Women and Scandal in Early Modern Chinese Literature: The Journal Meiyu (Eyebrow Talk, 1914-1916)
Women and Scandal in Early Modern Chinese Literature: The Journal Meiyu (Eyebrow Talk, 1914-1916)
Professor Michel Hockx (SOAS) and Liying Sun (Heidelberg)
Date: 9 March 2010Time: 1:00 PM
Finishes: 9 March 2010Time: 3:00 PM
Venue: Brunei GalleryRoom: B102
Type of Event: Seminar
Series: CCS Seminar Programme
Abstract
The journal Meiyu (Eyebrow Talk) was founded in Shanghai in 1914 and banned by government decree in 1916. It was among the earliest modern literary journals to have a female editor and to feature contributions by a relatively large number of women authors. It also displayed a strong interest in reproducing images of women, and it became notorious for its tendency to include images of female nudes. In later historiography, the journal has largely been overlooked, or dismissed as an example of a vulgar, market-driven publication. In this paper, the result of joint research between a literature scholar (Hockx) and a historian (Sun), a closer look is taken at the publishing history and the textual and visual contents of Eyebrow Talk, as well as at the exact process by which it was banned.
Further information Centres & Programmes, rb41@soas.ac.uk or Tel 020 7898 4892/3
Organiser: Centres & Programmes, REO
