muckefuck: (Default)
muckefuck ([personal profile] muckefuck) wrote2011-03-07 09:48 am

Name recognition question

Are any of you familiar with a literary author named "Lu Xun/Lu Hsün"?

I was trying to explain to a friend the other day who Premchand was and I tried to save time by describing him as "like Lu Xun but for Hindi". Unfortunately, this shorthand meant nothing to him and was left wondering if there was a more salient example I could've chosen.

[identity profile] embryomystic.livejournal.com 2011-03-07 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
hm. Isn't he like Dante for Chinese?

[identity profile] tisoi.livejournal.com 2011-03-07 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Took me a minute to recall, but I remember learning about him in Far East History class. But i forgot his significance and had to Wiki him up to remember why he's so important.

[identity profile] lhn.livejournal.com 2011-03-07 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I read a collection of his stories in translation a few years back, for reasons that probably related to one of my China trips (though I don't remember the specific impetus). The one that stuck in my mind was "A Madman's Diary".

(I read some biographical information (or at least the Wikipedia article) at the time. But I can't honestly say that the specifics stayed with me enough that "like Lu Xun but for Hindi" would have immediately evoked a clear impression.)

[identity profile] tyrannio.livejournal.com 2011-03-07 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
I vaguely recognize the name, but not well enough to get your comparison. Would Tagore be an appropriate comparison?