Talk: The Concepts of Chinese, Sinophone, and Taiwan Literatures in Europe
25/11/2015 Tana Dluhosova Events, News, TaiwanAbstract:
Presentation focuses on the notions of Chinese literature, Taiwan literature, and Sinophone literature in the European academic context. It gives a brief summary of the concept of Sinophone literature. Rather than to start out from a predetermined set of definitions in order to explore how these three concepts are negotiated on a theoretical level, however, the presentation concentrates on the question of how they are perceived in European academia, how they are represented in university curricula. From these observations, a pragmatic definition of the terms will emerge that is based on their actual usage. The presentation thus proposes an approach that outlines a bottom-up understanding of the concepts and their interactions in different spheres of academic activity.
The empirical basis of the investigation is formed by a questionnaire distributed among university lecturers of Chinese and/or Taiwan literature. It will focus on three aspects: university curricula and institutional support. Furthermore, the presentation intends to identify and address some of the reasons why Sinophone literature is still a fairly under-researched topic in Europe. Finally, the presentation will address the question of whether, in institutional and curricular terms, potential points of contact exist between Taiwan literature and Sinophone literature and how the mutual relationship between the two can be negotiated.
Speaker:
Táňa Dluhošová (Oriental Institute)
Moderator:
Huang Mei-e (Director, Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature, National Taiwan University)
Venue:
November 25, 2015 (15:30–17:30)
Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature, National Taiwan University
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