Ying Chen’s Fiction: An Aesthetics of Non-Belonging

From accounts of migration and stories of personal alienation, through the fragmented memories of former incarnations, to fable-like tales of half-breeds and species metamorphosis, Ying Chen’s fiction evolves as it revolves around questions of difference, otherness and identity, which is never fixed or singular. While presenting the narrators’ inner preoccupations and, in some cases, unreliable nature, the increasingly complex texts of this francophone-Chinese writer (1961-) also reveal larger concerns about dominant discourses, the limitations of social realities, survival, and the relationship between beings, all framed within an aesthetics of non-belonging. Intriguingly, the author achieves this by consciously distancing her works, from 1998 onwards, from any categorisation by ethnicity. This engaging study considers Chen’s writing from the contemporary perspective of the breakdown of traditional spatiotemporal experiences, the homogenization of places, the erasure of cultural differences, and the resulting tendency towards universalism.

Rosalind Silvester is Senior Lecturer in French Studies and Director of Education in the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen’s University Belfast.

Reviews:

‘A refreshingly original and in-depth contribution that should be enthusiastically welcomed not only by scholars working in the specialist field of Franco-Chinese studies, but also by those who are more broadly interested in contemporary Québec literature, Chinese diasporic literature, migrant writings, and transcultural studies... A strong, lucid, and convincing line of enquiry.’ — Shuangyi Li, Bulletin of Francophone Postcolonial Studies 12.1, Summer 2021, 16-17

Contents:

1-10	Introduction Rosalind Silvester doi:10.2307/j.ctv1wsgqrr.5	Cite
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11-32	Chapter 1 Ying Chen and Non-Belonging Rosalind Silvester doi:10.2307/j.ctv1wsgqrr.6	Cite
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33-62	Chapter 2 Places and Border Crossings Rosalind Silvester doi:10.2307/j.ctv1wsgqrr.7	Cite
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63-90	Chapter 3 Unnatural Narratives: Movements in Time Rosalind Silvester doi:10.2307/j.ctv1wsgqrr.8	Cite
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91-120	Chapter 4 Species: Non-Human and Posthuman Paradigms Rosalind Silvester doi:10.2307/j.ctv1wsgqrr.9	Cite
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121-136	Conclusion Towards A New Aesthetics of Non-Belonging Rosalind Silvester doi:10.2307/j.ctv1wsgqrr.10	Cite
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137-154	Bibliography Rosalind Silvester doi:10.2307/j.ctv1wsgqrr.11	Cite
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155-166	Index Rosalind Silvester doi:10.2307/j.ctv1wsgqrr.12	Cite
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Bibliography entry:

Silvester, Rosalind, Ying Chen’s Fiction: An Aesthetics of Non-Belonging, Research Monographs in French Studies, 57 (Legenda, 2020)

First footnote reference: ³⁵ Rosalind Silvester, Ying Chen’s Fiction: An Aesthetics of Non-Belonging, Research Monographs in French Studies, 57 (Legenda, 2020), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: ³⁷ Silvester, p. 47.

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Bibliography entry:

Silvester, Rosalind. 2020. Ying Chen’s Fiction: An Aesthetics of Non-Belonging, Research Monographs in French Studies, 57 (Legenda)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Silvester 2020: 21).

Example footnote reference: ³⁵ Silvester 2020: 21.

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www.mhra.org.uk/publications/Ying-Chens-Fiction
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Ying Chen’s FictionAn Aesthetics of Non-Belonging

Rosalind Silvester

Ying Chen’s Fiction
An Aesthetics of Non-Belonging