Sisterhood at the Nexus of Love and Revolution: Coming-of-Age Narratives on Both Sides of the Cold War

Krista Van Fleit Hang

doi:10.3868/s010-001-012-0005-2

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Front. Lit. Stud. China ›› 2012, Vol. 6 ›› Issue (1) : 56-77. DOI: 10.3868/s010-001-012-0005-2

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Sisterhood at the Nexus of Love and Revolution: Coming-of-Age Narratives on Both Sides of the Cold War

Krista Van Fleit Hang

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Abstract

This article examines the similarities between Song of Youth and The Best of Everything, coming-of-age novels published in China and the United States in 1958. The author finds that comparable narrative structures reveal parallels in two societies that are often viewed in stark contrast. In both novels, a feminist ideal of sisterhood is woven into the coming-of-age stories of young women moving into society, and in each novel, the social background of the times determines the degree to which mainstream values are conducive to imagining a public sphere that is welcoming to women.

Keywords

revolution / feminism / popular fiction / American literature / Chinese literature / Yang Mo / Rona Jaffe / coming-of-age novel

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Krista Van Fleit Hang. Sisterhood at the Nexus of Love and Revolution: Coming-of-Age Narratives on Both Sides of the Cold War. Front Liter Stud Chin, 2012, 6(1): 56‒77 https://doi.org/10.3868/s010-001-012-0005-2