Re: Xue Heng School aned classical Chinese.

[Daniel Frederick Vukovich <vukovich@hkucc.hku.hk>]

Hi Chuck,

Thanks much, to you and Viren too who emailed me offlist.

You're hardly being conservative.  But actually I am assuming that the PhD
student knows classical Chinese.  

So the issue is a lack of dept support/colleagues who know classical.  Do you
think the student is best advised going elsewhere than this dept in HK in this
case, assuming she has other options?  

thanks, Dan

-- 
Daniel F. Vukovich
Assistant Professor
Comparative Literature, School of Humanities
208 Main Bldg.
The University of Hong Kong
(852) 2859 7934


Quoting 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
> >
> >  
> >
>