Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.

Non-UMass Amherst users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Dissertations that have an embargo placed on them will not be available to anyone until the embargo expires.

ORCID

N/A

Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Document Type

thesis

Degree Program

Chinese

Degree Type

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Year Degree Awarded

2018

Month Degree Awarded

September

Abstract

As a novel on contemporary issues (shishi xiaoshuo 时事小说), the unfinished novel The Stone of Goddess Nüwa (Nüwa shi 女娲石; 1904-1905) recounts a story about new women’s attempts to save the nation, which is a reflection of late-Qing China. From a historical perspective, I aim to provide a study of the Nüwa stone and characterization of new women in the novel with the help of multiple intertexts. My thesis explores how the stone and the characterization elaborate the theme and design of the novel: new women saving the nation, which includes radical ideas for women and national salvation in the late Qing. Against the socio-cultural context of The Stone of Goddess Nüwa, I argue that through the characterization and narrative designs of the stone, the novel presents its explorations to solve social and political problems for national salvation, in which female power plays a central and crucial role. This thesis endeavors to both enrich the understanding and value of The Stone of Goddess Nüwa from a historical perspective and call critical attention to its meaning in the decades’ exploration of improving both China and Chinese women in literary works from the late Qing.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/12683688

First Advisor

Elena Suet-Ying Chiu

Second Advisor

Zhongwei Shen

Third Advisor

Enhua Zhang

Download

Share

COinS