Cambria Press  will be showcasing five new books for the Cambria Sinophone World Series headed by Professor Victor H. Mair at the 2013 Asian Studies Association (AAS) annual conference in San Diego next week!

These new books, which were published by Cambria Press between August 2012  and January 2013, are:

1. Rethinking Chineseness: Translational Sinophone Identities in the Nanyang Literary World by E. K. Tan
   Rethinking Chineseness was published just in time for the MLA annual convention in Boston, thanks to the incredibly diligent Professor E. K. Tan who worked relentlessly with Cambria Press to accomplish this. The book is being extremely well received and has been lauded by top Sinophone studies experts, including Shu-mei Shih, the scholar who is widely credited for coining the term Sinophone and is on the Cambria Sinophone World Series editorial board.
2. Confucian Prophet: Political Thought In Du Fu’s Poetry (752–757) by David K. Schneider
   Professor Jonathan Chaves (George Washington University) praises this book for being “the best study of a single Chinese poet I have seen in decades. And the best study of Du Fu known to me.” He further adds that “David Schneider goes beyond previous works in revealing what might be called the source of Du Fu’s gravitas” and “gives us some of the very finest translations of Du Fu we now possess.” This book has been published just in time for the 2013 AAS annual conference!
3. A Study of Two Classics: A Cultural Critique of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Water Margin by Liu Zaifu (translated by Shu Yunzhong)
   Not a work of literary criticism in the conventional sense but rather a cultural/ideological critique, this book by renowned critic Liu Zaifu is the first to focus exclusively on how the harmful cultural values of the two classics  are received and reinforced in contemporary China. Drawing draws inspiration from May Fourth intellectuals, particularly Lu Xun, and from a wide range of works by Western scholars, Liu Zaifu engages in cultural comparison both implicitly and explicitly and poses critical questions about modernity and modernization. This is a highly illuminating must-read.
4. Gao Xingjian: Aesthetics and Creation by Gao Xingjian (translated by Mabel Lee)
   In this long-awaited book by Nobel Prize Winner in literature Gao Xingjian, he exposes the political dynamics of so-called “modernity” in Western literature and art and how this has been enthusiastically embraced in China since the 1980s.analyses traditional and modern European and Chinese notions of fiction, theatre, and art, and elaborates on what aspects of writers and artists from both cultures have informed him in developing his own aesthetics in narration, performance, and the visual arts. This extremely rewarding and thought-provoking read throws open how literature and art as a creative human pursuit should not be demarcated by national or cultural boundaries. Not surprisingly, this book was a huge hit at the MLA, and sessions with Gao Xingjian and Mabel Lee were packed.
5. The Classic of Changes in Cultural Context: A Textual Archaeology of the Yi jing by Scott Davis
   Focusing on the archaic core of the Classic of Changes, this unprecedented study proposes a structural anthropological analysis. Indeed a bold and powerful attempt at modeling an ancient culture in a way never before conceived sociologically, this study is a profound auto-ethnography that teaches about the philosophical anthropology of its makers and prepares the way for further understanding of later classical texts. A truly innovative study, this has been hailed as “the most empirically rigorous and interpretively challenging material that I know of right now in Yijing studies.” by Denis Mair, the well-known yijing expert  (Read the entire review at the Cambria Press blog.)

Some of these titles were recently launched in January at the MLA annual convention in Boston. See Cambria Press authors Nobel Prize Winner in Literature Gao Xingjian and Professor E. K. Tan with their newly published books and watch the speeches given at the MLA reception for the Cambria Press book launch of Gao Xingjian’s book!

Cambria Press is offering  the following special promotions to celebrate the publication of these titles for the series:

1) A 30% discount is being provided for AAS members and their institutions until April 30, 2013. Use web coupon code NobelGXJ. Libraries can use this too. You can also pick up a book list and order form at the Cambria Press booth (#201). An online version of the booklist will be made available soon too.

2) A booth sale special—$40 on ALL titles for purchases made at the Cambria Press booth (#201) in the AAS exhibit hall!

3) A lucky draw will be held for a complimentary copy of Gao Xingjian’s latest book (Gao Xingjian: Aesthetics and Creation) signed by Gao Xingjian himself!

To enter this draw, all you need to do is drop off your business card at the Cambria Press booth (#201) at the AAS exhibit hall!

Spread the word! Like Cambria Press on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CambriaPressAcademicPublisher and share this link http://wp.me/p1WqrY-k0 on your Facebook page!

See also outstanding reviews for other Cambria Press titles in Asian studies!  

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