Taiwan Lecture Series - Winter/Summer Term 2020/21
Taiwan Lecture Series 2020/21: Rethinking the Sinophone: A Transcultural Perspective Convener: Prof. Dr. Barbara MittlerThis year’s Taiwan Lecture Series will offer a dialogue with some of the major thinkers in the field of sinophone studies, Shih Shu-mei and David Wang. It will prepare for a spring school conducted with scholars from Taiwan University. During the winter semester, students will be engaged in the process of translating the discussion papers by scholars from Taiwan University to be presented in this spring workshop so as to allow participation of students who are not capable of speaking Chinese. During the workshop course participants will be moderating (and translating) the contributions. |
Course Schedule
Please refer to the Moodle course page for the full schedule and the course files [Please get in touch with Prof. Mittler if you need access].
Course Events
TAIPEILOVE* Screening & Talk with director Lucie Liu (Taiwan Lecture Series)
As part of the Taiwan Lecture Series, we will be talking with filmmaker Lucie Liu about her documentary TAIPEILOVE* and the current situation of LGBTQ+ people in Taiwan. The documentary will be available one week prior to the talk for individual screening.
The Screening & Talk event is open to everyone, who registers before July 6th. To register please send an e-mail to frederike.schneider-vielsaecker@zo.uni-heidelberg.de.
Registered participants will receive a link to screen the film one week prior to the talk, as well as the link to join the talk and discussion with Lucie Liu.
TAIPEILOVE* depicts the perception of homosexuality in the Taiwanese society and its fight for same-sex marriage. The film deals with the questions: How free, safe and happy can gays and lesbians live in Taiwan? How do their families and friends react to their coming-out? What role do religion, societal and cultural expectations play? The protagonists Sarah, Kevin and David provide intimate perspectives and answer these questions in a heartwarming way. In May 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, TAIPEILOVE* was released one month later. It premiered in Berlin with the Taiwanese ambassador and Volker Beck present. As it is the first film worldwide to cover the topic in-depth, it received quite some recognition. It has been invited to festivals and screenings in Taiwan, London, Berlin, San Diego, Tel Aviv, Geneva, Yangon, Vienna, and Seoul (where it has won the award for best documentary).
Munich-born filmmaker Lucie Liu (b. 1993) directed and produced the award-winning documentary TAIPEILOVE*. She studied Political Science in Freiburg and Madrid and will soon receive her M.A. in Communication in Social and Economic Contexts from Berlin University of the Arts. Lucie Liu currently lives in Berlin and works as a freelancer for ZEIT ONLINE. Her second film is in the making.
CATS Virtual Spring School: Rethinking the Sinophone—A Transcultural Perspective
Online
As the People’s Republic of China rises as a superpower, the question of how to live and define Chineseness beyond its borders becomes ever more prevalent. “Sinophone literature” (huayu wenxue 華語文學) as opposed to “Chinese literature” (Zhongguo wenxue 中國文學, i.e. written inside the People’s Republic of China)” may be used to refer to, according to David Wang, a heterogeneous body of texts related, if not necessarily subjected, to the dominant discourse of the People’s Republic of China in the name of nation, territory, politics and ethnicity. Sinophone studies is thus conceived by Shih Shu-mei as “the study of Sinitic-language cultures on the margins of geopolitical nation-states and their hegemonic productions.” In her words, thinking the Sinophone can serve to “ to disrupt the chain of equivalence established, since the rise of nation-states, among language, culture, ethnicity and nationality.” As such, the Sinophone is an interesting case to test transcultural approaches.
Our Spring School, conducted digitally, between April 7-10, 2021, will offer a chance to discuss with some of the most prominent protagonists in the field of Sinophone Studies (considering not just literature, but also music, film and poetry) how, when and where Chineseness can be thought with and alternatively to the superpower politics of the People’s Republic of China. In introducing sinophone literature, poetry and music through the lense of Taiwan’s heterogeneous cultural production—including works by aborigine authors and artists, as well as Chinese immigrants from Malaya and from the Chinese mainland, before and after 1945, i.e. waishengren 外省人and benshengren 本省人—students will be able to immerse themselves deeply into the intricacies of the Sinophone from a transcultural perspective. The seminar is open to students in all fields, it will be conducted mostly in Chinese but English translations can be provided if needed!
Program
To view as PDF please click here.
Speaker Profiles
Please click on any Button to see a days schedule in detail:
Wednesday April 7th
- 9.30 (Heidelberg)/15.30 (Taipei) Opening Session
OPENING
- 10.15-11.45 (HD)/16.15-17.45 (TP)
KEYNOTE LECTURE
王德威 David Wang
Toward a Poetics of Wind, Sound, and Changeability
A Critique of the Postcolonial Approach to Sinophone Studies - 12.00-13.00/18.00-19.00 Discussion of Readings:
- Li Yung-P’ing “A La-tzu Woman.” Tr. James Fu. In Chi Pang-yuan, et al., eds., An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Literature. 2 vols. Taipei: National Institute for Compilation and Translation (distributed by University of Washington Press), 1975: 2: 457-70.
- Wang Derwei (David) “Sinophone Geopoetics: From Postcolonialism to Postloyalism” unpublished paper 2020
Thursday April 8th
- 9.15-11.00/15.15-17.00 Session 1: 梅家玲 MEI Chia-ling
台灣文學與華語語系文學: 文字、聲音與中國想像的多重混融與創生
Taiwanese Literature in a Sinophone Context : Multiple Creative Mixtures of Words, Sounds and Imagination - 10.15-11.00/16.15-17.00 Discussion of Readings:
- 王禎和〉 Wang Chen-ho (Wang Zhenhe), Rose, Rose I love you (tr. Howard Goldblatt), New York: Columbia University Press,1998, chapter 16:149-170.
- 夏曼.藍波安的〈⿊潮の親⼦⾈ Syman Rapongan “A Father and Son’s Boat for the Black Current” (tr. Terence C. Russell) in: The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature (Joseph Lau and Howard Goldblatt eds.,), New York: Columbia University Press, 2007: 69-83.
- 張貴興的⾧篇⼩說《群象》第⼀章 Zhang Guixing “Elephant Herd, Chapter 1” (tr. Carlos Rojas, unpublished translation)
- 董恕明 Tung, Shu-ming〈浪漫的返鄉⼈──夏曼.藍波安〉”The Romantic Homecoming of Syman Rapongan” (tr. Yingtsih Hwang) Taiwan Literature: English Language Series 17 (July 2005): 135-64.
- 梅家玲 Mei, Chia-ling〈說「⽂」解「字」:張貴興⼩說與「華語語系⽂學」的⽂化想像及再現策略〉” Mei, Chia-ling “Explaining “Graphs” and Analyzing “Characters”: Zhang Guixing’s Novels and Sinophone Literature’s Cultural Imaginings and Representational Strategies” (tr. Carlos Rojas) in Reading China Against the Grain: Imagining Communities (Carlos Rojas and Mei-hwa Sung, eds). New York, USA: Routledge, 2020: 128-158.
BREAK
- 11.15-13.00/ 17.15-19.00 Session 2: 劉正忠 LIU Cheng-chung
閱讀「臺灣/華語語系」詩—以超現實主義為例
Reading ”Taiwanese/Sinophone” Poetry—Taking Surrealism as an Example - 12.15-13.00/18.15-19.00 Discussion of Readings:
- Poetry selections from: Frontier Taiwan: an Anthology of modern Chinese poetry (Michelle Mi-Hsi Yeh. & Nils Göran David Malmqvist, eds.) New York : Columbia University Press, 2001.
- Leroux, Alain, et al. “Poetry Movements in Taiwan from the 1950s to the Late 1970s: Breaks and Continuities.”China Perspectives, no. 68, 2006, 56–65.
- Chiu, Kuei-fen. “‘Worlding’ World Literature from the Literary Periphery: Four Taiwanese Models.” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, vol. 30, no. 1, 2018, 13–41.
- Yeh, Michelle “Modern Poetry of Taiwan” in: The Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature (Joshua S. Mostow, Kirk A. Denton, Bruce Fulton and Sharalyn Orbaugh, eds.), New York; Columbia University Press, 2003, 561-569.
Friday April 9th
- 9.15-11.00/15.15-17.00 Session 3: 洪淑苓 HORNG Shu-ling
女詩人與華語語系文學、跨文化之關聯—以台灣當代女詩人鍾玲、零雨及其詩作為例 Women Poets, Sinophone Literature, Transcultural Connections—Chung Ling 鍾玲, Ling Yu 零雨 and their Poetic Imagination - 10.15-11.00/16.15-17.00 Discussion of Readings:
- Poetry Selections from: Women Poets of China (Kenneth Rexroth & Ling Chung, ed. & tr.), New York: New Directions, 1982 & Frontier Taiwan: an anthology of modern Chinese poetry Michelle Mi-Hsi Yeh. & Nils Göran David Malmqvist (eds.) New York : Columbia University Press, 2001
- Tu, Kuo-ch’ing Introduction (I) Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series Number 11: Women’s Literature in Taiwan 2002, XIII-XVIII.
- Tu, Kuo-ch’ing Introduction (II) Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series Number 12: Women’s Literature in Taiwan 2003, XI-XIV.
- Yeh, Michelle “Frontier Taiwan: An Introduction” in: Frontier Taiwan: an anthology of modern Chinese poetry Michelle Mi-Hsi Yeh. & Nils Göran David Malmqvist (eds.) New York : Columbia University Press, 2001: 1-54
- 洪淑苓 Horng Shu-ling 台灣現代⼥詩⼈與女性詩學綜述 Summary of Modern Female Poets and Female Poetics in Taiwan"Introduction to Taiwan Literature (ed. Horng Shuling), Taipei: Wunan Press, manuscript, forthcoming in 2021
- Chung Ling “Sense and sensibility in the works of women poets in Taiwan” in: Worlds apart: recent Chinese writing and its audiences, Howard Goldblatt, ed. Armonk, N.Y. : M.E. Sharpe, 1990: 78-107.
BREAK
- 11.15-13.00/ 17.15-19.00 Session 4: 高嘉謙 KO Chia Cian 馬華文學與族群政治: 李永平和黃錦樹小說的暴力批判
Sinophone Malaysian Literature and Ethnic Politics: A Critique of Violence in Novels by Li Yungping and Ng Kimchew - 12.15-13.00/18.15-19.00 Discussion of Readings:
- Li Yung-P’ing “A La-tzu Woman.” Tr. James Fu. In Chi Pang-yuan, et al., eds., An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Literature. 2 vols. Taipei: National Institute for Compilation and Translation (distributed by University of Washington Press), 1975: 2: 457-70.
- Ng, Kimchew (2016). Allah’s Will. In C. Rojas (Ed.), Slow boat to China and other stories. New York: Columbia University Press, 121-147.
- Ng, Kimchew (2016). Slow boat to China. In C. Rojas (Ed.), Slow boat to China and other stories. New York: Columbia University Press, 183-208.
- Rojas, C. (2016). Introduction: Ng Kimchew and the writing of diaspora. Slow boat to China and other stories. New York: Columbia University Press, vii-xxi.
- Tee, K. T. (2013). Sinophone Malaysian Literature: An overview. In S.-M. Shih, C.-H. Tsai, & B. Bernards (Eds.), Sinophone studies: A critical reader. New York: Columbia University Press, 304-314.
Saturday April 10th
- 9.15-11.00/15.15-17.00 Session 5: 沈冬 SHEN Tung
影裡華夷歌──再探李行導演的電影歌曲
Sinophone Songs on Screen—Another Exploration of Director Lee Hsing’s Film Songs - 10.15-11.00/16.15-17.00 Discussion of Readings:
- Songs and films can be retrieved here: https://www.space.ntu.edu.tw/navigate/s/DF47340BD99 144CE80E098B456BF45B9QQY
- 葉⽉瑜:〈影像外的敘事策略:校園民歌與健康寫實 政宣電影〉“Narrative Strategies Beyond the Image: School Folk Songs and Healthy Realistic Political Propaganda Films“,,收⼊《歌聲魅影:歌曲敘事與中 ⽂電影》,臺北:遠流。2000 年。⾴ 67-100。
- 李果:〈李⾏電影⾳樂的⾵格特⾊與承繼意義〉Style and Meaning in Lee Hsing’s Film Music,收⼊《華語電 影的跋涉者──李⾏導演電影作品研討論⽂集》,北 京:中國電影出版社,2008 年。⾴ 118-124。
- 周俊男:〈聲⾳政治:試由聲⾳的⾓度剖析《蚵⼥》 與《養鴨⼈家》中的「健康寫實」(Sound Politics: A study of three films by Lee Hsing〉,《⽂⼭評論:⽂學 與⽂化》,6,1(2012.12): 27-47。
BREAK
- 11.15-12.30/ 17.15-18.30 Roundtable Discussion “How far does the Sinophone go? A transcultural perspective”
CHAIR: David Wang With 沈冬 SHEN Tung, 洪淑苓 HORNG Shu-ling, 劉正忠 LIU Cheng-chung, ⾼嘉謙 KO Chia Cian, 梅家玲 MEI Chia-ling & Barbara Mittler 梅嘉樂
EINGESPERRT – Stimmen aus dem Kopfgefängnis
Lutherkirche/Hosanna Gemeinde Heidelberg, Vangerowstraße 5, 69115 Heidelberg
Mit drei Uraufführungen lädt das KlangForum zum Nachdenken ein und zwar zu einem Thema, das, auch wenn es lange vor Corona konzipiert wurde, heute wieder ganz besonders aktuell ist: „Eingesperrt—Stimmen aus dem Kopfgefängnis“ reflektiert, transkulturell, Fragen gesellschaftlicher Kontrolle, des Ausgrenzens und Eingrenzens: Da ist zunächst das Beispiel eines deutschen Schlossers, der in der Isolier-Zelle einer Nervenklinik zum Maler seiner Innenwelten wird, in Die Zelle von Clemens Gadenstätter. In Saving Face von Chang Yu-Hui 張玉慧, wird die künstliche Gesichtserkennung thematisiert, die weltweit, im autokratisch regierten China, ebenso wie im demokratischen Taiwan, immer selbstverständlicher praktiziert wird und die potentiell jeden in seiner individuellen Freiheit beschränken kann (und will). Und schließlich, in Babel (aus 空间/距离Raum—Distanz) von Shen Ye 沈葉, wird am Beispiel des Turmbaus zu Babel, der die Sprachengrenzen begründet und die Völker über den Welt-Raum zerstreut, der Beginn von Unverständnis, Abgrenzung, Distanz und damit einhergehend, seine Folgen, Eingrenzung in spezifische voneinander abgetrennte unabhängige Taxonomien und Setzungen, nachgezeichnet.
Das Konzert eröffnet drei Perspektiven auf das Eingesperrtsein, aus drei sehr unterschiedlichen Kulturkreisen, mit drei grundverschiedenen politischen Systemen, in drei unterschiedlichen Sprachen, in drei Kompositionen, die alle auf ihre Weise darüber reflektieren, wie der Wille zur Ordnung und zur Macht Un-Freiheit produziert—aber auch Widerstand (und die Hoffnung sich aus dieser Un-Freiheit eben dennoch zu befreien). Sie lassen das Publikum die Macht der Ordnungen „am eigenen Leib“ spüren und zeigen Räume und Wege der Widerständigkeit auf, offerieren also visionäre Neugestaltungen unserer (Menschen-)Welt.