FAR EASTERN

LITERATURES in the 20th Century

A GUIDE

PERPUSTAKAAN NEGARA MALAYSIA

Far Eastern Literatures in the

th Century A Guide

Based on the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD LITERATURE IN THE 20TH CENTURY, Revised Edition, Leonard S. Klein, General Editor

OLDCASTLE BOOKS· ENGLAND

PERPUSTAKAAN NEGARA MALAYSIA

Contents

Preface vii Abbreviations for Periodicals ix

BURMESE LITERATURE 1 Thahkin Ko-daw Hmaing 5 Thaw-da Hswei 6 Thein Hpei Myint 8

CAMBODIAN LITERATURE 10 CHINESE LITERATURE 12

AI Ch'ing 21 Chang Ai-ling 22 Chao Shu-Ii 24 Chou Li-po 26 Ho Ch'i-fang 27 Hsu Chih-mo 29 Hu Shih 31 Kuo Mo-jo 33 Lao She 34 Liu Ya-tzu 37 Lu Hsun 39 Mao Tho 41 Pa Chin 43 Su Man-shu 46 Tmg Ling 47 Ts'ao Yli 50 Wen I-to 52

INDONESIAN LITERATURE 54 Achdiat Karta Mihardja 64 Chairil Anwar 66 Pramoedya Ananta Toer 67 Sutan Thkdir Alisjahbana 70

JAPANESE LITERATURE 73 Abe KobO 83

iii

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iv CONTENTS

Akutagawa Ryiinosuke 86 Dazai Osamu 88 Enehi Fumiko 90 Futabatei Shimei 92 Hagiwara Sakutar6 93 Hayashi Fumiko 96 Ibuse Masuji 97 Ishikawa Takuboku 100 Izumi Kyoka 101 Kawabata Yasunari 103 Kishida Kunio 106 Kunikida Doppo 108 Masaoka Shiki 109 Mishima Yukio 111 Miyazawa Kenji 114 Morl Ogai 116 Nagai Kafii 118 Natsume Soseki 120 be KenzaburO 122 Shiga Naoya 124 Shimazaki Toson 126 Taneda Santoka 128 Tanizaki Jun'ichirn 129 Yokomitsu Riiehi 132

KOREAN LITERATURE 135 Pak Th-jin 140 So Chong-ju 141

LAO LITERATURE 143 MALAYSIAN LITERATURE 146

Shahnon Ahmad 154 Usman Awang 155

MONGOLIAN LITERATURE 158 PACIFIC ISLANDS LITERATURES 161 PHILIPPINE LITERATURE 165

N. V. M. Gonzalez 171 Niek Joaquin 172 Jose Garcia Villa 173

SINGAPORE LITERATURE 175 THAI LITERATURE 179

Dokmai Sot 184

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CONTENTS v

Kukrit Pramoj 185 TIBETAN LITERATURE 187 VIElNAMESE LITERATURE 189

Nguy~n Cong Hoan 193 NbAt-Linh 194

Index to Author Articles 197

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BURMESE LITERATURE

In classical Burmese literature imaginative works. including drama. were written in verse. while prose was used for historical chronicles. didactic works and. by the late 18th c .• for translations of the jataka. the richly varied stories of the previous lives of the Buddha that were the main source of inspiration for Burmese art and literature until the beginning of the 20th c .. The natural development from a poetic court literature to popular prose fiction that would have followed soon after the establish­ment of Burmese-owned printing presses in the 1870s was delayed by the arrival of English as the language of government (and thus of social and educational advancement).

The earliest form of popular printed literature. from 1875 onward. was short verse plays. complete with songs; the first novel. Maung Yin Maung Ma Me Ma (Maung Yin Maung and Ma Me Ma), by James Hla Gyaw (1886-1920). a government translator. did not appear until 1904. The author was inspired by the memorable escape episode in The Count of Monte Cristo to write this totally nontraditional work-a love and adventure story-in Burmese. Other novels soon followed but. true to the tradition of prose writing, tended to contain much useful knowledge. ornate language. and short sermons, as well as poems and songs. The most famous early novel. Shwei-pyi-zo (1914; ruler of the golden land). by U Lat (1866-1921). has all these features together with the earliest portrayal of disillusion with the West caused by young men educated abroad returning home and rejecting traditional Burmese Buddhist values.

The development of the true modem novel, followed by the short story. is closely linked to the emergence of weekly literary magazines. Among their regular contributors were two writers whc were largely responsible for abandoning traditional palace tales and introducing mod­em stories about contemporary people to the reading public: P. Mo-nin (1883-1940) and Shwei U-daung (1899-1973). The former. the father of simple modem Burmese prose. was a journalist and novelist who encour­aged Burmans to think for themselves and to break with tradition; the latter. through a great number of masterly adaptations and translations,

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2 BURMESE LITERATURE

familiarized the Burmese reader with many of the favorite works of Western literature. Shwei U-daung's autobiography, Bawa tathet-ta hmat­tan-hnin atwei-ahkaw-mya (1962; notes and thoughts of a lifetime), is a major document in the hIstory of Burmese literature.

During the 1920s, at the same time that short stories and novels, often inspired by Victorian fiction, were spreading new attitudes toward personal and family relationships, a new feeling of national conscious­ness, of pride in their traditional Buddhist culture, was awakening in the country. This feeling was strengthened by the first historical novels, about two great kings of Burma-Nat-shin-naung (1919; Nat-shin­naung) and Tabin-shwei-hti (1925; Tabin-shwei-hti) by U Maung Gyi (1879-1949)-and more especially by the brilliant satirical verses of the great patriot and writer Thahkin Ko-daw Hmaing (q.v.). No less a patriot in her own way was Burma's first important woman writer, Dagon Hkin Hkin Lei (1904-1981), granddaughter of a minister from the Mandalay court. During the 1920s and 1930s she wrote stories and novels; one in particular shows the hard life of the ordinary peasant: Mein-ma bawa (1931; a woman's life); this was followed by stirring historical novels such as Shwei-sun-nyo (1933; Shwei-sun-nyo) and Sa-hso-daw (1935; court poet).

The 1930s brought demands for independence from Britain, concern for the status of the Burmese language, and a new interest in the style and content of literature-especially evident in the works of the "Testing the Age" group. One member was U Sein Tin (1899-1942), who wrote of small-town and village life exactly as he experienced it working as a district officer in Hkit-san pon-byin (1934, 1938; experimental tales), a type of semifictional sketch copied by many writers then and after the war, notably Maung Htin (b. 1909), in Ko Daung (1946; Ko Daung) and Myo-ok pon-byin (1976; tales of a township officer); and Man Tin (b. 1915), in Ko Hpo-Ion (1956; Ko Hpo-Ion) and Myo-baing Maung Pyon Cho (1968; Township Officer Maung Pyon Cho). Zaw-gyi (pseud. of U Thein Han, b. 1908), a "Testing the Age" writer and Burma's leading literary historian and critic, experimented with translations of drama, short stories, and new freer verse forms; his cycle of poems Bei-da Ian (1963; the hyacinth's way) is an outstanding work that traces a person's journey through life.

Major novels written between 1930 and 1945, reflecting the growing desire for independence, had a strong ideological content: characters more often stood for causes, plots were allegories showing the oppressed rising against the oppressor. Representative are the works of Maha Hswei

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BURMESE LITERATURE 3

(1900-1953), such as Do mei mei (1934; our mother) and Thabon-gyi (1934; the rebel). Authors wrote of the particular Burmese condition, not of the larger human predicament.

Little could be published between 1942 and 1946, but as soon as the war was over writing and publishing burst forth in many forms, seeking new sources of inspiration in Soviet as well as English and American literature. Numerous literary magazines were started-vital channels for the country's literary lifeblood, since they carry all first printings of novels and short stories. The two most important have been Shu-mawa and Mya-wadi (the latter government-controlled since 1964).

Naturally, many authors wrote of their wartime experiences, such as Min Shin (b. 1929), in a collection of stories Tahka-don-ga do yebaw (1963; our comrade once). In addition, a dominant theme now became Burma's age-long struggle for independent nationhood: Min Kyaw's (b. 1933) Pagan-lha (1963; son of Pagan) is set at a critical moment in history when the Mongol hordes threatened the capital in the 13th c.; Myan-ma-tha (1966; son of Burma) by Yan-gon Ba Hswei (b. 1925) describes resistance to the British colonization. In contrast to earlier historical novels, the hero is a peasant, not a king.

An important development in serious fiction after the war was the increase in closely observed, realistic portrayals of all aspects of life and of all classes of people. A model of this genre was Maung Htin's NgaBa (1947; NgaBa), a moving account of the appalling sufferings of a simple peasant during the Japanese occupation. Aung Lin (b. 1928) often shows us the poor peasant struggling to make a living in the town, for example as a sidecar peddler in the company of bus drivers and prostitutes in Pyit­daing htaung (1958; never say die), while the independent-minded woman writer Hkin Hnin Yu (b. 1925), takes pagoda slaves-still social outcasts in Burma-as the subject of Hmyaw-Iin-lo-hpyin mahson­hnaing-de (1958; hope never ends). Among many works describing the lives of prisoners, those of Lu-du U Hla (b. 1910) are memorable, especially A-Ion kaung-gya-ye-la (1961; are you all all right).

Many writers felt that, having been at the forefront of the fight for independence, they should now lead the struggle to establish a new, equitable socialist society. Especially after the military regime enunciated the "Burmese Way to Socialism" policy in 1962, authors were under great pressure to produce works of Socialist Realism, preferably showing workers and peasants coping with and overcoming their hard lot. Maung Tha-ya (b. 1931), popular author of many sophisticated novels about the urban elite, showed that he was versatile enough to respond to this

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4 BURMESE LITERATURE

summons by working as, and then writing a very perceptive work about, a Rangoon taxi driver, Mat-tat yat-Io lan-hma ngo (1969; stood in the road and wept).

However, only when this detailed, often critical observation is com­bined with successful character drawing, as for example in the prize­winning novel Mon-ywei mahu (1955; not out of hate) by the leading woman writer, Gya-ne-gyaw Ma Ma Lei (b. 1917), do we see modern Burmese fiction at its best. This novel shows the suffering of an intelli­gent young woman of traditional upbringing who falls in love with and marries a Westernized Burman who has lost all sympathy and under­standing for the things she cherishes. Perhaps the most influential writer and novelist of the last thirty years is Thein Hpei Myint (q.v.), whose works, such as Ashei-ga nei-wun htwet-thi-pama (1958; as surely as the sun rises in the east) , set against the background of the nationalist movement, successfully combine well-drawn characters, a strong plot, and love interest with immediate relevance to issues facing Burmese society.

Although theatrical shows are immensely popular, written drama does not flourish in Burma today. Poetry, on the other hand, is every­one's pastime and pleasure. Established favorites are the poets Nu Yin (b. 1916), Tin Mo (b. 1939), and Daung Nwe Hswei (b. 1931). But by far the most widely written and widely read genre is the short story (about a thousand are produced each year), and in this field it is the humorous, mocking, utterly honest Thaw-da Hswei (q.v.) who more than any other speaks for and to his fellow citizens.

Uncertainty about what works will be approved for publication after compulsory review by the government's Press Scrutiny Committee has led, in the 1970s, to a decline in the quality of original works and a proliferation of adapted thrillers, romances, and comic books, a state of affairs deplored by serious writers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: On Pe, "Modern Burmese Literature," in Perspective of Burma, Atlantic Monthly Supplement (1958) , 56-60; Minn Latt, "Main­streams in Burmese Literature," New Orient-Bimonthly, 2, 6 (1961), 172-75; 3, 6 (1962), 172-76; Bernot, D., "Quelques tendances ac­tuelles de la litterature birmane," Revue de I'Ecole Nationale des Langues Orientales, 1 (1964), 159-78; Hla Pe, "The Rise of Popular Literature in Burma," JBRS, 51 , 2 (1968) , 125-44; Bernot, D. , "Lit­terature birmane contemporaine," in Lafont, P. B., and Lombard, D., eds., Litteratures contemporaines de l'Asie du Sud-est (1974), pp. 9-17;

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BURMESE LITERATURE 5

Allott, A. J., UProse Writing and Publishing in Burma," in Tham Seong Chee, ed., Literature and Society in Southeast Asia (1981), pp. 1-35

ANNA J. ALLOIT

THAHKIN KO-DAW HMAING (pseud. of U !...un; other pseuds.: Maung Lun, Mit-sata Maung Hmaing) Burmese poet, dramatist, and novelist, b. 23 March 1876, Wale; d. 27 July 1964, Rangoon

T. K. H. was sent at an early age to Mandalay for a monastic education but returned in 1895 to his native Lower Burma to work on newspapers. Writing under the pseudonym of Maung Lun, he had by 1910 reached a wide audience through numerous traditional stage plays in verse on themes drawn from Burmese history and legend. Few survive, as he did not want to become known by such unserious works.

In 1911 T. K. H. became interested in politics through working on the newly established newspaper Thu-ri-ya: from then on he regularly wrote articles and poems commenting on contemporary events for this paper and other publications, such as the magazine Dagon, of which he later became editor. A master of Burmese classical literature, he wrote a great many works in verse (or in mixed verse-prose style), brilliantly presenting satires in the form of learned religious commentaries (tilea in the Pali language) on worldly subjects, such as the series called Hlcwei ti­lea (1925-27: commentary on dogs), in which he reproves Burmese politicians for wasting their efforts against the British in futile squab­bling.

For his single novel, Mit-sara Maung Hmaing hma-daw-bon wut-htu (1921; the epistles of Mr. Maung Hmaing), he used a pen name which made fun of those Burmese who aped their British masters by using uMr." in front of their names. Maung Hmaing was the name of a notorious rascal in an early Burmese novel, Maung Hmaing wut-htu (1904; the story of Maung Hmaing) by U Kyi (1848-1908). T. K. H. became known by his regular pseudonym in 1934, when he joined the Do-bama party (a group of young Burmese nationalists who called them­selves "Thahkin," or "master").

T. K. H. is considered to be unequaled in the lei-gyo-gyi, a tradi­tional poetic form to which he gave striking new content with great popular appeal, and through which he was an inspiration to the younger generation of Burmese nationalists. He fostered their interest in history,

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