Articles, interviews and papers

Articles, review essays and book reviews related to Chinese storytelling 1990-2010

By Vibeke Børdahl

From 1997 with photos by Jette Ross

NB!For entries written in Chinese, see character version of title in the Chinese part of this website

1990 'Literary and Colloquial Forms in a Yangzhou Storyteller's Tale', East Asian Institute Occasional Papers, No.6, Copenhagen, pp. 77-87.

1991 '"Square Mouth" and "Round Mouth" in Yangzhou Storytelling', Acta Orientalia, No.52, Copenhagen, pp. 135-147.

1991 'Grammatical Gleanings from a Yangzhou Storyteller's Tale', Cahiers de linguistique asie orientale, Vol. XX, No.2, Paris, pp.169-217.

1992 'Yangzhou pinghua li de "fangkou" he "yuankou"' ['Square mouth' and 'round mouth' in Yangzhou storytelling], Yangzhou pinghua zhi you, No.5, Yangzhou, pp.1-9. Reprinted in Quyi xinxi, 1992, No.29 and 1993 No.30.

1993 '"Wen bai yi du": "Literary" and "Colloquial" Forms in Yangzhou Storytelling', CHINOPERL Papers, No.16, Harvard, pp.29-63.

1993 '"Wu Song Fights the Tiger" in Yangzhou Storytelling', paper prepared for the IXth EACS Congress, Paris, 1992. In: Acta Orientalia, No.54, Copenhagen, pp.126-149.

1994 'Digressions of a Yangzhou Storyteller - The Private Life of the Tiger that Wu Song Killed', in: Outstretched Leaves on his Bamboo Staff. Studies in Honour of Göran Malmqvist on his 70th Birthday, The Association of Oriental Studies, Stockholm, pp.36-45.

1994 'Yangzhou pinghua zhong de "fangkou" yu "yuankou"' ['Square mouth' and 'round mouth' in Yangzhou storytelling], Fangyan [Dialect], Beijing, pp.119-124.

1994 'Den kinesiske fortællerkunst og dens betydning i moderne kinesisk litteratur' [The Art of Chinese Storytelling and its Influence on Modern Chinese Literature], Orientaliska Studier, Stockholm, pp.1-17.

1995 '"Three Bowls and You Cannot Cross the Ridge" - Orality and Literacy in Yangzhou Storytelling', in: Cultural Encounters, Aarhus University Press, pp.121-152.

1995 'Narrative Voices in Yangzhou Storytelling', CHINOPERL Papers, No.18, Harvard, pp.1-31.

1996 'Mund, hånd, krop, trin, blik' [Mouth, hand, body, step, look], about the NIAS workshop 'Oral Literature in Modern China', Copenhagen August 1996, InterPol, 25 August, pp.12-13.

1997 'Professional Storytelling in Modern China. A Case Study of Yangzhou pinghua', paper prepared for The Symposium of ISFNR in Beijing, April 1996, in: Asian Folklore Studies, Vol.LVI-1, pp.7-32.

1997 'Zhongguo shuoshu yu Yangzhou pinghua'[Chinese Storytelling and Yangzhou pinghua], excerpts from The Oral Tradition of Yangzhou Storytelling, 1996, translated by Zhang Yunhe, Quyi jiangtan [Tribune of Oral and Performed Literature], Tianjin, No.3, pp.65-69.

1998 'Yangzhou pinghua zhong de koutou xushu yu "shuokou"' [Oral Narration and 'Speaking Mouth' in Yangzhou Storytelling], Chinese Studies Hanxue yanjiu, No.31 (June), Taibei 1998, 267-287.

1998 Book review: Sanguo yanyi yu minjian wenxue chuantong [The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Folk Literature Traditions]. By Li Fuqing [Boris Riftin]. Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1997. In: Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews, Vol.20, December1998, pp.197-201.

1998 (Introduction and translation from Chinese with Lucie Borotova): 'Chen Wulou: "Old Questions Discussed Anew. On Huaben"', Asian Folklore Studies, Vol.57-1, pp.131-139.

1999(editor):The Eternal Storyteller. Oral Literature in Modern China, (with photos by Jette Ross), NIAS Studies in Asian Topics, No.24, Curzon Press, Richmond, xvi + 368 pp.

1999 'Introduction', The Eternal Storyteller, [cf 'Books' on this website], pp.1-14.

1999 'A "Poetics" of Chinese Storytelling', The Eternal Storyteller, [cf 'Books' on this website], pp.223-252.

1999 'Chinese Storytellers on Storytelling, Arv - Nordic Yearbook of Folklore, pp.73-92.

1999 'Taiwan: Popular Literature in the Fu Ssu-nien Library of the Academia Sinica', Asian Folklore Studies, Vol.58-1, 1999, pp.231-235.

1999 Book review: Chinese popular Culture & Ming Chantefables. By Anne E.McLaren. Leiden: Brill, 1998. In: Asian Folklore Studies, Vol.58-1, pp.259-263.

1999 (with Jette Ross, photos): 'Kinas evige historiefortæller' [China's Eternal Storyteller], Humaniora, No.4, pp.17-22.

1999 Book review: Text and Tales. Studies in Oral Tradition. Ed. By Jarich G.Oosten. CNWS Publications, Vol.22. Leiden: Leiden University 1994. In: Acta Orientalia, Vol. 60, Copenhagen 1999, p.288.

2000 'In memory of Wang Xiaotang (1918-2000)', Asian Folklore Studies, Vol.59-1, pp.147-150.

2000 'Zhongguo shuoshu yishu de koutouxing yu wentixing: Shuo Yangzhou pinghuade Wangpai "Shuihu"' [Oral and Written Aspects of Chinese Storytelling: On the Wang School of WATER MARGIN in Yangzhou pinghua], paper presented at '99 Nanning International Academic Conference on National Folk Culture', 11-15 November. In: Mian xiang 21shijide minzu minjian wenhua [China's National Folk Cultures Facing the 21 Century], Nanningshi shehui kexueyuan chuban, pp.393-400.

2000 'Zhongguo chuantongde shuoshu yishu - quan shijiede baogui caifu' [The traditional art of Chinese storytelling - a treasure of global importance]. Paper presented at Beijing International Conference for the Performed Arts, 11 November 2000. Extract printed in Quyi [Chinese performed arts], No.12, Beijing 2000, pp.7-8.

2001'Chinese Storytelling: The Interplay of Traditions, IIAS Newsletter, No.24, pp.1, 29. (with photos by Jette Ross).

2001 'Yangzhou pinghua zhong de koutou xushu yu "shuokou"' [Oral narration and 'speaking mouth' in Yangzhou storytelling], Yangzhou quyi zhi you, No. 26, July 2001, pp.1-3.

2001 'Historiefortællerens maneer' [The storyteller's manner], Humaniora, No.3, pp.21-25 (with photos by Jette Ross).

2001 'Ved Jettes død, 7.september 2001' [Taking leave with Jette, 7 September 2001], Kinabladet [China journal], No.12, pp.16-17.

2001 'Jette Ross 1936-2001', Obituary, NIASNytt, No.4.

2001 'Jinian Luo Aide - In Memory of Jette Ross', Yangzhou quyi zhi you, No. 28, December 2001, p. 1.

2001 'Yangzhou pinghua de "koutouxing" yu "wentixing"' ['Oral' and 'literary' features in Yangzhou storytelling], Yangzhou quyi zhi you, No.28, December 2001, p.1.

2001 ‘Chinese Storytelling: The Interplay of Traditions', IIAS Newsletter, No.24, pp.1 and 29 (with photos by Jette Ross).

2002 'Large-scale Registration of Chinese Storytelling', Asian Folklore Studies , Vol. 61-1, pp. 172-175.

2002 'Systematic Recording of Chinese Storytelling Art', China & The World Cultural Exchange , Vol. 60, No. 4, pp. 36-38 (with photos by Jette Ross).

2002 'Review Essay: Epic and Asian Folklore', Asian Folklore Studies , Vol. 61-2, pp. 311-320.

2003 ‘The Storyteller's Manner in Chinese Storytelling', Asian folklore Studies, Vol. 62-1, pp.65-112.

2004 ‘Chinese Storytelling on-line www.shuoshu.org ', in: IIAS Newsletter 34, July 2004, p. 42

2004 ‘Web-publication of Chinese Storytelling', in: NIAS Nytt , No.2, June 2004, p.23.

2004 ‘The Voice of Wang Shaotang in Yangzhou Storytelling', C HINOPERL Papers, No.25, pp. 1-34.

2005 ‘Storytellers' Scripts in the Yangzhou pinghua Tradition', Acta Orientalia, No. 66, pp.227-296.

2007 ‘A Drum Tale on Wu Song Fights the Tiger ', CHINOPERL Papers , No. 27. Special issue on Storytelling, pp. 61-106.

2007 ‘The Man-Hunting Tiger from “Wu Song Fights the Tiger” in Chinese Traditions', Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. LXVI, 1-2, pp. 141-163.

2009 ‘ Written Scripts in the Oral Tradition of Yangzhou Storytelling', in Lifestyle and Entertainment in Yangzhou , edited by Lucie Olivová and Vibeke Børdahl, NIAS Press, Copenhagen, pp. 245-270

2010 “ Storytelling, Stock Phrases, and Genre Conventions--The Case of ‘Wu Song Fights the Tiger'”, in The Interplay of the Oral and the Written in Chinese Popular Literature , edited by Vibeke Børdahl and Margaret B. Wan, NIAS Press, Copenhagen, pp. 83-156.

2010 ‘Dialectal and normative registers in Yangzhou storytelling', in: Chinese Language and Discourse, Vol. 1, No. 1: 93-122.

2010 ‘ ‘Wu Song and the Empty Tavern' in Yangzhou Storytelling', in: Literature and Folklore of China and Neighbouring Peoples , Institute of the World Literatures, Moscow , 21 pages (in press)

2010 ‘“Wu Song Fights the Tiger” - From the Wang School of Yangzhou Storytelling', in: Mark Bender & Victor Mair (ed.): A Reader in Folk and Regional Literature in China , 47 pp (in press).

2011 ‘ Chinese Storytelling—Transmission, Performance, Preservation. The Case of Yangzhou pinghua, in Folk Traditions in Modern Society, eds Pekka Hakamies, Vibeke Børdahl, Sun Jian (Forthcoming)

Interviews 2001-2010

Interview: 'A Dane's lifelong love for Yangzhou stories, China Daily, 21 December 2001.

2001 Interview: 'Danmai nu jiaoshou yu Yangzhou pinghua' [A Danish Female Researcher and Yangzhou Storytelling], Huaren shikan No.18, pp. 6-27, and Yangzhou quyi zhi you, No.24, March.

2001 Interview: 'Et sted for skæve ideer' [A Place for Odd Ideas], September, Humaniora, No.3.

2002 Commentary: Fan Jingyi: 'Jing ting yangren shuo pingshu' [Much to my surprise I heard a foreigner performing storytelling! About Vibeke Børdahl's presentation at Beijing International Symposium on Protection and Legislation of Folk/Traditional Culture], Xinmin wanbao, Shanghai, 22 January 2002, p.1.

2002 Interview: Flemming Poulsen: 'Historiefortællere på bånd - Dansk kinaforsker igang med stort projekt', [Storytellers on video - Danish sinologist involved in a major project], Kinabladet, Nr.13, pp.12-13.

2005 Feature article: Gui Guo, Wu Jun: '8 ge guojia he diqu 18wei xuezhe lai yang jinxing 3 tian yantao: Yangzhou Ming Qing wenhua mizui haiwai “fensi”' [18 Researchers from eight countries visit Yangzhou for a 3 days' workshop] (On the International Workshop Lifestyle and Entertainment in Yangzhou, 20-22 October 2005, organized by Vibeke Børdahl and Lucie Olivova, with support from NIAS and the Norwegian Research Council), Yangzhou wanbao , 2005, 23 October, p.1 and p.2.

2006 Interview: Cai Xiaorong: ‘ Yangzhou pinghua shi kouchuan wenxue ma?'[Is Yangzhou storytelling oral literature?], in: Tushu haiwai , pp.78-79.

2007 Portrait: ‘Yangzhou pinghua jiajin Meiguo guohui tushuguan—“Wangnian jiao” Danmairen Yi Debo qianxian daqiao' [Yangzhou storytelling ‘enters a new home' in Library of Congress in USA—my friend of a younger generation, Vibeke Børdahl, acted as ‘a matchmaker' and a bridge builder' , Interview with Fei Li, in: Yangzhou wanbao, November 28, and online:

http://www.yznews.com.cn/yzwb/html/2007-11/28/content_3290131.htm

2008 Research report and portrait: Guo Wei: ‘Yi Debo yu Yangzhou pinghua qingjie' [Vibeke Børdahl and Her Relationship with Yangzhou Storytelling], in: Journal of Quangxi Teachers Education University (Social Science Edition) , Vol. 29, No.1: 1-4. Reprinted in: Guo Wei: Caogen wenxue kuaile xiezuo—Guo Wei minjian wenxue xin lunji , Dazhong wenyi chubanshe, 2008, pp. 179-187.

2008 Portrait: ‘Kinaveteran: Vibeke Børdahl – tyve år med kinesiske historiefortællere' [Twenty Years with Chinese storytellers], Interview with Anette Kruse , in: Kinabladet , No. 37: 6-9.

2009 Portrait: ‘Yi Debo lai Yangzhou yanjiu “shuohua yishu”', [Vibeke Børdahl visits Yangzhou in order to study oral literature], by Miu Chen, Yangzhou ribao, 11.10.2009.

2009 Portrait: ‘Danmai nüxuezhe zai chu “Yangzhou shu”' [The Danish female researcher Vibeke Børdahl publishes still another ‘Yangzhou book', by Wang Jin, Yangzhou wanbao, 11.10.2009.

2009 Portrait: ‘Ta ba Yangzhou pinghua shuo gei shijie ting, Danmai hanxuejia Yi Debo xiele 7 ben Yangzhou zhuanzhu' [She tells the world about Yangzhou storytelling. The Danish sinologist Vibeke Børdahl has written seven works about Yangzhou ], by Wu Jing, Yangzhou wanbao, 30.10.2009.

2009 Portrait: ‘ Yangzhou pinghua, tonghua yiyang youmei' [ Yangzhou storytelling is as beautiful as fairy tales], by Zhou Bao, Yangzhou ribao, 30.10.2009.

2009 Portrait: ‘Xiehou Yi Debo boshi' [Meeting Dr. Vibeke Børdahl], by Wang Weiguo, Yangzhou wanbao, 14.11.2009.

2009 Event: ‘Shuoshu shi, Cao Cao da OK ruhe?' [What about Cao Cao saying OK in storytelling?], by Gui Guo, Yangzhou wanbao, 1.12.2009.

2009 Event: ‘Yi Debo dandang “ Yangzhou pinghua haiwai dashi” [Vibeke Børdahl is taking on the responsibility of being “Ambassador for Yangzhou storytelling in the West], by Gui Guo, Yangzhou wanbao, 5.12.2009

Papers and lectures 2001-2006

2001 'The Question of Storyteller's Script in Chinese Storytelling'. Paper presented at research seminar, Danish Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Copenhagen, 28 February 2001.

2001 'Kinesisk historiefortælling' [Chinese storytelling]. Seminar at Drammen Storyteller Forum, 17 April 2001.

2001 'Kinesisk historiefortælling' [Chinese storytelling]. Seminar at Høgskolen i Oslo, 18 April 2001.

2001 'The Question of the Storyteller's Manner in Chinese Storytelling'. Paper presented at research seminar, Danish Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Copenhagen, 29 May 2001.

2001 'The Role of Dialect Versus Norm in the Language of Yangzhou Storytellers'. Paper presented at the Second Conference of the European Association of Chinese Linguistics, Rome, 6-8 September 2001.

2001 'Spørgsmålet om mund og mundtlighed i kinesisk historiefortælling' [The Question of 'Mouth' and 'Orality' in Chinese Storytelling]. Paper presented at research seminar, Danish Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Copenhagen, 4 December 2001.

2001 'Large-scale Registration of Chinese Storytelling', paper presented at International Symposium on Protection and Legislation of Folk/Traditional Culture, Beijing 18-20 December 2001. Chinese version: 'Zhongguo shuoshu de xitong jilu'.

2002 'Den evige historiefortæller - mund og skrift i Kinas litteratur' [The Eternal Storyteller - oral and written forms in Chinese literature], paper presented at Diamanten, The Royal Library in cooperation with the Danish Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Copenhagen, 7 March 2002.

2005 'Yangzhou Storytellers' Oral Saga and Written Script', International Workshop of Lifestyle and Entertainment in Yangzhou, Yangzhou, October.

2006 'The Language of Storytellers' Scripts in Yangzhou Pinghua of Late Qing-early Republic', Conference on Chinese Oral and Performing Literature, AAS Annual Meeting, San Francisco, April.