Talk:The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature

McDougall commentary: On factual errors

On p. 656 Bonnie McDougall stated that "it must be stressed" that the errors in the factual information "are few in number." - These are what she says are errors in this book in the introduction and biographies section (p. 655).

On p. 655 of McDougall:

• Mao Dun was the Minister of Culture until 1964, not 1965 as the book says
• Ling Shuhua was born in 1900, not 1904 as the book says
• Xu Zhimo was born in 1896, not 1895 as the book says
• Wen Yiduo had switched to literature in the period 1922 to 1925; the book stated he studied painting during the period but this is not the case
• Zheng Min returned to China in 1956, not in 1959

On p. 656:

• McDougall's translations of a short story by Ye Shentao and poems by Bei Dao were a part of the story; the book attributes the poem translations to McDougall and to "Susan [sic] Ternent Cooke" - The co-translator's name is actually Susette and McDougall states that Cooke did not co-translate the poems, but instead co-translated Bei Dao's fiction with McDougall

McDougall's review came in 1996, so it's possible new editions have corrected these issues WhisperToMe (talk) 09:45, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

On individual stories

McDougall mentions that the Xiaoxiao in this book is the later version although the book provides the date of the original one: 1929 (p. 655) - She also states the translation of Xiaxiao "is full of errors"

McDougall on p. 655 states that "Winter nights" "shows an excellent grasp of Chinese grammar and also reads well" and that the following were "a pleasure to read": "Ringworms" and "Young master gets his tonic". She stated her students "have long complained" about the "current" translation, which was included in this book - McDougall states she wished that there hadn't been new translations of "old favourites" WhisperToMe (talk) 13:56, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

p. 655 McDougall states the lack of "Ah Cheng, who towers over any other fiction writer in the 1980s, is inexplicable." WhisperToMe (talk) 04:47, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Williams criticized the bio sketch of Wu Zuxiang though he said the others were "accurate". (Williams p. 869). His review is from 1995 so it is possible further editions corrected this? WhisperToMe (talk) 23:28, 16 September 2022 (UTC)

On blurb

McDougall stated on p. 654: "the blurb promises "socialist fiction" by writers such as Fang Ji, but, alas, there is none" WhisperToMe (talk) 04:46, 7 May 2014 (UTC)