This book mainly discusses about the alter ego perspectives in literary
historiography. This comparative analysis of the major Chinese literary
histories in China and in the West brings to light the alter ego
perspectives of Stephen Owen in literary historiography. The most
interesting part of the book will be the interpretation of new notions
and perspectives proposed by Stephen Owen, especially in the newly
published The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature (2010). This book
gives a detailed overview about the different stages of writing Chinese
literary history and the different modes of literary historiography in
China and in the West. Two case studies of Chinese poems are made on the
notion of discursive communities and the Cultural Tang. Readers will a
better understanding about the paradigm of literary historiography and
the interrelationships between the different modes of literary
historiography and the intellectual history.
