Saturday, October 22 02pm to 04pm
China Institute
40 Rector Street, (2nd Floor), New York, NY 10006
What are the various boundaries within and without contemporary Chinese poetry? What separates contemporary Chinese poetry from its classical or even modern counterpart? Where does Chinese poetry stand vis-à-vis the so-called world literature that is often dictated by an unequal East/West power structure? Who are the true pioneers and seers of modern or contemporary Chinese poetry other than the names we have been normally told? Can contemporary Chinese poetry further expand its boundaries and find alternative identities and voices that are at once open, experimental, radical and significant in a globalized world? With such questions in mind, these three lectures by poet and professor Yibing Huang will introduce three famous, even canonical yet often misunderstood Chinese writers and re-examine their distinctive relationships with contemporary Chinese poetry.
These lectures will be conducted in English.
Lecture 1 (October 22)
Duo Duo: From Underground Poetry to World Poetry
Duo Duo (1951- ) started writing poetry in the early 1970s in Beijing and many of his early poems critiqued the Cultural Revolution from an insider’s point of view in a highly sophisticated, original style. Often considered one of the most prominent Misty Poets among contemporary Chinese poetry, he has kept a cautious distance from any literary trends or labeling. From 1989 to 2004 Duo Duo lived in exile in the West and kept a strong output of poetry and prose writing. From 2004 to the present, Duo Duo has been living in China. Duo Duo is the twenty-first laureate of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the first Chinese recipient of the prestigious award.
To register visit: http://www.chinainstitute.org