
Contents
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Bergsonian thought and humour Bergsonian thought and humour
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Qian Zhongshu and killing time in the lecture hall Qian Zhongshu and killing time in the lecture hall
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Staring at the clock Staring at the clock
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Academy of rogues Academy of rogues
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Words: “Clichés that have been worked to death” Words: “Clichés that have been worked to death”
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Real humour and phantom humour: The smile of the skeleton Real humour and phantom humour: The smile of the skeleton
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Clocks, shocks and taking stock in urban China Clocks, shocks and taking stock in urban China
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“Bergson fever” “Bergson fever”
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Conclusion Conclusion
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2 The phantom of the clock: Laughter and the time of life in the writings of Qian Zhongshu and his contemporaries
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Published:June 2013
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Abstract
This chapter studies the impact of Henri Bergson's writings on the comic and the nature of time on two of China's greatest writers of the early twentieth century, Lao She and Qian Zhongshu. The work of these two authors has to be seen in the context of the May Fourth era. The ceding of Shandong Peninsula to the Japanese by the Germans at the end of World War I energized intellectual debate. Merging with the New Culture Movement, new modes of thought, expression and social action aimed at strengthening China sprang up. While the writings examined in this chapter were not overtly political, they offer a glimpse of the collective mind of modern China and Chinese culture. During the May Fourth Movement, people claimed that scientific logic and reasoning were universal and pre-eminent in explaining all things, including the living self. Writers inspired by Bergson challenged this notion by showing intuition and life as perpetual change and novelty.
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