Talk:Wild Swans

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[edit] Citations

"Outside China it has been praised by many scholars as an informative look at the lives of the Chinese people during the Cultural Revolution, though it has a small number of critics as well."

Does anyone have precise numbers or at least a credible estimation of "many scholars" or "small number of critics?" Are these claims verifiable? We should at least list a few names of the "many scholars" and "small...critics". Count de Chagny 22:44, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Of course it's impossible to have precise numbers - estimations are also difficult. As to names, you could try digging some up. John Smith's 12:04, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Claims

Does anyone know whether the claims in the book about Japan showing newsreels to girls showing prisoners being cut in half are true and verifyable? Do those newsreels still exists?

Who knows. Who knows if half the stuff various people claim to have seen/know happened, etc really exists? How do we know that we're not really inside the Matrix!?!?!?!?! John Smith's 19:53, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] About the overview/criticism

All the stuff there is in the reference section (no less than 4) references on the same topic all with similar comments. This book was written way before the advent of everyday internet and such there is almost no information avalible on it in terms of literary commentry and close analysis, all such information is text based only in one off publications which took me a long time to attain considering i live on the other side of the Earth.TTMSHU 14:02, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

But the points are still not referenced. If you can't remember who said what then it's just hearsay. If you seriously don't have the original documents any more then it will have to be deleted. Otherwise you could be making it up - no offence.

If you do have the original documents, then I suggest you copy and paste the relevant parts here with page numbers and references. John Smith's 14:09, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm making a few edits. The book was not simply aimed at a Western audience, as she tried to have it released in China. At first it was tolerated (as far as I know), but then suddenly banned. If it had not been released in China the person that said that might have had a point. Second it was not a simple attack on Communism - many individuals such as Liu Shaoqi, Deng and even Zhou Enlai are made to look like good leaders. Third there's nothing wrong to say it was well praised as well. John Smith's 14:20, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Yup, i agree with that.. Though the geneal concensus is that the target of the text was the western sphere based on many references that western audience can relate to e.g. her allusions to orwellian ideas and her desire for cannonical texts such as t.s.elliot and huck fin, as well as many emotional events such as the 1949 Long March to Sichuan province, though that can also be related to Chinese people as well.

Also, i can't simply copy and paste, its not like i can do so when its written on a piece of paper. Anyway, i've collected some quotes from the shortest of the 4 references i've posted

Hothouse history

Para 2 "The stories of these women are powereful testimonies to the tragic forces that have moulded the lives of so many chinese people this century"

Para 2 "...dealing with the dualism of social idealism and political repression"

Para 3 "...Chang reveals some relatively unknown aspects of the activities of privilaged young people..."

Para 4 "Unlike many personal accounts of China's recent history... Wild swans is written without sentimentality"

I'll get around to quoting the other 3 over the next few days TTMSHU 14:30, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Please, page numbers not paragraphs. That's how one makes references. But I'm glad we're moving to a consensus over the section in question. John Smith's 14:48, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

I already gave you page numbers, just look at the references section that i put in earlier........TTMSHU 15:29, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

I mean page numbers when you quote something. John Smith's 15:44, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

I already gave you the page numbers, im quoting the whole article.TTMSHU 05:29, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

The section is not cited, it is written poorly, and its phrasing suggests the tone of a critical reviewer. If no one deals with these problems in the next few days I will probably delete it again. --TJive 20:07, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

I have to agree. All points need to be properly referenced - that's individually, not at the end. John Smith's 21:57, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Fine, you can delete the overview and i will write a close study of the text citing each quote individualy later on. Currently, these comments are reflective of the reviews of the wider literary community. Specifically, indicating that it is a sucessful text however it suffers from the political overtones of the composer. TTMSHU 11:04, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't matter what you think people have to say about it - you need to be specific. John Smith's 11:24, 26 June 2006 (UTC)