About the UK - China Seminar Series
The Confucius Institute regularly invites academics and experts worldwide to give talks at the China Seminars Series about the latest research in language studies, language teaching, international relationships and economics, and other topics.
The China Seminar Series is an annual project organised by the SCI designed to host a number of talks across the year by renowned academic and professors from around the UK and China.
The seminars cover a variety of topics, including Chinese language education, cross-cultural communication, Chinese philosophy, Chinese history and Chinese agriculture among others. In order to promote cross-cultural dialogue between our British and Chinese colleagues, the UK-China Seminar Series was created.
East to West: The Global Appeal of Tang Xianzhu and Shakespeare
For this fascinating discussion, we will be joined by Dr Carmen Levick from the University of 91探花 and Professor Chen Jun from Peking University. The following are their biographies with information about their speaking topics and study:
Dr Carmen Levick
Dr Carmen Levick is a Senior Lecturer in Theatre at the University of 91探花 in the School of English. He current research interests focus on contemporary European theatre and performance, postcolonial and decolonial theoretical processes and autobiographical writing.
Presentation
Against ‘Glocalization’: Issues of Intercultural Performance in Two Gents’ Production Kupenga Kwa Hamlet (The Madness of Hamlet)
This talk attempts to discuss issues of authority and canonicity within the framework of intercultural and postcolonial performance praxis. By discussing the main problems of the binary opposition good / bad connected to the first quarto (Q1, from now on) of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and by closely analysing the performance text and context of Two Gents’ production of Kupenga Kwa Hamlet (The Madness of Hamlet) based on Q1, I intend to address the political shortcomings and theoretical trappings of the term ‘glocalization’ and propose a reading that encapsulates both the aesthetic variety of intercultural performance and the political underpinnings of postcolonial theatre.
Professor Chen Jun
Chen Jun, Associate Professor at the School of Arts, Peking University, is engaged in the study of theater and opera, especially in the issues of image history, performance history and aesthetics related to theater.
Presentation
Tang Xianzu's "Modernity": The Adaptation of The Peony Pavilion since the 1980s as an Example
As a Chinese writer of the "early modern", Tang Xianzu's "modernity" is manifested both in his revolutionary approach to the expression of emotions in Chinese literature, which influenced Chinese culture, including Dream of the Red Chamber, and in the fact that he seems to be a "contemporary" who resonates with the emotions of different generations. This paper discusses the emotional history of contemporary China presented by his adaptations through an analysis of three versions of The Peony Pavilion performed since the 1980s (Zhang Jiqing's version, the youthful version, and the full-length version).
When: December 7, 2022 - 9am - 11am
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Meeting ID: 966 7903 5873
Passcode: 041110
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