Re: Xue Heng School aned classical Chinese.

[Chuck Wooldridge <woldrdge@Princeton.EDU>]

I'm perhaps betraying my own conservatism here, but I don't see how the 
student could get along without some knowledge of classical.  If nothing 
else, the poetic models that Xue Heng and other literary movements draw 
from/ depart from are going to be classical. 

In other words, if the student doesn't know classical, (s)he will be 
vulnerable to the criticism of simply ignoring the classical influences 
of the movement. 

Also, I haven't worked on literature, but my limited experience with 
early twentieth century essays, academic articles, etc is that many, 
although not purely classical, are written in a style that more or less 
necessitates good knowledge of classical. 

I'm a historian rather than a literature guy, and would defer to 
somebody with more experience in the field.   For my part, I read a lot 
of classical for my dissertation on the 19th century, and I still find 
some early twentieth century texts rough going.

All that being said, it shouldn't be impossible for the student to find 
an outside advisor willing to help with such matters.


Daniel Frederick Vukovich wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> Have a very specific and important query for any of you who might have an
> opinion.
>
> A prospective PhD student I know of through a colleague is wanting to do a PhD
> dissertation on the Xue Heng School (a re-interpretation of them as NOT as
> conservative as we have thought, or as much as the May 4th/New Culture people
> did). 
>
> My query is this: does this student need dept. support (advisors/teachers) who
> know classical Chinese.  Is that rather crucial for doing such a project?  
> The dept/program in question does not have anyone who knows classical Chinese
> and they are all wondering if or how necessary this would be.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Do let me know-- even mere opinions would be helpful.
>
> thanks,  Dan
>
>