The Center for the Study of Globalization and Cultures (CSGC), Department of Comparative Literature, presents:
Writing Desire in Times of Crisis: A Comparative Study of Xu Dishan and Gendün Chöpel
危機時刻的欲望書寫：以許地山和更敦群培為對照的闡釋
Speaker:
Yang Qu, PhD Candidate in South Asian Studies and Comparative Literature, Harvard University
Respondents:
Nicole Huang, Professor, Department of Comparative Literature, HKU
Daniel Elam, Assistant Professor, Department of Comparative Literature, HKU
Date: Friday, January 17, 2025
Time: 4:00 pm Hong Kong Time
Venue: Room 417, 4/F, The Jockey Club Tower, HKU
All are welcome. Registration is required.
https://bit.ly/CSGC17Jan2025
The concept of “kāma,” or desire, as one of the four aims of human life (“puruṣārtha”) and the central focus of the Indian science of sensual pleasure (“kāmaśāstra”), was conceptualized and developed in medieval India. But how did this concept find its way into the intellectual circles of twentieth-century Chinese and Tibetan literati? Moreover, how did their writings—through textual translations, literary compositions, and generic transcreations—give rise to a complex intertextuality that uncovers the under-examined dimensions of desire in modern China?
This talk explores the works of key intellectuals from the broader Sinophone world, including Xu Dishan (許地山, 1894–1941) and Dai Wangshu (戴望舒, 1905–1950), in parallel with notable figures from the Tibetophone world, such as Ju Mipham (’Ju mi pham, 1846–1912) and Gendün Chöpel (Dge ’dun chos ’phel, 1903–1951). Despite their distinct cultural and historical contexts, these figures share a common fascination with desire, which they approach in various ways: as an intellectual pursuit, a cultural taboo, a commercial commodity, and, at times, a forbidden path to spiritual liberation. These diverse dimensions extend far beyond conventional understandings of sexuality and erotic love, particularly in times of crisis—including social upheaval, war, and personal spiritual dilemmas. Their intellectual engagements with desire thus expand the “’kāma’ world” beyond the South Asian subcontinent, offering a lens through which to imagine a place for Indian erotics in modern China.
Yang Qu (曲洋) is a PhD Candidate in South Asian Studies and Comparative Literature at Harvard University, under the mentorship of Professor David Der-wei Wang. His dissertation project, “Obsession with India: Literature, Travels, and the Quest for Alternative Modernity in Modern China,” examines the complex engagement with India in early twentieth-century Chinese intellectual thought, exploring themes of national rejuvenation, spirituality, revolution, eroticism, and literary subjectivity. His research has been recognized with several awards, including the Lo Chia-luen International Sinology Scholarship (National Chengchi University, 2023), the “Ms. Yu Tsai Yuhui Special Award” from the China Times Cultural Foundation, and a Doctoral Fellowship from the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (CCKF, 2024).
