KUN NAN, A.K.A. YEDONG, PEN NAMES OF CEN KUNNAN (1935— ) - The Dictionary

Chinese Literature - Li-hua Ying 2010

KUN NAN, A.K.A. YEDONG, PEN NAMES OF CEN KUNNAN (1935— )
The Dictionary

KUN NAN, A.K.A. YEDONG, PEN NAMES OF CEN KUNNAN (1935— ). Poet and fiction and prose writer. A Hong Kong native, Kun Nan wrote for newspapers in his youth and cofounded several literary journals including Shi duo (Blossoms of Poetry) and Xin sichao (New Trends). In 1955 he published his first story, “Wen: chuang shiji de guanmian” (Kiss: The Royal Crown of Genesis). He has written two novels, Di de men (The Earth’s Gate) and Tiantang wu zai zu xia (Heaven Dances under the Feet), and a short story collection Xi jing de fengliu (The Romantic Life of Playing with Whales). Throughout his career, Kun Nan has been interested in examining the effects of modernity on the psychological state of Hong Kong residents. In his attempts to find the moral and spiritual anchor that would protect people from the forces that alienate them from society and from themselves, Kun Nan represents the voice of the intellectual struggling to come to grips with his cultural identity under the dual pressure of colonialism and commercialism. His heroes begin as idealistic hopefuls, go through trials and tests, and finally as their dreams are dashed become utterly disillusioned. This pervasive hopelessness reflects what the author considers the prevailing views held by Hong Kong intellectuals in the 1950s and 1960s.