{"id":17403,"date":"2012-06-15T10:01:58","date_gmt":"2012-06-15T14:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookdragon.si.edu\/?p=17403"},"modified":"2015-08-17T09:56:02","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T13:56:02","slug":"atlas-the-archaeology-of-an-imaginary-city-by-dung-kai-cheung-translated-by-dung-kai-cheung-anders-hansson-and-bonnie-s-mcdougall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/atlas-the-archaeology-of-an-imaginary-city-by-dung-kai-cheung-translated-by-dung-kai-cheung-anders-hansson-and-bonnie-s-mcdougall\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City by Dung Kai-cheung, translated by Dung Kai-cheung, Anders Hansson, and Bonnie S. McDougall [in Library Journal]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2012\/06\/Atlas.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-27474\" src=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2012\/06\/Atlas.jpg\" alt=\"Atlas\" width=\"1210\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2012\/06\/Atlas.jpg 1210w, https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2012\/06\/Atlas-645x800.jpg 645w, https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2012\/06\/Atlas-800x991.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1210px) 100vw, 1210px\" \/><\/a>First published in 1997 \u2013 as an indirect response to the Hong Kong handover \u2013 <em>Atlas<\/em> marks Hong Kong native Dung\u2019s English debut in translation. A self-described \u201cverbal collection of maps\u201d imagines the reclamation of a future city of Victoria (Hong Kong) through maps, memories, anecdotes, and legends\u00a0in an uneven hybrid mixture of fact and fiction, history, and invention.<\/p>\n<p>The 51 essays are grouped into four sections \u2013 \u201cTheory,\u201d \u201cThe City,\u201d \u201cStreets,\u201d and \u201cSigns\u201d \u2013 and what\u00a0begins as clever wordplay about maps as indicators of \u2018place\u2019 \u2013 \u201cCounterplace,\u201d \u201cCommonplace,\u201d \u201cMisplace,\u201d \u201cDisplace\u201d \u2013 quickly devolves into lit-crit jargon \u2013 \u201cUtopia,\u201d \u201cSupertopia,\u201d \u201cSubtopia,\u201d \u2026 \u201cUnitopia,\u201d\u00a0 \u201cOmnitopia.\u201d Most memorable are the (re)created histories of street names. Most promising is how \u201cmap legend signs enriched the vocabulary of maps,\u201d at least temporarily.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Verdict<\/strong>: Although Dung \u201chas been described as Hong Kong\u2019s most accomplished writer,\u201d according to translator McDougall, choosing <em>Atlas<\/em> with which to introduce his work in the West might prove to be a misstep. While readers devoted to intellectual engagement out of their narrative comfort zone (Calvino, Eco, Barthes, Borges, are referenced in the slim volume) might enjoy the literary gymnastics, most will probably not have the curiosity or patience to reach book\u2019s end.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Review<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/reviews.libraryjournal.com\/2012\/06\/books\/fiction\/fiction-reviews-june-15-2012\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">&#8220;Fiction,&#8221; <em>Library Journal<\/em>, June 15, 2012<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Readers<\/strong>: Adult<\/p>\n<p><strong>Published<\/strong>: 2012 (United States)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First published in 1997 \u2013 as an indirect response to the Hong Kong handover \u2013 Atlas marks Hong Kong native Dung\u2019s English debut in translation. A self-described \u201cverbal collection of maps\u201d imagines the reclamation of a future city of Victoria (Hong Kong) through maps, memories,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,67,6,6535,66],"tags":[1431,1432,1433,6608,1434,70],"class_list":["post-17403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-readers","category-chinese","category-fiction","category-repost","category-translation","tag-anders-hansson","tag-atlas-the-archaeology-of-an-imaginary-city","tag-bonnie-s-mcdougall","tag-bookdragon","tag-dung-kai-cheung","tag-library-journal"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City by Dung Kai-cheung, translated by Dung Kai-cheung, Anders Hansson, and Bonnie S. McDougall [in Library Journal] - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/atlas-the-archaeology-of-an-imaginary-city-by-dung-kai-cheung-translated-by-dung-kai-cheung-anders-hansson-and-bonnie-s-mcdougall\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City by Dung Kai-cheung, translated by Dung Kai-cheung, Anders Hansson, and Bonnie S. McDougall [in Library Journal] - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"First published in 1997 \u2013 as an indirect response to the Hong Kong handover \u2013 Atlas marks Hong Kong native Dung\u2019s English debut in translation. A self-described \u201cverbal collection of maps\u201d imagines the reclamation of a future city of Victoria (Hong Kong) through maps, memories,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/atlas-the-archaeology-of-an-imaginary-city-by-dung-kai-cheung-translated-by-dung-kai-cheung-anders-hansson-and-bonnie-s-mcdougall\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-15T14:01:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-08-17T13:56:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2012\/06\/Atlas.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1210\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SmithsonianAPA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City by Dung Kai-cheung, translated by Dung Kai-cheung, Anders Hansson, and Bonnie S. 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