Wowl Thank you so much for sharing here so much I'd never heard before!
Grateful, Arianne Laidlaw
On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 2:36 PM, Shelley Fisher Fishkin <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> =20
> J. R. LeMaster is best known by Mark Twain scholars for having co-edited =
> The Mark Twain Encyclopedia with Jim Wilson. But I think it=92s =
> important to recall another, less-known contribution he made to Twain =
> scholarship: he is responsible for having given readers in the =
> English-speaking world access to an important commentary on Mark Twain =
> published in China.
> LeMaster had a long and deep connection to China that included spending =
> two years in Beijing and publishing a moving bilingual book of his own =
> poetry about China (Journeys Around China, Chinese translations by Sui =
> Gang and Hua Zhi, published in China in 2003). But I am particularly =
> indebted to him for having restored to us a major a speech delivered =
> in Beijing by a leading Chinese writer in 1960 to commemorate the 50th =
> anniversary of Mark Twain=92s death.
> For decades, scholars had assumed this speech had been lost, but Le =
> Master=92s determined searching over many years finally bore fruit. He =
> and a Chinese scholar named Zhao Huazhi, managed to locate a copy. They =
> arranged for it to be translated into English by Zhao Yuming and Sui =
> Gang. Edited by J.R. Le Master, who worked with them on the =
> translation, it was published in US-China Review in 1995. [US-China =
> Review 19 (Summer 1995), pp. 11-15 as =93Mark Twain: Exposer of the =
> Dollar Empire.=94 =20
> The speech was particularly noteworthy not only because Lao She was one =
> the leading Chinese authors of the 20th century, but also because the =
> aspects of Twain=92s social criticism that he highlighted were not =
> particularly salient at mid-century in the US. Arguing that Twain=92s =
> criticism of the =91Dollar Empire=92=94 =93has retained profound and =
> immediate significance throughout the past half century,=94 Lao She =
> asserted that =93Mark Twain=92s reprimand of the imperialist aggressive =
> powers and sympathy for the anti-colonialist Asian and African people =
> [are] especially significant. This is the part of his literary =
> heritage we should value most.=94 But until the publication of Jim =
> Zwick=92s book Mark Twain=92s Weapons of Satire: Anti-Imperialist =
> Writings on the Philippine-American War in 1992, this was probably the =
> part of Twain=92s literary heritage that his countrymen valued least. =
> (Virtually the only American critics paying attention to this aspect of =
> Twain at the time Lao She made these remarks were Philip Foner and =
> Maxwell Geismar.)
> Although Lao She=92s speech served China=92s ruling interests at the =
> time and contained some of the expected Cold War jargon, it also =
> contained some insightful readings of pieces by Twain with which =
> American readers were then largely unfamiliar. With a few exceptions =
> Twain=92s trenchant critiques of the country he loved tended to be as =
> ignored in the United States at midcentury as they were celebrated in =
> China. =20
> Indeed, among the works Lao She mentioned in the 1960 speech was Twain=92s=
> =93Treaty with China,=94 a piece so obscure that it was not reprinted =
> from its original 1868 publication until Martin Zehr brought it to light =
> in 2010 in the Journal of Transnational American Studies =
> (http://escholarship.org/uc/item/5t02n32 =20
> In addition to being the 50th anniversary of Mark Twain=92s =
> death, 1960 was the sixtieth anniversary of the anti-imperialist, =
> anti-missionary Boxer Uprising in China. (Lao She had written a four-act =
> play about this event titled Shen Ruan the same year that he gave this =
> speech. ) Most Americans by 1960 had long forgotten the sympathy that =
> Mark Twain had shown to the Boxers, but Lao She and his countrymen had =
> not. Lao She quotes with approval Twain=92s comment, =93The Boxer is a =
> patriot=85I wish him success. I am a Boxer myself.=94
>
> Lao She was president of the National Association of Writers =
> when he gave this speech. An influential novelist and dramatist, he was =
> named =93The People=92s Artist=94 and played a prominent role in the =
> Chinese literary establishment before he was purged from the Communist =
> Party and became a victim of the Cultural Revolution (It is undisputed =
> that Lao She delivered this speech. However, as I learned in 2009 from =
> Gongzhao Li, the prominent Chinese poet and scholar, Yuan Kejia =
> evidently claimed in a Chinese journal in 1985 that he was paid to write =
> this speech for Lao She to deliver, and that he was its actual author =
> despite the fact that the text continues to be widely credited to Lao =
> She in China, and appears in his Collected Works. )
> I met J. R. LeMaster in 2006 when I gave a keynote talk at =
> an American Studies Association of Texas at Baylor. He was kind enough =
> to give me a copy of the piece that he had done so much to recover and =
> get translated and published. He and I were both pleased that I was =
> able to include the Lao She/Yuan Kejia speech in The Mark Twain =
> Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Work (Library of America, =
> 2010).
> I learned only last December, through correspondence with =
> LeMaster, of the depth of his association with Lao She=92s family. =
> LeMaster=92s book of poetry, Journeys Around China, includes a =
> photograph of LeMaster with Lao She=92s son, Xu Yi, taken when LeMaster =
> visited him in his home. Xu Yi was Director of the Beijing Library of =
> Contemporary Literature and spent most of his life writing about his =
> father. LeMaster wrote me that he got to know him quite well. LeMaster =
> also directed the senior thesis of Lao She=92s granddaughter, although =
> he notes that he left Chine before she completed it. During his stay =
> in China, LeMaster conducted interviews with half a dozen Chinese =
> writers, including =93a writer of opera who was beaten alongside Lao =
> She.=94 LeMaster wrote me that =93Lao She drowned in Lake Kunming, =
> either drowned himself or was murdered and thrown there. Xu Yi says he =
> could stand no more humiliation and took his own life.=94 LeMaster =
> noted that the interviews he conducted in China are in the oral history =
> archives at Baylor.
> According to LeMaster, three sets of government censors =
> refused to let three different publishing houses publish his book of =
> poems. The version of Journeys around China that finally appeared in =
> China in 2003 omits about half of the original manuscript, including =
> all the poems he wrote about the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Although the =
> more political poems were cut by the censors, many of the poems that =
> remain are quietly beautiful and evocative.
> I feel compelled, on the occasion of his passing, to express =
> my appreciation for LeMaster=92s determination to share a major Chinese =
> commentary on Twain with the English-speaking world. I am personally =
> grateful to him for having made me aware of it when he did. For =
> encountering this text help make me realize that I had been largely =
> oblivious, as a scholar, to he global body of commentaries on Mark =
> Twain in languages other than English.=20
> That realization set in motion an odyssey that led me to =
> seek out writing on Twain in languages other than English for The Mark =
> Twain Anthology. In addition to leading to my discovery that the first =
> book devoted to Mark Twain published anywhere was published in French in =
> Paris in 1884, this journey led me to uncover interesting commentaries =
> on Twain originally published in Chinese, Danish, French, German, =
> Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and Yiddish have all engaged Twain. =
> In many cases, they had never been translated into English before. =
> Previously untranslated texts included essays by Nobel Laureates from =
> Denmark and Japan, by two of Cuba=92s most prominent public =
> intellectuals, by Argentina=92s most celebrated author, by another =
> famous Chinese writer, by a major Russian poet, and by respected writers =
> from Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Soviet Union. I had the pleasure of =
> sending a copy of the book to J. R. LeMaster not long after it came out. =
> =20
> [For more on this topic, see my Mark Twain Anthology, and also my essay, =
> =93American Literature in Transnational Perspective: The Case of Mark =
> Twain.=94 Blackwell Companion to American Literary Studies, ed. Caroline =
> F. Levander and Robert S. Levine (2011). Also relevant are Selina =
> Lai=92s forthcoming book, Mark Twain in China to be published next year =
> by Stanford University Press, and a project on =93The French Face of =
> Twain=94 that Paula Harrington and Ronald Jenn are undertaking.]
> The changes in my mental map that J. R. LeMaster helped set in motion =
> have been profound. I am grateful for all he taught me.
> =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =
> =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D=20
> Shelley Fisher Fishkin=20
> Joseph S. Atha Professor of Humanities, Professor of English, and =
> Director of American Studies, Stanford University=20
> Mail: Department of English, Stanford University, Stanford, CA =
> 94305-2087
> [log in to unmask]
> https://english.stanford.edu/people/shelley-fisher-fishkin
> =20
>
> On Jul 3, 2014, at 4:24 PM, Kevin Bochynski <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > The following obituary appeared today in _The Crescent-News_, =
> Defiance, Ohio, and will be of interest to members of the Mark Twain
> > community. Dr. LeMaster was co-editor with James D. Wilson of _The =
> Mark Twain Encyclopedia_ published by Garland in 1993.
> >=20
> > Jimmie 'J.R' LeMaster
> >=20
> > WACO, Texas -- Jimmie (J.R.) Ray LeMaster, Waco, died Sunday, June 29, =
> 2014,
> > at his residence.
> >=20
> > He was born in Pike County, Ohio, to Dennis Samuel and Helen Algina =
> (Smith)
> > LeMaster on March 29, 1934. He attended Camp Creek Township Elementary
> > School before moving to Washington Court House, Ohio, where he =
> attended
> > junior high and high school, moving to New Boston, Ohio,in his final =
> year.
> > He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1951, and served four years. Upon =
> being
> > discharged from the Navy, LeMaster moved to Defiance, Ohio, where he =
> worked
> > in an iron foundry and attended classes at Defiance College.
> >=20
> > Upon graduation, he taught in local high schools before returning to =
> his
> > alma mater to teach in 1962, having completed a master of arts degree =
> at
> > Bowling Green State University. While working at Defiance College, he
> > received his PhD degree from Bowling Green in 1970. He taught at =
> Defiance
> > College for 15 years before moving his family to Waco to teach at =
> Baylor
> > University in 1977. When he retired from Baylor in 2006, he had taught =
> for
> > 47 years, including two years in Beijing, People's Republic of China.
> >=20
> > He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Wanda; his son, =
> Lon;
> > brother, Dennis and his wife, Karin; and half brother Tom McDowell.
> >=20
> > He is survived by his two daughters, Lisa and DeNae, as well as his =
> brother,
> > Marvin and his wife, Shirley; half brother, Richard McDowell and his =
> wife,
> > Alice; sister-in-law, Patsy McDowell; and numerous nieces and nephews.
> >=20
> > In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to The Wanda May =
> LeMaster
> > Service Award, c/o Michele Tinker, Defiance College, 701 Clinton St.,
> > Defiance, Ohio 43512; email address, [log in to unmask]; phone,
> > 419-783-2303.
>
--
Arianne Laidlaw A '58
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