wenxue yanjiu 抒情之現代性：抒情傳統論述與中國文學研究 [The Modernity of Lyricism: Essays on Chinese Lyrical Tradition]. Beijing: Sanlian.

3. Freedman, Ralph (1963). The Lyrical Novel: Studies of Hermann Hesse, Andre Gide, and Virginia Woolf. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

4. Gálik, Marian (1998). "Jaroslav Průšek: A Myth and Reality as Seen by His Pupil." Asian and African Studies (Bratislava) 7.2, 151–161.

5. Hsia, C. T. (1961). A History of Modern Chinese Fiction, 1917–1957. New Haven: Yale University Press (new edition: Hong Kong: Chinese University of Press, 2016).

6. Kundera, Milan (2006). The Curtain: An Essay in Seven Parts. New York: Harper/Collins.

7. Lee, Leo Ou-fan (1985). "The Solitary Traveller: Images of Self in Modern Chinese Literature." In Robert E. Hegel and R. C. Hessney (edd.), Expressions of Self in Chinese Literature. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 282–307.

8. Lee, Leo Ou-fan (2006). "Reminiscences of Professor Průšek: from Harvard to Prague." In Milena Doleželová-Velingerová (ed.), Jaroslav Průšek 1906-2006 Remembered by His Friends. Praha: DharmaGaia, 137–154.

9. Lomová, Olga and Anna Zádrapová (2016). "'The Songs of Ancient China': The Myth of 'The Other' Appropriated by an Emerging Sinology." In Chih-yu Shih (ed.), Sinology in Post-Communist States. Hong-kong: The Chinese University Press, 189–211.

10. Moretti, Franco (1996). Modern Epic: The World System from Goethe to Garcia Marquez. New York: Verso. Průšek, Jaroslav (1969). Three Sketches of Chinese Literature. Praha: Academia.

11. Průšek, Jaroslav (1980). The Lyrical and the Epic: Studies of Modern Chinese Literature. Edited by Leo Ou-fan Lee. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

12. Shklovsky, Viktor (1991). Theory of Prose. English translation by Benjamin Sher. Dalkey Archive Press.

13. Wang, David Der-Wei (2015). The Lyrical in Epic Time: Modern Chinese Intellectuals and Artists Through the 1949 Crisis. New York: Columbia University Press. CrossRef