Western Canons in China 1978-2014

In his article Western Canons in China 1978-2014 He Lin surveys anthologies of foreign literature, book series, textbooks used in literary departments, and learned journals and draws a map of the situation of Western canons in China. He concludes that Western canons underwent a complicated process when establishing their roles in Chinese scholarship and that canonization is determined, in particular, by market mechanisms, ideological preconceptions, and literary institutions at universities. He posits that in the age of globalization a more intimate and subtle relationship has been established between Western literary canons and Chinese readership and scholarship. The publishing market, national policy, and educational institutions are not any more the only forces to dominate the canonization of literary works. Other factors and processes including consumerism, new media, the change of the notion of canons suggest that the canon is not static and that canon formation remains an unfinished project