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An exhibition on Taiwanese writer San Mao (pen name of Chen Ping, 1943-1991) at UOW College Hong Kong in mid-July was the latest in a series of activities that showcased the writer’s life and writings. The research project, led by Dr. Mandy CHAN Sze-man, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, was awarded a research grant of about HK$270,000 under the Faculty Development Scheme (FDS) of the Research Grants Council (RGC) for the Local Self-financing Degree Sector in 2021/22. Her two-year project, entitled “Becoming Sanmao: Author Performativity, Life-writing Stylistics and Reader Responses – An Integrated Author-Text-Reader Approach to (Re)reading Sanmao (1970s to 2020s)”, aims to (re)read the life and works of Sanmao, a celebrity author and cultural icon in the mid-1970s to 80s whose legacy continues to the present day. The project explores Sanmao’s life and works through an integrated author-text-reader approach and contributes to situating Sanmao in the international literary scene by making some Chinese-only materials available to non-Asian readership and scholarship, especially amid the recent beginning of a wave of “Sanmao studies” in English and other European-language worlds. Scholars, relatives and friends associated with Sanmao were on hand at the College on 15 July to share some of their insights into the writer’s life. The founders of the Echo Book Club and the Managing Director of Crown Publishing Hong Kong were also present. The exhibition continues until 20 July at the College and the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre. Other research outputs will include academic essays and a sustainable website about Sanmao, providing information in English and showcasing the critical and creative responses from readers of Sanmao generated throughout the project. |
