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Ziye (子夜), or known by its English translated title as Midnight: A Romance of China, 1930, is a 1933 novel by Chinese author Mao Dun. It is a realist depiction of life in contemporary Shanghai. In addition to the full edition, there were also abridged editions of the novel in publication.[1] The novel depicts the wealth and modernity of modern-Shanghai, influenced by foreign colonialism and capitalism. However Western modernity frightens the protagonist's father, who is a member of the Chinese landed gentry from the countryside.[2]
 A copy of Ziye (Midnight: A Romance of China, 1930) from the National Library of China | |
| Author | Mao Dun |
|---|---|
| Original title | 子夜 |
| Working title | 夕阳 (Xiyang) |
| Genre | Realism |
| Set in | Shanghai |
Publication date | 1933 |
| Publication place | China |
Mao Dun depicts the modernity of Shanghai with "purple" prose, like "three 1930-model Citroens", electric lights, Browning rifles, "Grafton gauze" flannel suits. The novel also uses English terms like "beauty parlors" and a "neon" sign with the words "Light, Heat, Power!", which appears on the first page. The other English is from two plays by Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost and The Tempest, as well as Scott's Ivanhoe and three references: a headline, an expression, and the Roman Emporer Nero.
References
edit- ^ "Abridged Versions of Mao Dun's Ziye (Midnight)" (PDF). fphil.uniba.sk. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
- ^ Wachtel, Andrew (2001). Alternative Modernities - Andrew Wachtel - Google Books. ISBN 9780822327141. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
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