JULIAN LEES, THE FAN TAN PLAYERSJulian Lees, 番攤玩家
David Brookshaw's article analyzes Julian Lees's novel **The Fan Tan Players**, arguing that **Macao** constitutes the narrative's nuclear space, functioning simultaneously as the point of departure and return for its protagonists between 1928 and 1945. In light of comparison with Lusophone Macanese...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
July 2011
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40039/3133 |
| _version_ | 1877196270418788352 |
|---|---|
| author | David Brookshaw |
| author_autocomplete | David Brookshaw |
| author_browse | David Brookshaw |
| author_facet | David Brookshaw David Brookshaw |
| author_sort | David Brookshaw |
| container_title | Review of Culture |
| container_title_str | Review of Culture |
| container_volume | 39 |
| container_volume_str | 39 |
| description | David Brookshaw's article analyzes Julian Lees's novel **The Fan Tan Players**, arguing that **Macao** constitutes the narrative's nuclear space, functioning simultaneously as the point of departure and return for its protagonists between 1928 and 1945. In light of comparison with Lusophone Macanese fiction—particularly authors such as **Rodrigo Leal de Carvalho** and **Henrique de Senna Fernandes**—the study contends that Lees mobilizes familiar configurations (geographical and chronological mobility; the presence of "White" refugees in post-Bolshevik-revolution China) yet reconfigures the types and the tone: in contrast to figures marked by melancholy and fragility, the novel privileges a **romantic regime of persistent love**, in a register more attuned to hope and attachment.
Methodologically, the article proceeds through **interpretive and contextual reading**, highlighting the way in which Macao's **cultural topography**—sensations, social habits, and linguistic diversity—is worked through a choral cast of expatriates, friendships, and communal practices. Brookshaw concludes that the title alludes to the local imaginary of gambling (fan tan) above all as a **metaphor of contingency** (luck, coincidence, and probability), while the representation of Macao as a "home" relatively less hierarchical than Hong Kong simultaneously evinces an adherence to colonial myths and an implicit critique of the dynamics of prejudice. |
| first_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:57Z |
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| issn | 1682-1106 |
| last_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:57Z |
| latest_content_date | 2026-09-11T02:56:57Z |
| publishDate | July 2011 |
| publishDateRange | 2011 |
| publishDateSort | 2011 |
| publishPlace | Macau |
| publisher | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
| publisherStr | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
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| spelling | JULIAN LEES, THE FAN TAN PLAYERSJulian Lees, 番攤玩家 David Brookshaw's article analyzes Julian Lees's novel **The Fan Tan Players**, arguing that **Macao** constitutes the narrative's nuclear space, functioning simultaneously as the point of departure and return for its protagonists between 1928 and 1945. In light of comparison with Lusophone Macanese fiction—particularly authors such as **Rodrigo Leal de Carvalho** and **Henrique de Senna Fernandes**—the study contends that Lees mobilizes familiar configurations (geographical and chronological mobility; the presence of "White" refugees in post-Bolshevik-revolution China) yet reconfigures the types and the tone: in contrast to figures marked by melancholy and fragility, the novel privileges a **romantic regime of persistent love**, in a register more attuned to hope and attachment. Methodologically, the article proceeds through **interpretive and contextual reading**, highlighting the way in which Macao's **cultural topography**—sensations, social habits, and linguistic diversity—is worked through a choral cast of expatriates, friendships, and communal practices. Brookshaw concludes that the title alludes to the local imaginary of gambling (fan tan) above all as a **metaphor of contingency** (luck, coincidence, and probability), while the representation of Macao as a "home" relatively less hierarchical than Hong Kong simultaneously evinces an adherence to colonial myths and an implicit critique of the dynamics of prejudice. Instituto Cultural de Macau Macau Review of Culture Articles July 2011 David Brookshaw |
| spellingShingle | JULIAN LEES, THE FAN TAN PLAYERSJulian Lees, 番攤玩家 David Brookshaw |
| title | JULIAN LEES, THE FAN TAN PLAYERSJulian Lees, 番攤玩家 |
| title_autocomplete | JULIAN LEES, THE FAN TAN PLAYERSJulian Lees, 番攤玩家 |
| title_full | JULIAN LEES, THE FAN TAN PLAYERSJulian Lees, 番攤玩家 |
| title_fullStr | JULIAN LEES, THE FAN TAN PLAYERSJulian Lees, 番攤玩家 |
| title_full_unstemmed | JULIAN LEES, THE FAN TAN PLAYERSJulian Lees, 番攤玩家 |
| title_short | JULIAN LEES, THE FAN TAN PLAYERSJulian Lees, 番攤玩家 |
| title_sort | julian lees, the fan tan playersjulian lees, 番攤玩家 |
| url | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40039/3133 |
| zotero_collection_key | 76L3BRGH |