News in the field

Academic publishing

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Source: China Daily (8/29/19)
Beijing hosts meet to discuss future of academic publishing
By Fang Aiqing | chinadaily.com.cn

Scholars and publishers attend the meeting themed “University Publishing in the Context of Globalization——Past and Future”. [Photo provided to China Daily]

University publishers from home and abroad gathered in Beijing on Monday to discuss the past, present and future of academic publishing in a globalized, digitalized world.

The meeting themed “University Publishing in the Context of Globalization——Past and Future”, saw university publishing directors, publishing professionals and authors share their experiences on promoting academic dialogue and social progress, analyzing the opportunities and challenges university presses are facing, and also exploring development and cooperation prospects. Continue reading →

13th Special Book Awards of China (1)

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Here’s more information on the book awards.

“Translators from Australia, Canada and Russia were among the winners of the Special Book Award of China, which is the highest honour given to international publishing professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the promotion of Chinese literature and culture overseas.  The award was established in 2005, and has been presented 12 times so far. Over the past years, 123 winners from 49 countries and regions have received the accolade. This year’s awards were made to:

• Bonnie Suzanne McDougall from Australia, Laureate Professor of the University of Sydney and translator who has been instrumental in developing young Chinese translators overseas as well as the publication of such books as Letters Between Two: Correspondence Between Lu Xun and Xu Guangping.
• Daniel Bell from Canada, who has pursued an academic career at Shandong University as well as producing monographs about Confucius culture and Chinese politics including The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy. Continue reading →

13th Special Book Awards of China

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Although she is not mentioned in the article below, Bonnie McDougall was also among the honorees for her outstanding contributions to the translation and publication of Chinese books, in addition to her work in promoting cultural exchanges and training translators in Chinese literature.–Alison Bailey <abailey@mail.ubc.ca>

Source: China Daily (8/22/19)
China recognizes 15 in prestigious book awards
By Mei Jia

Awardees.

The Special Book Award of China, the top publishing award from the Chinese government, was given to 15 foreign translators, publishers, writers and Sinologists in Beijing on Tuesday to honor their contributions in bridging cultures and fostering understanding.

They include Polish publisher Andrzej Kacperski, who set up sections of Chinese titles in 100 Polish bookstores and hosted Reading About China book exhibitions; Staburova Jelena, the Latvian researcher of Chinese language and literature; and both the Nepali and Uzbek translators of Volume 1 of the global best-seller Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. Continue reading →

Help save East Asian Studies at the University of Alberta

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Dear MCLC list members,

My colleagues and I are facing the closure of our department, and we would like to ask for your help.

The University of Alberta is trying to merge our interdisciplinary Department of East Asian Studies with Modern Languages and Cultures (MLCS), a department dedicated to European languages and literatures.  That department has three times the number of faculty as we do, meaning that any merger would put control of East Asian teaching and research at our university in the hands of Europeanists.

Although this move is being pursued by Dean Lesley Cormack of the Faculty of Arts during a period of severe budget pressure, she has admitted in writing that closing our department would not result in any cost savings to the University.  Instead we believe that, by forcibly merging our department into the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, Dean Cormack is hoping to make up for  the relative weakness of European-language classes by grouping them with our much healthier registrations in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.  While we would be glad to support and advocate for our colleagues in that department, killing off our own department to keep them afloat is the wrong solution.  And this merger would indeed do great harm to interdisciplinary research and teaching about Asia at our university: our area-studies model would largely be stripped down to language teaching, and our resources handed over to a department dedicated to European culture.
Continue reading →

Liu Wei Invisible Cities exhibition

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Liu Wei: Invisible Cities
Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland
Mueller Family Gallery, Cohen Family Gallery, and Cahoon Lounge
September 13, 2019-January 5, 2020

Liu Wei’s first solo museum exhibition in the United States, Invisible Cities, takes its title from Italian writer Italo Calvino’s novella of the same name. Presented across two institutions (moCa and the Cleveland Museum of Art) and developed in direct response to both spaces’ architecture, Invisible Cities presents a constellation of works that employs abstraction and fragmentation to create new narratives. Like Calvino’s book—an imagined set of conversations between traveler Marco Polo and the emperor of the thirteenth-century Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan—Liu’s work examines how objects can function as physical traces and intangible links between the visible and invisible. From sculptures carved out of books, a series of cut-up and repurposed household appliances (a refrigerator, a washing machine, and a waffle maker), to architectural monuments made from rawhide dog chews, Liu asks us to examine the relationship between material and power. The installation of works in Invisible Cities echoes the cities Polo describes—fantastical, beguiling places where things are never as they seem—and emphasizes that the world we live in is infinitely larger than what we can see. Liu’s work is an evocative reminder that how we perceive and negotiate our relationship to place allows us to see the conditions of its very construction. Continue reading →

Su Shaozhi dies at 96

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Source: The Guardian (9/3/19)
Su Shaozhi obituary
Chinese political scientist who was forced into exile after the Tiananmen Square massacre
By John Gittings

Su Shaozhi was a prominent campaigner for reform of the Chinese Communist party

Su Shaozhi was a prominent campaigner for reform of the Chinese Communist party

The political scientist Su Shaozhi, who has died aged 96, was a campaigner for reform of the Chinese Communist party in the post-Mao years, until he was forced into exile after the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. Su was eventually allowed to return to China, but the news of his death has been ignored except on unofficial websites.

In his earlier career, Su would admit, he had “put obedience to the [Communist] party in first place”, churning out what was required to “elaborate the thoughts of Chairman Mao”. He made up for this in the 1980s by denouncing the party’s “feudalism and Stalinism” and proposing democratic reforms that are still unachieved. Privately he was even more outspoken, telling me in 1985 that “we need to make a clean sweep of the leadership”, which still insisted on rigid control. Continue reading →

Animator Dai Tielang dies

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Source: ACAS (Association for Chinese Animation Studies) (9/4/19)
Dai Tielang (1930-2019) Passed Away on September 4, 2019

Dai Tielang, widely known as the “father” of Police Chief Black Cat (Heimao jingzhang, 1984-1987), passed away at 8:40pm on September 4, 2019. Dai was born in Singapore in 1930. He graduated from the Animation Department of the Beijing Film Academy in 1953 and joined the Shanghai Animation Film Studio in the same year. He was an animation designer for a long time before starting to work as a director in 1979. His animated directorial debut was The Hens’ Relocation to a New Home (Muji banjia, cel animation, 1979). His films, often featuring scientific subject matter and catering to the interest of children, were very popular among young audiences. He also worked as art designer and screenwriter for his own films. From 1984-1987, he directed a well-known TV animation series Police Chief Black Cat, which won the first “Calf Award” (Tongniu jiang) in China in 1985. His film My Friend the Little Dolphin (Wode pengyou xiao haitun, cel animation, 1980) won the President’s Silver Award at the Italy International Children and Youth Film Festival.

Kay Ann Johnson obit

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Source: The Boston Globe (9/18/19)
Kay Ann Johnson

JOHNSON, Kay Ann Age 73, of Amherst, MA, passed away on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 from complications of metastatic breast cancer. Born in Chicago, IL, she was the daughter of Helen Johnson and D. Gale Johnson, renowned agricultural economist, professor, and former provost of the University of Chicago. Kay earned her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was a professor of Asian studies and political science at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA for over 40 years. She authored three scholarly books, and her research on China’s one-child policy and adoption practices both within China and abroad has been foundational to the examination of the policy and its impact on countless people. She was also a dedicated and extraordinary teacher who supervised hundreds of undergraduate theses at Hampshire. In addition to the widescale impact of her scholarship, Kay was also one of the first parents to adopt a child from China, and contributed greatly to both the New England and New York chapters of Families with Children from China. Her humanitarian efforts also included an instrumental role with Fu Ai, an organization providing medical support to orphans affected by HIV and AIDS in Fuyang, China. Kay is survived by her husband, Bill Grohmann of Amherst, MA; her son, Jesse Johnson, 33, of Hefei, China, and his partner, Mutong; and daughter, LiLi Johnson, 28, of Madison, WI, and her partner, Andrew; her brother, David of Sinking Springs, PA and wife, Jennifer. A Memorial Service will be planned for the fall. For those wishing to make a donation in Kay’s memory, contributions can be made to the Hampshire Fund in her name at donate.hampshire.edu

Posted by: Rebecca Karl <karl.rebecca22@gmail.com>

ACCL election announcement

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Below is the election announcement of Association of Chinese and Comparative Literature from Daniel Fried, president of ACCL (2017-2019).

Yunwen Gao yunwengao@cuhk.edu.hk

Dear ACCL members:

As we have successfully concluded our biennial conference, it is my final responsibility to supervise the election of our next President.  To that end, I have attached a nomination form to this message, and would ask that you all consider either nominating yourself, or encouraging a colleague to seek election.

The primary duty of the President is to arrange the biennial conference; however, the next President should also expect to work on additional measures to strengthen the Association, such as completing an ACCL website and regularizing membership registration.  The President will have the assistance of a Treasurer, Communications Director, and Executive Committee, all of whom are appointed as outlined in our constitution. Continue reading →

Remembering Peng Xiaolian

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Remembering Writer-director Peng Xiaolian
Louisa Wei

November 2003, Xiaolian (right) and Louisa (middle) were filming with Komatsu Ran (left) in Keio University, Tokyo Japan.

Film director and writer Peng Xiaolian 彭小莲 passed away on June 19, 2019. Below I share some memories about her.

In May 2003, Shanghai film director Peng Xiaolian called me and asked if I was interested in working on a documentary about the “Hu Feng Counterrevolutionary Clique” case (the PRC’s first large-scale literary persecution). By that point, I had only met her once at the Hong Kong International Film Festival of 2002, but we had been writing to each other for about two years. What’s more important is that I had already read her book about her parents: Their Times (他们的岁月). I agreed to work with her on the documentary almost right away and told her I would start to look for funding. I called her back after just a few hours, because I found that we could apply to the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam’s script development grant, but we only had one week before the deadline. Xiaolian sent me a story in Chinese the next day, and a day later I came up with a proposal and a working title for the film: Storm under the Sun (红日风暴). I couriered the proposal four days later. At the end of June, we were notified that we were one of the 17 recipients of funding out of 180 applicants, though it was only 4000 euros. In July, we started filming in Shanghai. We got a fast start indeed. The path of my life as an assistant professor suddenly changed. Continue reading →

A Dark Blue exhibit

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Source: New Haven Independent (6/7/19)
Art Of Darkness
By BRIAN SLATTERY

Fiona Sze-Lorrain and Fritz Horstman

Fiona Sze-Lorrain and Fritz Horstman

The words are surrounded by billows of shade that could be smoke, or clouds, or particles moving through water. The color seems both kinetic and serene at the same time, capturing light and shadow. The words are written by hand: “Scooping up handfuls of fresh / silence from a mirror of oblivion, / I gather from the well / that night disguises his guests. / It pleases him that wind / must wait. Even rain. Misled / the tempered dark takes a false / step. So many shadows. / So few ghosts — I was lonely / but curious / in this imperfect end.”The above poem-painting is one of several pieces in “A Blue Dark,” a collaboration between Paris-based poet, translator, and Zheng harpist Fiona Sze-Lorrain and Connecticut-based artist Fritz Horstman running now at the Institute Library on Chapel Street through Sept. 7, with a guided walk-through by Horstman on June 9. Continue reading →

Princeton China Initiative

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The letter below is from the Princeton China Initiative, which is collecting donations for the Tiananmen Mothers.

“6.4”30周年致老一代留学生伙伴们

几位老留学生

还记得1989年6月4日凌晨那场发生在北京的震惊世界的大屠杀吗？如果你当时在中国，你可能参加了北京或其他城市的抗议活动；如果你当时在美国，你可能参加了全美学自联或当地学生会组织的游行示威。如果你是在1990年4月11日之前抵达美国，你可能是《1992年中国学生保护法案》（CSPA）的受益者。

三十年过去了，对于我们大多数人来说，“6.4”已经成为尘封的记忆。在此期间，“天安门母亲”却从来没有停止抗争。她们要求中国政府平反“6.4”，承认他们的孩子不是“暴徒”，而是反对腐败、争取民主的爱国青年。但是，她们的声音如此微弱，很少被人听到，投给政府的信函亦石沉大海。还有许多遇难者留下了年轻的妻子和年幼的孩子，多年来，他们的遗孀承受着巨大的精神和经济压力，独自把孩子养大，甚至身患重病时也无法放弃微薄的劳动收入。许多孩子由于幼年丧父而始终生活在阴影之下，难以像普通孩子那样享受无忧无虑的快乐生活。 Continue reading →

Nicholas Clifford, 1930-2019

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In Memoriam: Nicholas Clifford, 1930-2019
http://www.middlebury.edu/newsroom/in-memoriam/node/620670

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Middlebury today mourns the loss of Nicholas R. Clifford, who, as a scholar, professor, administrator, trustee, and driving force behind the study of Chinese language and East Asian studies at the College, has left a lasting impact on the institution he so dearly loved and served for more than half a century.

“He was, quite simply, one of the most admirable and beloved members of the widespread College community,” said John D. Berninghausen, the Truscott Professor Emeritus of Chinese Studies. “A real junzi [Chinese for ‘gentleman’ or ‘cultivated person’], Nick was a man of honor and integrity, personal as well as professional. He was one of the wisest, fairest, most judicious, and intelligent people I have ever met.” Continue reading →

Wu Ming-yi at Pen World Voices Festival

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Taiwanese writer Wu Ming-yi joins 2019 PEN World Voices Festival

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York is pleased to announce that Taiwanese writer Wu Ming-yi will join two events at the 2019 Pen America World Voices Festival in New York from May 6 to 12.

Tuesday, May 7, 6:30-8:00 pm
“Meditations on War, presented with The Guardian”
Venue: Albertine (972 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10075)

Wu joins Laurent Gaudé (Hear Our Defeats) and Sinan Antoon (The Book of Collateral Damage) for a discussion on how humanity endures the memories of war and struggles to rebuild. Moderated by Julian Borger, world affairs editor for The Guardian.

Thursday, May 9, 6:30-10:00 pm
“Literary Quest: Westbeth Edition”
Venue: Westbeth Artists Housing and Center for the Arts (55 Bethune St., New York, NY 10014)

Salon-style readings and discussions led by Festival authors at the Westbeth Center for the Arts. Wu will read selected passages from his book The Stolen Bicycle.

For more information, please visit PEN World Voices Festival.

Posted by: Yu-Kai Lin carlos.yukai.lin@gmail.com

Simon Leys: Navigator between Worlds review

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Source: Commonweal (5/6/19)
The Generalist: Philip Paquet’s ‘Simon Ley’
Reviewed by Nicholas Haggerty

Simon Leys: Navigator between Worlds
Philippe Paquet
Translated by Julie Rose
La Trobe University Press, $59.99, 692 pp.

Mathew Lynn, Portrait of Pierre Ryckmans (Simon Leys), 2010 (Courtesy of the artist)

In the second half of the twentieth century, the definition of a public intellectual underwent a gradual but profound change, as generalists gave way to academic specialists. Sinology makes for the perfect case study of this transition. From its origins in the Jesuit missions until the mid-twentieth century, sinology favored breadth over depth; it presumed that an individual scholar could take the whole of Chinese civilization—including its language, art, and history—as his or her subject. This romantic way of approaching the study of China came to an end during the Cold War as sinology, at least in the United States, was fully assimilated into the academic field of China studies. Within this field, there were major disagreements on the proper relationship between scholarship and American foreign policy—but there was, at least, fundamental agreement about what kind of research and books counted as genuine scholarship. As the study of China was professionalized, those who did not specialize were generally looked down upon as dilettantes. Continue reading →