CFP: Lu Xun and the Global South
Date: December 13-14, 2025
Location: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Deadline for abstract and bio: 1 May 2025
Send to: Xiaolu Ma hmxlma@ust.hk
The term “Global South” emerged in the twentieth century to refer to various geopolitical blocs connected through a mix of political, geopolitical and economic commonalities. The term has gained currency in recent years in response to the pandemic, regional wars, financial and ecological crises. These events have drawn attention to the power imbalances and uneven allocation of resources that emerged in part from the effects of imperialism and colonialism in previous centuries. The diverse array of regions and nations that make up the Global South does not readily divide into the conventional dichotomy between West and East. Instead, the transregional collective of the Global South captures the centrifugal and centripetal forces that blur the boundary between center and periphery.
Literary production serves as a vibrant field for cultural analysis, seamlessly blending traditional and modern cultural forms. It facilitates cultural exchanges between the Global South and the North, particularly through translation and transculturation. Furthermore, literature reflects diverse knowledge discourses in a self-aware and critical manner, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue. Transnational South-South literary connections have been particularly significant throughout colonial, postcolonial, and contemporary digital eras. As a result, literary cultures emerge as crucial historical and contemporary sites for intercultural expression within the Global South.
This conference focuses on Lu Xun and the Global South. As modern China’s preeminent man of letters, Lu Xun’s (1881–1936) life represents an intriguing blend of the north and the south. He was born in Jiangnan (lands south of the Yangtze River) and spent much of his life in both Beijing and Shanghai. He visited Xiamen and Guangzhou in 1926 and 1927, during which travels he passed through Hong Kong three times. He delivered two lectures in Hong Kong—“Silent China” (“Wusheng de Zhongguo” 無聲的中國) and “The Old Tune Has Been Sung” (“Lao diaozi yijing changwan” 老調子已經唱完)—which were translated into Cantonese by his Guangzhou-born partner Xu Guangping, and were well attended and warmly received. Although Lu Xun never traveled to places to the south of China, he was a keen reader of the literature of smaller and less powerful nations, which in his time had gained little attention within world literature. Lu Xun was also widely read and admired among the Sinophone communities overseas throughout the twentieth century.
The conference aims to bring together Lu Xun scholars interested in exploring the historical, cultural and literary applications of transnational cultural influence, tracing its movement across Global Southern traditions. We invite papers that focus on Lu Xun’s connection with world literatures from the Global South (e.g. the Sinophone world, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin and Central America, Africa, and Oceania). We hope that our discussion will not only uncover underexamined facets of Lu Xun and his readership around the globe, but also help us better understand the transforming nature of Global Southern cultural identities.
Karen Thornber from Harvard University and Carlos Rojas from Duke University will be our keynote speakers.
Application
Interested participants should submit a 250-word abstract and a short biography by May 1, 2025. All presentations will be conducted in person and in English.
Please direct any inquiries to Xiaolu Ma hmxlma@ust.hk.