Fw: H-ASIA: AAS Panel: Mr. Science at the Writing Desk (Panel #120)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Field" <shanghaidrew@GMAIL.COM>
To: <H-ASIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 6:05 AM
Subject: H-ASIA: AAS Panel: Mr. Science at the Writing Desk (Panel #120)

H-ASIA
Mar 30 2011

AAS Panel: Mr. Science at the Writing Desk (Panel #120)
**************************************
From: Nathaniel Isaacson <nathaniel.isaacson@gmail.com>

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite any interested parties to attend our panel on
science and adventure fiction in twentieth century China. Please see
the
abstract and panel information below.

Note: Presentations will be limited to ten minutes; interested parties
should contact Nathaniel Isaacson (nki@ucla.edu) in order to read the
full-length papers prior to the conference.

Mr. Science at the Writing Desk: Science Fiction, Adventure, and
Utopia in
Modern Chinese Literature

Panel Co-chairs: Jonathan Christopher Hamm; Nathaniel Isaacson

Discussant: Wu Yan (Beijing Normal University)

Panelists: Paola Iovena; Li Guangyi; Ma Shaoling; Nathaniel Isaacson;
Jontathan Christopher Hamm

Panel Abstract:
At the turn of the twentieth century, seminal authors like Lu
Xun,
Liang Qichao and Wu Jianren saw popular genres as a mechanism for the
promotion of empiricism, national consciousness and social critique;
their
vision is reflected in contemporary authors like Tong Enzheng and Alai.
Previously denied serious academic consideration, non-realist genres
including science fiction, adventure, martial arts, utopian narratives
and
popular science writing have begun to gain attention as scholars of
modern
Chinese literature have started to address their relation to
colonial/imperial discourses and political critique.
The papers in this panel employ varied but interrelated texts to
address several key questions concerning the promotion, circulation, and
reception of fictional sub-genres in twentieth-century China. How did
‗science' come to replace the Neo-Confucian 'investigation of
things and
extension of knowledge?' When western forms cross-pollinated with
anecdotes, martial arts fiction and stories of the strange, what hybrids
were born? Can a co-optation of the adventure tale turn the discursive
knives of empire upon their wielder, and if so what issues arise? Is
there
'Utopia with Chinese characteristics?' How are mental and manual labor
distinguished, and what becomes of humanity when labor – both
productive and
reproductive – is performed by machines? Such questions offer
avenues of
comparison that pose meaningful challenges to canonical literary
history and
help develop a more nuanced understanding of the place of Mr. Science in
China.

Thank you,
Nathaniel Isaacson

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