Lectures & Other Activities
The “Cultural Devil” and Forgotten Forms: A Discussion on the Narrative Paradigms and Erasure of Meaning in Contemporary Novels (16/4/2025)
Published 2025-04-02
The Mr. Simon Suen and Mrs. Mary Suen Sino-Humanitas Institute will organize the new Frontiers in Sino-Humanitas Lecture series and is glad to invite Dr. Ye Zi, Associate Professor of Nanjing University to deliver a public lecture at HKBU in mid-April, titled The “Cultural Devil” and Forgotten Forms: A Discussion on the Narrative Paradigms and Erasure of Meaning in Contemporary Novels.
Frontiers in Sino-Humanitas Lecture: The “Cultural Devil” and Forgotten Forms: A Discussion on the Narrative Paradigms and Erasure of Meaning in Contemporary Novels
Organizer: Mr. Simon Suen and Mrs. Mary Suen Sino-Humanitas Institute, HKBU
Date: 16 April 2025, Wednesday
Time: 4:00 – 5:30 pm
Venue: Room CEC911, 9/F, Christian Education Centre, Ho Sin Hang Campus, Hong Kong Baptist University
Speaker: Dr. YE Zi (Associate Professor and Masters Supervisor, Department of Comparative Literature and World Literature, School of Liberal Arts, Nanjing University)
Moderator: Prof. ZHANG Hongsheng (Director, Mr. Simon Suen and Mrs. Mary Suen Sino-Humanitas Institute, Hong Kong Baptist University)
Language: Mandarin
With the speaker's authorization, the lecture video is available to watch online: https://hkbutube.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/inner.php?id=BTS-101238
Summary
葉子老師題為「『文化魔鬼』和被遺忘的形狀——也談當代小說的敘述範式與意義抹去」的講座，圍繞當代小説家蘇童即將出版的新作《好天氣》進行了文本分析與推介，並將這一小説置諸當代小説敘述範式與突圍的大序列之中予以檢視。
葉子老師介紹道，《好天氣》最早名爲《鹹水塘史》，蘇童手繪有一幅「鹹水塘示意圖」，鹹水塘界限分明地分出了兩個世界：「我」家也即鄧家位於塘東，塘東承接城北公路，代表城市；塘西則有一座廢棄的祠堂，它所銜接的便是鄉村、迷信與過往。同時，小説中設置了兩位近乎鏡像的人物：那便是「我」的母親蒲招娣與塘西蕭家的黃招娣，「我」的弟弟鄧東升與蕭家的兩個龍鳳胎孩子甚至是在一天出生的。小説背景設定在文革末期，這幾年也是由土葬改爲火葬的轉折期，「我」的祖母未能如願以償土葬。而在「我」的祖母去世之前，向塘西蕭家傾盡所有積蓄訂製了一口上好的柏木棺材，火葬後祖母的靈魂一直纏繞在鹹水塘西，蕭家爲了消除靈異事件，便將柏木棺材改爲課桌，但祖母的靈魂依然纏繞；最終蕭家將祖母的墓碑混雜鵝食沈入鹹水塘底。小説中還有一個頗具隱喻的情節：那便是「我」的父親用一本《朝霞》雜誌扇打前來認錯的蕭木匠的耳光，《朝霞》是文革期間的重要文學類期刊，頗具時代特色，蘇童寫道：「我注意到人群對我父親以書代手的行爲普遍贊賞，他在人們的眼裏文質彬彬，代表著文化，本不該動粗，現在用一本雜誌扇蕭木匠耳光，實在是最恰當不過了……」葉子老師對這一關鍵情節有著細緻入微的文本分析。緊接著，葉子老師還將小説《河岸》中的鄧少香與《好天氣》中的鄧羅氏進行了對比。
在講座中，葉子老師指出愛倫坡、卡夫卡、本雅明、阿倫特、福克納等西方小説家、思想家對當代中國小説的深刻影響，以及當代小説是如何進行範式突圍及克服「影響之焦慮」的。講座結束後，來自浸會大學中文系、翻譯系的老師、研究生們把握機會，向葉子老師提問並交流，收穫頗豐。
(Recorded by Zhang Zixuan, research postgraduate of the Institute)
About the Speaker
葉子，南京大學文學院比較文學與世界文學專業副教授，碩士生導師。南京大學匡亞明學院文科強化部文學學士，復旦大學中文系文學博士，新加坡南洋理工大學訪問研究員，日本東京大學文學部訪問學者，中國現代文學館特邀研究員；入選江蘇首批青年批評拔尖人才、南京大學「仲英青年學者」。英美文學與文化期刊的研究者，業餘從事文學翻譯。著有《不確定的批評》。
Click to know about the other Frontiers in Sino-Humanitas Lectures:
- Changes and Significance of Studies in Chinese Poetry in the 13th Century, by Prof. UCHIYAMA Seiya
- The Ancestral Temple Stipend System and Travel Literature of the Southern Song Dynasty, by Prof. HOU Tijian
- Buddhist Stories during the Liu Song Period and War Memories of the Northern and Southern Confrontation: Examining the Documentary Value of the Japanese Collection of Records on Guanyin’s Miracles, by Prof. OHIRA Sachiyo;
- How Japanese Gozan Monks Interpreted the Poetry of Huang Tingjian, by Prof. MIDORIKAWA Hideki
- Painting in Poetry, People in Paintings: Self-Writing and Image Construction in the Inscriptions of Qing Dynasty Women Poets, by Prof. Ching-Fen Cho