Italian Futurism in the Chinese press at the beginning of the twentieth century

The role played by Italian literature in the renewal of the Chinese literary canon was certainly limited, compared to that played by other Western literatures. However Italian authors and their works were not completely absent in the cultural Chinese arena at the beginning of the 20th century. This paper is aimed at analyzing the reception, or “mis-reception”, of some Italian Futurist works in China at the beginning of the 20th century. Through the analysis of translations and writings on Italian Futurism written by Song Chunfang 宋春舫 (1892-1938) and Mao Dun 茅盾(1896-1981) and published in some of the most important Chinese periodicals of that period (i. e. Xiaoshuo yuebao 小說月報 and Dongfang zazhi東方雜誌), the paper will examine the different voices and positions within the new Chinese theatrical movement during the 20s and 30s of the last century. The paper tries to interpret what was the aim, and perhaps, the contribution of the Italian Futurist works, which were translated into Chinese and presented to Chinese readers in the process of defining Chinese spoken drama.