History Through Literature—The “feng” of Nanyang and “tu” of Singapore

Topic: History Through Literature—The feng of Nanyang and tu of Singapore

Speaker: Professor David Wang

This lecture seeks to introduce a new direction of Nanyang research through a study of Singapore Chinese literature. Professor David Wang would discuss the fengtu 风土 of Nanyang and Singapore, and go beyond that by exploring the concepts represented by feng and tu respectively. The tension between feng and tu in Singapore literature has existed since Khoo Seok Wan’s time and Professor Wang would continue this conversation by looking at contemporary literature.

Professor David Wang is the Edward C. Henderson Professor of Chinese Literature at Harvard University, and Academician, Academia Sinica. He has extensively written on modern and contemporary Chinese literature, comparative literary theory, and Chinese intellectuals and artists in the 20th century.