The Numata Lectures in Buddhist Studies and the Department of Classics and Religion Present: Prof. Wendy Swartz

Prof. Wendy Swartz Associate Professor of Chinese Literature, Rutgers University Author of Reading Tao Yuanming: Shifting Paradigms of Historical Reception (427-1900) A Poet’s Repertoire in Early Medieval China Though Sun Chuo 孫綽 (314-371) is little-known today, he was considered to be the best poet of his era. He was one of the masters of xuan 玄 (abstruse) -style poetry, which drew extensively from Buddhist and Lao-Zhuang thought. Within this milieu, we see increasing interconnectedness not only among different intellectual repertoires (e.g. Confucian, Lao-Zhuang, and Buddhist) but also different branches of learning (e.g. philosophy and poetry). In her talk, Prof. Swartz demonstrates how Sun Chuo made use of diverse, heterogeneous sources and adapted them to his needs. She engages in a study of medieval Chinese intertextuality by examining how Sun Chuo’s writings function as part of a network of textual relations, and are thus not reducible to attributions of influence, or mere tracing of sources. Her work has special significance and ramifications for early medieval Chinese literary history in light of the fluid boundaries of textual traditions and the dynamic interactions among expanding repertoires of literary and cultural meanings.
Location:
Social Sciences 1153
Speaker:
Professor Wendy Swartz, Rutgers University
More information at http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/calendar/numata-lectures-buddhist-studies-and-department-classics-and-religion-present-prof-wendy