The Image of China Reflected in Qiu Xiaolong’s Detective Fiction   

Abstract Qiu Xiaolong gains his fame as a Chinese-American writer and settles in St。 Louis, working as a professor of Chinese literature at Washington University。 He was one of the generation who went through the Cultural Revolution in 1970s, and went to college in 1980s。 After graduation, Qiu flew to the United States to further his education。 In the later 20th century, the American literary world has witnessed a series of revolutionary changes with Chinese American writers displaying their talent to the western world。 Qiu began to publish his own English detective novels。 The background is set in a typical period of time in Shanghai when the socialist economy is booming and some people are allowed to get rich first by Deng Xiaoping’s policy while others are still stuck in the past time。 The image of China in Qiu’s detective novels is vivid and profound。 This thesis is going to talk about the image displayed by Qiu mainly in three ways。 The first in the main character, Inspector Chen, who is like a symbol of that period of China and has some shadows of Qiu himself。 The second lays on the readers’ participation, both from home and abroad。 And the last one is Qiu’s home memory, which gives birth to a real image of China。源Q于D优G尔X论V文Y网wwW.yOueRw.com 原文+QQ75201`8766

Keywords: Qiu Xiaolong; detective novel; the image of China

邱小龙侦探小说里的中国形象

摘  要裘小龙作为一名华裔美国作家为众人所知悉，如今定居于圣路易斯，为华盛顿大学的中国文学教授。他经历了中国上世纪七十年代的文化大，于80年代进入大学，毕业后赴美国深造。时值美国华裔文学复兴，有一大批有才之人涌现在美国文坛。之后裘小龙便开始创作英文侦探小说并出版，获得空前的成功。其大背景设置在改革开放初期的上海。有一部人率先先富了起来，而有一部分人仍然固步自封止步不前。裘小龙先生的侦探小说向人们展示了生动而又深刻的中国印象。本篇论文讲从三个方面讨论侦探小说里中国印象：一是主人公陈超，从某种意义上讲他是裘小龙先生笔下那个时代的象征，也有很多其自身的影子；二是国内外读者对小说的参与；三是裘小龙先生对故乡的记忆，这记忆里有最真实的中国印象。From优T尔K论M文L网wWw.YouERw.com 加QQ75201^8766

毕业论文关键词：裘小龙；侦探小说；中国印象

Contents

1。 Introduction 1

1。1 The introduction of the author 1

1。2 The introduction of the backgournd 2

2。 Literature Review 3

3。 Inspector Chen, a shadow of Qiu Xiaolong 4

4。 Readers' participation, from language to life 5

5。 Qiu's home memory, old as wine, delicious as roast duck 7

6。 Conclusion 15

1。Introduction

1。1 The Introduction of the Author

In 1950s, Qiu Xiaolong (1953- ), one of the greatest Asian Writers in 20th century, was born in Shanghai。 He was one of the generation who went through the Cultural Revolution in 1970s, and went to college in 1980s。 After graduation from Shanghai East China Normal University, Qiu flew to the United States to further his education in University of Washington studying Comparative Literature。 Before Qiu went abroad, he had been selected for the membership of the Chinese Writer’s Association and his poems, writings and translations had been published and already had some readers at that time in China。 His English writing may date back in the year of 1989。 It was the year he moved to live in the United States。 After ten years of efforts and practice, Qiu began to publish his own English Detective Novels。 The First one is Death of a Red Heroine, which became a hit as soon as it was brought to the readers in 2000。 The novel helped him won the Anthony Award for best first novel in 2001。 It has already been translated in 7 languages and sold all over the world。 What’s more, it was chosen by many literary magazines in America。 He is one of the authors who had received the Missouri Biennial Award, the Prairie Schooner Readers’s Choice Award, a Yaddo and a Ford Foundation Fellowship。 Up to now, he has written eight criminal fictions with Shanghai in 1990s as the background and Chief Inspector Chen as the main character, including Death of a Red Heroine (2000), A Loyal Character Dancer (2002), When Red Is Black (2004), A Case of Two Cities (2006), Red Mandarin Dress (2007), The Mao Case (2009), Don’t Cry, Tai Lake (2012), and Enigma of China (2013)。 In each story, there lies a crime。 Clues will come into existence form chapter to chapter。 The plot is complex and several lines are inextricably interwoven together。 With the story moving on, the rational process will be deepened by observation, questioning and analyzing。 Qiu writes not only Detective Novels but also literary works, such as poetry collection Lines Around China (2003) and Years of Red Dust (2010)。论文网