Scholars at home and abroad shared their insights into research on contemporary Chinese fiction at UIC on 22 October.
The conference, titled “Reimagining China: Identity and Representation in Contemporary Chinese Fiction”, included speakers from Duke University, Syddansk Universitet (The University of Southern Denmark), Peking University, Sun Yat-sen University, Fudan University, City University of Hong Kong and UIC.
Prof Mei-hwa Sung, Dean of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences (DHSS), welcomed the guests and said, “Literature studies are not so welcomed in the global situation, but we are here and we hope we can be inspiring.”
The conference was organised by the Contemporary English Language and Literature Programme (CELL), Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, and sponsored by the Research Office.
Academics on contemporary Chinese fiction
Prof Qingsheng Tong from the School of Foreign Languages, Sun Yat-sen University, read the novel Wolf Totem as an allegory of the future and analysed the broken relationship between humanity and nature.
Prof Qingsheng Tong
Dr Qingxin Lin from Peking University illustrated the influence of Borges on the narrative form of Ge Fei’s early short stories.
Dr Qingxin Lin
Fudan University’s Dr Wen Jin discovered “anti-plot mechanisms” and impersonal sentimentality in Chinese novel Clouds of Blooms.
Dr Wen Jin
Dr Clara Juncker from Syddansk Universitet spoke of the traditional female role and traditional Chinese culture which is rebuilt in the fiction of Jia Pingwa.
Dr Clara Juncker
Dr Kenny Ng from City University of Hong Kong talked of Ye Si’s reflective writing on the uneasy companionship between photographic images and words.
Dr Kenny Ng
Duke University’s Dr Carlos Rojas, President of the Association of Chinese and Comparative Literature based in the US, presented how authors use a variety of languages and dialects in different regions to explore people’s identities in contemporary Chinese literature.
Dr Carlos Rojas
Prof Mei-hwa Sung discussed how Mo Yan mixes history and fantasy to represent contemporary China as his narrative strategy.
Prof Mei-hwa Sung
Dr Charles Lowe, Programme Director of CELL, explored the capacity of narratives to cross languages in novels and discussed whether Qiu Xiaolong’s whodunit novel written in English is appropriate.
Dr Charles Lowe
Assistant Professor of CELL Dr Xi Xu using the perspective of Bildungsroman, Yu Hua’s Cries in the Drizzle tells how a young person attains maturity and finds his social role.
Dr Xi Xu
Reporter: Zeng Kaishan (CELL, Year 1)
Photographers: Vivi Xie, Deen He
Editor: Deen He
(from MPRO, with special thanks to the ELC)
