MCLC: Legacy of Lu Xun--cfp

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject Legacy of Lu Xun--cfp
*******************************************************************

Call for papers
International Conference
China's ongoing quest for cultural modernity into the 21st century: Legacy
of Lu Xun
15-17 November 2012

Organizers:
Hemant Adlakha, Institute of Chinese Studies & Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi (India) & ISLS
Park, Jae Woo, President, International Society of Lu Xun Studies (ISLS),
Seoul (S. Korea) & Hankuk University, Seoul
Venue: India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi, India

Lu Xun (1881-1936) has been regarded as the biggest symbol of the
twentieth century Chinese literature and revolutionary culture. No other
modern intellectual, writer and thinker has been more read or written
about in China in the past one hundred years. In the pantheon of modern
literary figures in Japan and Korea, only Lu Xun is hailed as ?the spirit
of East Asian literature?. Lu Xun is also the most well known modern
Chinese writer internationally.

Soon after Lu Xun?s death when Mao Zedong declared "Lu Xun's vision is the
vision of new socialist China", the people of China firmly believed the
legacy of Lu Xun "the great revolutionary, the great thinker, the great
writer" had been established for ever. Indeed for the ensuing four
decades, Lu Xun remained the unquestioned ?hero? and pioneer of modern
Chinese fiction as well as of the socialist realism in literature. But
that was until the beginning of the reform era. In 1981, the birth
centenary of Lu Xun was celebrated for the last time in the Great Hall of
the People. It was also for the last time that the top CPC leadership was
present at an event celebrating Lu Xun. In the three decades since his
centenary celebrations, the treatment meted out to Lu Xun in the official
political and cultural discourses under the new reform regime has been
changing from being "ignored" to being "forgotten" to being "silenced".
Interestingly, Lu Xun has been subjected to attacks and criticisms by all
kinds of political isms namely neo-Confucianism, Chinese post-modernism,
liberalism, anti socialist realism, anti May Fourth enlightenment etc.
When Lu Xun was alive, he was said to have been most ruthless in his
criticism of one and all. It seems "New China" which is no longer under
the shadows of its imperial and feudal past, has vowed to take its revenge
against Lu Xun. Lu Xun is now being criticised for evil origin of the
Cultural Revolution; Lu Xun's Spirit (luxun jingshen) is seen as a synonym
for despotism; Lu Xun is seen as the chief culprit for breaking the
Chinese tradition for his relentless critique of Confucianism; Lu Xun is
even called a traitor for defaming Chinese tradition as civilization of
cannibals. Following a brief period during the early to mid 1980s when Lu
Xun enjoyed "independent" wave of popularity (the period is called in
China's intellectual debates as "from Study Lu Xun to Lu Xun Study"), he
fell out of favour in the aftermath of the June Fourth incident. Yet,
nearly eight decades after his death and over three decades after
unbridled campaign to ?oust? him, Lu Xun remains a living force in
contemporary Chinese culture and literature. Lu Xun agenda is regarded by
many in China today as the politically most sensitive agenda. Several
public intellectuals in China in recent years have welcomed the official
apathy and indifference shown to Lu Xun, and in the typical Lu Xun-style
satire have called it "Lu Xun is now back where he belongs to" back with
the people! Lu Xun had once observed "it is very difficult to change
China?! Now, nine decades later, "new prosperous China" is mockingly
asking Lu Xun to change!

This conference aims to bring scholars/experts from India, China, Japan,
Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe and America to deliberate and critically
examine:

(1) Key features of China's evolving cultural discourse into the twenty
first century; especially focusing on what has happened to the goal of
"developing a new person" (li ren) Lu Xun had set a century ago;

(2) The ideological and the political nature of attacks on Lu Xun in the
past decade;

(3)  To reflect upon and interpret the ongoing intellectual debate
generated by the recent controversial decision to remove several of Lu
Xun's literary creations including his master piece The True Story of AhQ
from school text books;

(4) To look into the current debate in China on whether the Lu Xun era is
really dead and over in twenty first century China;

(5) Why has China's reform regime consistently distanced itself from Lu
Xun or the Spirit of Lu Xun?

(6) Contrast and compare the increasing worldwide popularity and reception
of Lu Xun's works, especially the new research in Japan and Korea with the
intriguing debates in China on the eve of Lu Xun's 130th birth
anniversary, namely "who is Lu Xun" (Lu Xun shi shei)?

Please send a 300-words abstarct to Hemant Adlakha at haidemeng at gmail.com,
by 25 August 2012 at the latest.

For more information please visit our webpage www.icsin.org

EACS The Treasurer

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF CHINESE STUDIES
THE TREASURER

Michael Schimmelpfennig
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Dept. of Middle-Eastern and Far-Eastern Languages and Cultures
- Chinese Studies
Artilleriestr.70
91052 Erlangen/Germany
phone +49 (0)9131 85-22482
fax +49 (0)9131 85-26374

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