Event November 18 - Literary Jokes in Song Dynasty ¡°Remarks on Poetry¡± (shihua ÔŠÔ’)
Monday, November 18 at 5:15 PM
CLAIRE SMALL 104
with Dr. Xiao Rao (University of California, Irvine)
Dr. Rao¡¯s talk explores the place of humor in Middle Period Chinese literary criticism, focusing on anecdotes in ¡°remarks on poetry¡± that feature puns, twisted interpretations, or outright nonsensi- cal verses. The anecdotes are linked to an important concept in Chinese literary criticism known as ¡°Poetic Defects¡± (shibing ÔŠ²¡). First used to describe shortcomings in a set of prosodic rules, the notion of ¡°defect¡± was extended during the Tang-Song period to encompass a broader range of poetic features. Probing the relation between humor and ¡°poetic defects,¡± the talk shows how Song literati deployed humor to critique poetic values and practices considered problematic during a period of an expanding literati class and the vernacularization of elite culture.
Co-Sponsored by Asian Languages and Civilizations
