Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper is meant to present the main topics I intend to process in my PhD project. The main idea of the project is to analyse the reception and the production concerning Greek mythology during the 20’s and 30’s in China, in order to understand why did many authors chose to import this kind of Western literal topic, how did these cultural products travel from Europe to China, how did the members of the Literary Association work and share sources, which sources did they use to study and publish about Greek mythology.

In 1916 Xie Wuliang published a "History of Chinese Women’s Literature", the very first of its kind. Its macrostructure was characterized by a threefold periodization apparently imitating an imported Western model, which was embedded in a linear and teleological vision of time. After placing the book in both the ideological context of women’s writings and the historiographical practice of Chinese literary periodization, this paper performs a textual analysis of the "History" to assess the principle(s) underlying such periodization, as well as its consistency and results.