{"product_id":"the-chinese-tragedy-of-king-lear-9780691269160","title":"The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA compelling new reading of \u003ci\u003eThe Tragedy of King Lear\u003c\/i\u003e that finds parallels in twentieth-century Chinese history\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the start of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, King Lear promises to divide his kingdom based on his daughters’ professions of love, but portions it out before hearing all of their answers. For Nan Da, this opening scene sparks a reckoning between \u003ci\u003eThe Tragedy of King Lear\u003c\/i\u003e, one of the cruelest and most confounding stories in literature, and the tragedy of Maoist and post-Maoist China. Da, who emigrated from China to the United States as a child in the 1990s, brings Shakespeare’s tragedy to life on its own terms, addressing the concerns it reflects over the transition from Elizabeth I to James I with a fearsome sense of what would soon come to pass. At the same time, she uses the play as a lens to revisit the world of Maoist China—what it did to people, and what it did to storytelling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBlending literary analysis and personal history, Da begins in her childhood during Deng Xiaoping’s Opening and Reform, then moves back and forth between \u003ci\u003eLear\u003c\/i\u003e and China. In her powerful reading, the unfinished business of Maoism and other elements of Chinese thought and culture—from Confucianism to the spectacles of Peking Opera—help elucidate the choices Shakespeare made in constructing \u003ci\u003eLear\u003c\/i\u003e and the unbearable confusions he left behind.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nan Z. Da","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42964036812918,"sku":"9780691269160","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0671\/1374\/6550\/files\/CoreSourceHub_17431563-da77-4175-8ebd-5c9aeb9e76e5.jpg?v=1775338044","url":"https:\/\/ingramacademic.com\/products\/the-chinese-tragedy-of-king-lear-9780691269160","provider":"Ingram Academic \u0026 Professional","version":"1.0","type":"link"}