The Oriental Society of Australia
Starts from 6 PM Monday 8 October
Kevin Lee Room of Brennan MaCallum Building (A18), the University of Sydney
Gao Xingjian has always rejected proposals to write his biography, arguing that while his works are important, the author is not. In this presentation my starting point is to consider how despite receiving his entire formal education in Mao Zedong’s New China, his creations in literature and art demonstrate profound erudition in both Chinese and Western cultural and literary history. From this I seek to extrapolate various facets of his creative aesthetics to see how and why he has made significant breakthroughs in various creative genres and media.
About the Speaker
Mabel Lee was the translator of both Gao’s major novels, Soul Mountain (Ling Shan) and One Man’s Bible (Yige Ren de Shegjing) as well as other works.
The lecture will be chaired by Prof Jon Eugene von Kowallis (UNSW), current President of the Oriental Society.
For further information on the lecture, please contact j.vonkowallis@unsw.edu.au
The lecture does not require pre-registration, but participants wishing to attend the dinner for the speaker following the lecture at Spicy Sichuan, 1 Glebe Point Road, Sydney should email Dr Seiko Yasumoto, Honorary Secretary of the Society, beforehand for the reservation count (Seiko.Yasumoto@sydney.edu.au).