MCLC: ACCL Global Sinophonia conference report

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Lupke, Christopher <lupke at wsu.edu>
Subject: ACCL Global Sinophonia conference report
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Conference on Global Sinophonia -- Report
Association of Chinese and Comparative Literature
Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica
December 17-19, 2012

The conference on “Global Sinophonia” was hosted by the Institute of
Chinese Literature and Philosophy at Academia Sinica and co-sponsored by
the Association of Chinese and Comparative Literature (ACCL) on December
17-19, 2012.

Approximately 80 papers and talks were presented at the conference on
such topics as: queering sinophonia, transcultural studies, classical and
modern poetry, transnational science and detective fiction, China in drag,
theatre, actors, and filmmakers from China and Singapore, copious numbers
of film and media studies presentations, interrogations of the notions of
Chineseness and cultural essentialism, discussions of domestic space,
alternative modernities, ecocriticism and eco-literature, migration and
immigration, and an open discussion on the future of Chinese studies and
its relationship to comparative studies.

Scholars came from the PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, the United
States, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Korea, and
the United Kingdom. Professor David Wang, Edward C. Henderson Professor of
Chinese at Harvard University and Academician (院士) at Academia Sinica,
gave the keynote lecture: “The Spring That Brought Eternal Regret: Fei Mu,
Mei Lanfang, and the Poetics of Screening China.”

The event was hosted by the Institute of Chinese Literature and
Philosophy (中國文哲所) and represented by Dr. Peng Hsiao-yen, Senior
Researcher in the Institute. With the able leadership of Dr. Peng and the
support of a great team of staff members, especially Wang Yin-chun, the
conference went very smoothly and was graced by a positive feeling
throughout. Dr. Peng was instrumental in bringing in the performance
artists and some senior scholars in Taiwan, such as Dr. Perng Ching-hsi as
well as securing the acceptance of Dr. Wang as keynote speaker. The
Institute also gained the support of the new Director: Siao-chen Hu.
Senior researchers from ICLP such as Ayling Wang also participated, and
there were several papers by other ICLP researchers and postdocs.
Photographs can be found on Facebook by searching my name or other
conference attendees or through ICLP, which has a Facebook presence of its
own.

We were extremely fortunate to receive a major grant for the conference
from the National Science Foundation (國科會) in Taiwan, mainly thanks to
Dr. 
Peng’s successful application proposal.

In keeping with customary practice, participants were drawn to the
conference through an open call for papers. We tried to be as inclusive as
possible, meaning that we convened together a large number of people who
had never met each other before. Many people had never been to Taiwan or
to Academia Sinica. The theme of “Sinophonia” is generally derived from
the term “sinophone studies,” which I believe was coined by Dr. Shu-mei
Shih from UCLA. Although Dr. Shih was not in attendance, several of her
students (or former students) participated, and her name and statements on
the sinophone phenomenon were heard resonating in the corridors during the
conference.

Respectfully submitted,

Christopher Lupke, Ph. D.
Associate Professor
Washington State University

ACCL President, 2010-2012