Sailing to the Sinophone World: On Modern Chinese Literary Cartography

Description

The lecture is free to attend and no registration is required.

David Der-wei Wang (Edward Henderson Professor in Chinese Literature at Harvard University, Director of CCK Foundation Inter-University Center for Sinological Studies, and Academician, Academia Senica) will give a series of three public lectures on The Chinesesness of Chinese Literature and participate in a concluding symposium on Wednesday 21 May 2014.

Abstract

Sinophone Studies—the study of Sinitic-language cultures born of postcolonial and postsocialist influences—has represented a forceful intervention with Chinese Studies since the turn of the millennium. This talk seeks to examine the recent developments of Sinphone Studies and reflect on their theoretical premises and geopolitical implications.

The talk is divided into three parts. The first part takes issue with the definition of “Sinophone” as a homogeneous discourse and highlights the potential of heteroglossia in any Sinophone articulation. The second part proposes “post-loyalism” as a dialogical critique of the extant paradigm which is rooted primarily in post-colonialism and a renewed Cold-War spatial imaginary. The third part introduces the poetics of “disposition,” as inspired by the traditional Chinese poetics of shi, and suggests that beyond the geopolitics of “root,” scholars should look into the momentum arising from the aesthetic and humanistic engagement with Sinophone Studies.

Events in the Series:

humanitas
From Mara Poet to Nobel Laureate: On Modern Chinese Literary Culture 13 May 2014 5:00pm - 6:30pm, Mill Lane (Lecture Room 1) The first lecture by CRASSH Humanitas Visiting Professor in Chinese Studies 2013-14
The Lyrical in Epic Time: On Modern Chinese Literary Thought 15 May 2014 5:00pm - 6:30pm, Mill Lane (Lecture Room 1) The second lecture by CRASSH Humanitas Visiting Professor in Chinese Studies 2013-14.
Sailing to the Sinophone World: On Modern Chinese Literary Cartography 20 May 2014 5:00pm - 6:30pm, Mill Lane (Lecture Room 1) The third lecture by CRASSH Visiting Professor in Chinese Studies 2013-14.
The Chineseness of Chinese Literature 21 May 2014 1:30pm - 5:00pm, Ramsden Room, St Catharine's College The concluding symposium with the CRASSH Humanitas Visiting Professor in Chinese Studies 2013-14.