Events

CHAIRPERSON

Prof Adrian Vickers, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

To what extent is the political integrated into the aesthetic in the contemporary nationalist discourses of mainland Chinese mass society? How do we understand in postsocialist China the cultural relationship between the state and the society and its historical significance? In what ways does the aesthetics, encompassing the temporalities of modern and premodern, socialist and postsocialist, imperial and anti-imperial, articulate the nation as a collective, subjectivity-forming meme or mirage that simultaneously accentuates and deviates from the political rationalities of both the Party-state and mass consumers? This talks aims to conduct a preliminary examination of past critical literature on these questions and project a possible future for studies of postsocialist Chinese nationalism at the conjuncture of literary criticism and cultural studies. I will discuss two interrelated theoretical issues—mass aestheticization of the nation and historicization of the enunciation of history—and analyze a recent Chinese film American Dreams in China.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Shen Yipeng  is Assistant Professor of Language and Culture Studies and International Studies at Trinity College (Hartford, CT). He received his PhD in East Asian Languages and Literature from the University of Oregon, MA in Chinese Studies from the National University of Singapore and BA in Chinese Language and Literature from Nanjing University. Born in Jiangsu, China, he was trained in literary and cultural studies at University of Oregon with a focus on contemporary Chinese culture and society.

REGISTRATION

Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you RSVP Mr Jonathan Lee via email: jonathan.lee@nus.edu.sg