Fall 2008 Events

SImperialism and Literature: Colonial Taiwan, Occupied Zones, and Manchukuo, Aichi University

From August 1-3, 2008, the international symposium "Imperialism and Literature: Colonial Taiwan, Occupied Zones, and Manchukuo" was held at Aichi University in Nagoya, Japan. Funded in part by CCK-IUC and jointly organized by Aichi University, National Tsing Hua University, and the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, the symposium received the participation of more than one hundred scholars and students from Japan, China, Taiwan, and the United States. A total of twenty-eight papers were presented in seven panels.
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The symposium opened with two special lectures given by Professor Kiyama Hideo of Hitotsubashi Universty and Professor David Der-wei Wang from Harvard University. Following the first day's panels, the participants were treated to a performance of Nankuan music by the Han-Tang Yuefu Musc Ensemble from Taiwan. The second day featured special lectures from Professor John Treat from Yale University and Professor Okada Hideki from Ritsumekan University. The symposium was successfully concluded on the third day with a roundtable discussion that summarized the major discussions that were raised and posed further research questions for future studies.

The reception room following a day of panels at the symposium "Imperialism and Literature" at Aichi University

Presenters at the "Imperialism and Literature" symposium at Aichi University

Shanghai professors visit Harvard for workshop on modern Chinese literary and cultural studies workshop

On October 14, eight professors of modern Chinese literary and cultural studies from several universities in the greater Shanghai area in China visited Harvard and participated in a workshop co-sponsored by the CCK-IUC and the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. More than fifteen graduate students attended the workshop and engaged in fruitful conversations with the guests. 
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The workshop began with a brief introduction of the professors and their past and current research interests. During the 90-minute workshop, the hosts and the guests exchanged comments on current trends in the studies of modern Chinese literature and culture, explored various methodologies, and discussed possible future research directions in the field. Some of the topics are: The "aesthetic fever" in 1980s China, dialectal writings, the epistemology of the "crowd" as ideology, sense of community, and spectacle, as well as the rise of "internet literature" and "game literature."

Harvard University professors David Wang and Elizabeth Perry with several visiting
​professors from Shanghai universities

Presenting China: Theory and Pedagogy, Washington University in St. Louis

Sponsored by CCK-IUC and Washington University, the international conference "Presenting China: Theory and Peagogy" was held on October 17-18, 2008. Scholars from such fields as literature (Wang Yao, Soochow University), history (William Kirby, Harvard University), film and media studies (Yomi Braester, University of Washington), political science (Andrew Mertha, Cornell University), and anthropology (Aihwa Ong, University of California, Bekeley), as well as senior China-based journalists (Anthony Kuhn, NPR), came together to discuss how the Chinese nation and culture are being studied, what knowledge about China is being transmittedin classrooms, and how the media portrays this fascinating nation. The discussions cut across various disciplines and intriguing topics -- from the theoretical to the empirical -- and the result was intellectually stimulating and fruitful, as evidenced by lively discussions between the presenters and the audience.

Speakers at the conference "Presenting China: Theory and Peagogy," held October 17-18 at Washington University in St. Louis

Independent documentary filmmaker Hu Jie visits Harvard University

On October 27-29, 2008, independent Chinese documentary filmmaker Hu Jie visited Harvard University to screen three of his films about the Cultural Revolution: Though I Am Gone, Red Art, and In Search of Lin Zhao's Soul. Each screening was attended by more than fifty students and faculty, and the films moved their audiences deeply. In the discussion that followed each film, Hu Jie discussed the production and distribution of these films, which are prohibited from being screened in public venues in the PRC, but have found wide "underground" audiences through alternative means like the Internet and private reproduction. During his vist, Hu Jie also attended the undergraduate class "Art and Violence in the Cultural Revolution." His visit was sponsored by CCK-IUC, the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, and the Department of East Asian Language and Civilizations at Harvard.

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Participants of a discussion with documentary filmmaker Hu Jie

Loyalty and Betrayal in Modern Chinese Literary and Cultural Studies, Harvard University

On December 5-6, 2008, the international conference "Loyalty and Betrayal in Modern Chinese Literary and Cultural Studies" was held in the Humanities Center on the campus of Harvard University. Sponsored by the CCK-IUC, this event focused on four interrelated aspects to further examine the ambiguous and complex relationship between loyalty and betrayal, and how each manifests itself on the levels of literary creation, cinematic production, and translation: 1) literary and cinematic production and ethics under colonial, totalitarian or otherwise oppressive regimes; 2) works by those accused of being collaborators and traitors as well as works bythose hailed as (post)loyalists; 3) theoretical engagements with issues of loyalty/betrayal vis-a-vis politics, history, ethics, aesthetics, language, etc.; and 4) meanings of loyalty and betrayal in the age of "post" (post-colonial, post-Socialist, post-Nationalist, post-modern).