2024.06.08 Saturday 15:00
Location
BACKSTAGEBACKSTAGE, 3F, No. 57 South Maoming Road, Lyceum Theatre, Shanghai
Speakers: Lu Xinghua、Zhang Nian、Zhao Qianfan、Li Chunchang
In this installment of the “Vortex” project, we are delighted to welcome Li Chunchang, the renowned Chinese translator of J. M. Coetzee's literary works, and esteemed scholars Zhang Nian, Zhao Qianfan, and Lu Xinghua to share their perspectives on the fascinating world of Coetzee’s novels. Through engaging conversations and thought-provoking interactions, our guests will delve into Coetzee’s novels and explore the contemporary issues of sensibilities in literature and art. To spark further exploration and ignite a deeper appreciation for the nuances within Coetzee’s oeuvre, Lu Xinghua has thoughtfully crafted an introductory piece:
J. M. Coetzee’s novels present themselves as a challenging set of intellectual exercise equipment, demanding that we first examine our fitness goals before attempting to engage in the actual cognitive workout—some of these questions have long awaited proper reflection within the fields of Chinese contemporary literature and art.
His novels make an unprecedented demand of their Chinese readers in the context of globalism. Through his prose, we enter a global sensorium, a space where we can vicariously experience the “white-people nomadism” he so exquisitely constructs. In a sense, Coetzee is writing the most globalized novel, or creating the most globally-minded contemporary art. He is the first novelist of post-humanism. His works resemble litmus paper, testing the contemporary human conditions—racist tensions, feminism as domination, incompetence of men, the hopelessness of universities, the soliloquy of desire—these are the central themes upon which he repeatedly and rigorously ruminates.
Today, true contemporary literature and art must empower us to remain human in the face of post-humanism and resist the urge to devolve into mere instruments, operators, or users. J. M. Coetzee’s novels function as a rear engine, which spurs us to “admit our shame and advance forward,” mobilizing the innate literary perceptiveness latent within each of us.
Li Chunchang is the Chinese translator of J.M. Coetzee’s novel.
Lu Xinghua is a Professor at the School of Humanities, Tongji University. His research primarily focuses on philosophy of technology, philosophy of art, and philosophy of the city. He has written numerous books, including Introduction to the Display of Art, Philosophy of the City 1 (to be published by Nanjing University Publishing House). Currently, he is working on the fifth volume of his book series Philosophy of the City.
Zhang Nian is a feminist philosopher and a Professor at the School of Humanities, Tongji University, where she also serves as a Doctoral Advisor for Ph.D. candidates. Her research interests lie at the intersection of feminist theory, political philosophy, and aesthetics, with a particular long-term focus on female desire, female consciousness, and the dynamics of resistance and critique within self-awareness. She has published extensively on these topics, including books such as Gender Politics and State: on Womens Liberation in China, Female Trauma on Ontological Phobia: From Hegel to Psychoanalysis, Hannah Arendt: the Origin of Politics. In addition, she has translated numerous works into Chinese, notably including Éthique de la différence sexuelle by French feminist philosopher Luce Irigaray (《性差异的伦理学》，露西·伊利格瑞著).
Zhao Qianfan is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the School of Humanities, Tongji University. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and specializes in aesthetics and social theories. His research actively engages with the works of Friedrich Nietzsche and the Frankfurt School, with a strong emphasis on translation and critical analysis. Additionally, his research interests extend to media studies and picture theories.
About the Vortex
VORTEX, launched by the MACA in Shanghai in 2022, is an art and cultural salon in the form of lecture performances occurring once or twice every month. The programme calls for non-institutionalised artistic and academic production in which contemporary art practitioners and scholars get to explore cross-disciplinarily the issues of the macro or micro, the global or local, the collective or individual. VORTEX, hence, is where you spin in the whirlpool of spontaneous whims and intuitive approaches represented by individual research and enquiries. Being present here at VORTEX, you are experiencing versatile forms of lecture performances that experiment with new mechanisms and methodologies.
VORTEX, launched by the MACA in Shanghai in 2022, is an art and cultural salon in the form of lecture performances occurring once or twice every month. The programme calls for non-institutionalised artistic and academic production in which contemporary art practitioners and scholars get to explore cross-disciplinarily the issues of the macro or micro, the global or local, the collective or individual. VORTEX, hence, is where you spin in the whirlpool of spontaneous whims and intuitive approaches represented by individual research and enquiries. Being present here at VORTEX, you are experiencing versatile forms of lecture performances that experiment with new mechanisms and methodologies.
