Nostalgia and Resistance: Gender and the Poetry of Chen Yinke

A discussion with Zuoxiao Zuzhou, a leading musician, composer, and activist of contemporary China.

Speaker/Performer: Waiyee Li, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Harvard University

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Using the later poetry and historical writings of Chen Yinke as example, the speaker will explore how gender roles and gender boundaries are brought to bear on moral and political choices in traumatic historical moments. Chen’s use of feminine tropes aligns him with the tradition of indirect expression and allegorical meanings, and his empathy with notable women from history becomes a mode of cultural nostalgia that also amounts to a kind of political resistance.

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu, 510-643-6321