Fall 2018 Events

“Directions in Contemporary Chinese Literature”
November 14, 2018, Harvard University

On November 14, 2018, the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University welcomed six scholars from China and Hong Kong for a workshop in “Contemporary Directions in Chinese Literature.” The event was attended by many doctoral students and visiting scholars working on modern and contemporary Chinese literature, and moderated by Professor David Der-wei Wang. Workshop participants included: Professor Zhang Xuexin from Liaoning Normal University, Professor Ji Jin from Suzhou University, Professor Liang Hai from Dalian University of Technology, Professor Lim Chin Chown from Hong Kong Baptist University, Professor Song Binghui from Shanghai International Studies University, and Professor Yu Xiayun from Southwest Jiaotong University. Each participant presented on their current research, including new discoveries in the studies of Eileen Chang, the studies of the Hsia brothers, as well as new directions of Sinophone studies. They also introduced scholarship on regarding a vast array of contemporary writers from different geographical backgrounds, including Chi Zijian in the northeast, Alai in the southwest, Su Tong to the south of the Yangtze River, and Jia Pingwa in the northwest. The audience raised questions relevant to their own research, such as the element of redemption in Su Tong's works and the Hsia brothers' experience of geographical traverse. Professor David Wang concluded the workshop by remarking that the study of contemporary literature across boundaries deserves more attention and further discussion.