ABSTRACT
It is common knowledge that the late Qing was a time of rapid social and intellectual transformation. Whether inspired by foreign or domestic leaders, new ideas about the roles of women were one important feature of the period, as were new confi gurations in terms of genre. Not surprisingly, some of the strongest support for a more central role for women in the strong and successful China envisioned for the future could be found in works whose stylistic features or mode of authorship were also new. The ‘new novel’ is but one example of the way this era used new forms to give voice to new concerns.
