This working group is dedicated to the examination of the untranslated, underexplored theories of East Asian criticism. While comparative studies often champion the multilingual and cross cultural, the reality remains that such comparison happens predominantly in English. To address the lack of truly multilingual comparative conversation, we propose a working group that focuses on indigenous critical theory from the Chinese speaking world. Drawing on a broad range of critical texts from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the greater Sinophone community, we will discuss key theories in comparative criticism that have emerged in response to the largely Eurocentric foundations of comparative literature.
The working language of this group will be Chinese. Readings will be circulated in advance of each meeting. Send an email to eastasiancriticaltheory@gmail.com to be added to the listserve.
Possible topics include the theories of 王德威, 丁乃非, 張小虹 and 孟華. If you work on East Asian theory or cultural production and would like to suggest a reading or co-convene a session, please be in touch with Kate Costello at kate.costello@orinst.ox.ac.uk.
