Scope and Contents
The UNPO collection is an internationally unique collection of unofficial or "underground" poetry publications that play an important role in contemporary Chinese culture; they are comparable to Soviet-Russian samizdat publications, but also to the "little magazines" often associated with early modernism in the West. The collection contains early specimens from the late 1970s and the 1980s and extends to the early 21st century. It includes mainly poetry journals but also some monographs (individual collections and multiple-author anthologies).
Dates
- 1978-present
Language of Materials
Chinese
Conditions Governing Use
Regulations that apply during the use of these materials can be found on the website of Leiden University Library.
Biographical / Historical
Maghiel van Crevel (1963- ) is an internationally leading scholar of contemporary Chinese poetry. He holds a PhD from Leiden University. After a lectureship at the University of Sydney he returned to his alma mater in 1999 to take up duty as professor of Chinese language and literature. Ever since the early 1990s, his research and his translations have drawn on extensive fieldwork in China.
Extent
4 metres (About 150 titles)
Abstract
Unieke collectie van onofficiële of "ondergrondse" poëziepublicaties die een grote rol spelen in de hedendaagse Chinese cultuur, vergelijkbaar met Sovjet-Russische samizdat-publicaties, maar ook met de "little magazines" die veelal worden geassocieerd met Westers modernisme. De collectie, bijeengebracht door Maghiel van Crevel (1963- ), bevat vroege voorbeelden uit de late jaren 1970 en de jaren 1980 en loopt door tot de vroege 21e eeuw.
Abstract
Internationally unique collection of unofficial or "underground" poetry publications that play an important role in contemporary Chinese culture, comparable to Soviet-Russian samizdat publications, but also to the "little magazines" often associated with early modernism in the West. The collection, brought together by Maghiel van Crevel (1963- ), contains early specimens from the late 1970s and the 1980s and extends to the early 21st century.
Physical Location
Leiden University Library, Special Collections
Other Finding Aids
The items can be found in the catalogue by searching for SINOL. UNPO.
Custodial History
In 1991, during fieldwork for his PhD research, van Crevel realized the importance of the unofficial poetry circuit, and began collecting the material that would later become the UNPO collection. Over the years, he has visited local poetry scenes in two dozen cities in China, steadily building a network of Chinese poets and scholars whose help has been crucial to the project.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
A first batch was donated in 2006. It was kept in the Van Gulik room in the East Asian Library until its transfer, along with a second batch of publications, to the special collections of Leiden University Library at Witte Singel in 2016. A third batch was donated in 2017.
Appraisal
Some items are photocopies but were acquired due to the rarity of the originals.
Accruals
Future additions are to be expected.
Existence and Location of Copies
Some items from this collection have been digitised.
Bibliography
- Crevel, M. van, Unoffical Poetry Journals from the People’s Republic of China: a research note and an annotated bibliography. MCLC Resource Center, 2007.
- Crevel, M. van,
From China with love: Unofficial Chinese Poetry Journals in the Leiden University Library
, in Saskia van Bergen et al (eds), Jaarboek voor Nederlandse boekgeschiedenis. Nijmegen 2017, pp233–249. - Crevel, M. van, Walk on the wild side: snapshots of the Chinese poetry scene. MCLC Resource Center, 2017.
General
The material can be requested in the online catalogue. It can be consulted in the Special Collections Reading Room. See also Alternative form available.
Processing Information
The shelf mark of the UNPO collection is SINOL.UNPO.[number]. Items are numbered chronologically, starting with 启蒙 Qi meng: SINOL. UNPO.1.
12 issues have been digitized in 2018 as part of a pilot project.
- Chinese language Subject Source: Fast
- Chinese literature Subject Source: Fast
- Chinese poetry Subject Source: Fast
- Crevel, Maghiel van
- Literature Subject Source: Fast
- Poetry Subject Source: Fast
- Poetry Subject Source: Aat
- Underground literature Subject Source: Fast
- Title
- Collection guide of the collection of unofficial poetry journals from China (1978-present)
- Subtitle
- Collectie onofficiële poëziepublicaties uit China
- Author
- Maghiel van Crevel en Marc Gilbert, 2018
- Date
- 2019
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Beschrijving is in het Engels.
Revision Statements
- 17 June 2020: latest update
Repository Details
Part of the Leiden University Libraries Archives & Collections Repository
Witte Singel 27
Leiden 2311 BG Netherlands
+31 71 527 2857
specialcollections@library.leidenuniv.nl