Friday, December 10, 2010
UBC Asian Centre Auditorium
1871 West Mall, Vancouver, BC
“Life, it’s been said, is one big book…”
Come celebrate the centennial anniversary of two of modern China’s most outstanding cultural figures. As scholars and writers, husband and wife, Qian Zhongshu (1910-1998) and Yang Jiang (b. 1911) radically transformed what it meant to be a modern Chinese intellectual. And both their literary careers, it turns out, began with comedy! Join us for an evening of laughter and learning, featuring a reading from a new literary translation, a student performance, and an invited lecture by a distinguished scholar of modern Chinese literature. A catered reception will follow.
EVENING PROGRAM
4:30PM Welcome Remarks, Dr. Gage Averill, UBC Dean of Arts
4:35PM Humans, Beasts, and Ghosts, stories and essays by Qian Zhongshu
A reading by Dr. Christopher Rea, UBC Dept. of Asian Studies
4:50PM Heart’s Desire, a comedy of manners by Yang Jiang (excerpts)
Performed by students from the UBC Chinese language program
5:10PM Keynote address: “The Cosmopolitan Imperative: Qian Zhongshu and ‘World Literature’” Dr. Theodore Huters, Professor Emeritus, UCLA Chief Editor, Renditions, Chinese University of Hong Kong
5:50PM Catered reception and book exhibition in the Asian Centre Foyer
See a brief essay on Qian Zhongshu by UBC assistant professor Dr. Christopher Rea:
http://www.thechinabeat.org/?tag=qian-zhongshu
Please RSVP for this free event via e-mail:UBCAsianStudies@gmail.comEvent poster
