Guest lecture – Michelle Yeh: Why Modern Chinese Poetry? – Challenges and Opportunities

The DFG Center for Advanced Studies “Russian-Language Poetry in Transition” (FOR 2603) cordially invites you to a lecture with Prof. Dr. Michelle Yeh streamed live via Zoom. Please register by e-mail with our coordinator Katja Baharova (baharova@uni-trier.de) no later than May 18th, 2021, to receive the stream’s access data.

The talk begins with an overview of modern Chinese poetry as an academic field in the English-speaking world. Then it discusses the vastly different roles and functions of poetry in traditional China and modern China. While modern poetry has faced significant challenges as a result of structural changes and the “fetishization” of classical poetry, the talk also points to the unique contributions of modern poetry.

Prof. Dr. Michelle Yeh received her PhD in comparative literature from the University of Southern California and is currently Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Davis. Her primary research interests are modern Chinese poetry, East-West comparative poetics, Taiwan literature, and translation.