Tan, Chee Lay

More than a turning point in his life, Xu Zhimo’s (1897–1931) Cambridge experience is pivotal in producing and shaping one of the most romantic writers in modern China. Xu created a literary Cambridge that, more than any other foreign places that were portrayed in modern Chinese literature, is Chinese readers’ “dreamland” of the West. When the native Chinese Xu addressed Cambridge as “xiang” (native place), how should we see Xu’s nostalgia for his second homeland? Through his Cambridge works, Xu created a perceived image of the place to his readers, and this image possessed an Furthermore, we shall analyse Xu’s Cambridge experience that evoked his nostalgia and to propose a new reading of Xu’s works on Cambridge in terms of the chronotopic aura between his literary Cambridge identity and his readers.

徐志摩 （1897-1931）在剑桥的经历除了是他人生的一个重要转捩点，也塑造他成为当代中国浪漫主义作家之一。比起任何出现在现代华文文学里的西方国家，徐志摩文艺作品中的剑桥是不少华人对于西方国家所向往的幻境。当作为一名土生土长的中国人称剑桥为他的“乡”，我们该如何看待徐志摩对于他第二个家乡的思念？通过他的作品，徐志摩创造了他想要其他人都感受到的剑桥，一个经得起时空考验的氛围，或称 “时空氛围”。我们要研究徐志摩的剑桥经历如何勾起他的思念。同时，我们建议根据徐志摩文艺作品中的剑桥和它与读者之间的“时空氛围”重新阅读他的作品。