This study offers a comparative analysis of enlightenment and nationalism in the poems of Shin, Chae-ho （申采浩), a Korean nationalist thinker, and Lu Xun （魯迅）, a foundational figure in modern Chinese literature. It aims to explore and compare the enlightenment and nationalist ideas of these intellectuals through the unique art form of poetry, a genre that—though not dominant in their work—holds significant ideological and literary value. This research examines how themes of enlightenment and nationalism emerge in their poetry, identifying both differences and commonalities in their perspectives. Additionally, it analyzes formal elements, such as rhyme, structure, imagery, and symbolism, to provide a holistic view of their poetic expressions. Through this comparative study, the research seeks to deepen understanding of the intellectual landscapes of Korea and China and offer new insights into modern Korea-China relations.

AI-generated literature encapsulates a profound interplay of human history, culture, and emotion, while simultaneously revealing the distinct logic inherent to machine “thinking.” This hybrid characteristic of human and technological interaction presents significant challenges to traditional literary criticism, necessitating the formulation of a new paradigm for evaluating AI literature. This paper examines the AI-authored novel The Death of an Author (2023) as a case study, focusing on its unique representations of authorship, narrative structure, and ethical dilemmas through targeted critical practices. The classic issues within traditional literary criticism gain new meanings and complexities as a result of the integration of artificial intelligence. By engaging with this case study, the paper aims to offer fresh perspectives and methodologies for the critique of AI literature, thereby promoting innovative transformations in literary criticism paradigms in the technological era.

In his book, The Translator’s Invisibility, Lawrence Venuti discusses how the emphasis on fluency in the Anglo-American literary market has relegated translators to the state of invisibility. Often, such an emphasis (whose aim is to make readers feel that they are not reading the text in translation but in the original) conceals the fact of the text’s translation and the conditions and context in which the translation was undertaken.

Focus of this essay will be to explore the problems caused by the Anglo-American dominance of the domestication as a translation strategy and work towards an alternative that will retain the otherness of the translation, using a theory of Levinas.

이 논문은 횔덜린(Friedrich Hölderlin, 1770~1843)과 김춘수(金春洙, 1922~2004) 신화시의(神話詩, Mythopoesie, 獨 Mythopoetische) ‘예수’의 의미를 칼 바르트(Karl Barth, 1886~1968)의 신학적 관점으로 구명하는 것을 목표로 한다. 횔덜린과 김춘수는 모두 관념의 세계를 상징적 언어로써 심미적으로 형상화하는 형이상시(形而上詩, metaphysical poetry)의 창작을 통해 인간과 신의 본질에 대한 존재론적 성찰을 추구했다는 공통점이 있다.

특히 이들은 인성(人性)에 대한 성찰에서 깊은 존재의 심연을 발견하고, 인성의 한계를 극복하여 이상적인 존재로 거듭남을 추구하는 과정에서 신성(神性)에 대한 사유에 이른다. 이러한 맥락에서 신성에 대한 사유는 순수한 존재란 무엇인가를 묻는 진리를 찾아가는 도정이라고 볼 수 있다. 이들의 이러한 진리를 향한 시작의 여정은 신화시를 낳게 한다. 횔덜린과 김춘수의 신화시는 인류사에 대한 역사철학적 인식을 반영하고 있다. 특히, 예수의 죽음을 인간의 가장 큰 비극으로 인식한다는 것도 두 시인의 공통점으로 나타난다. 이에 이 논문은 횔덜린과 김춘수의 신화시의 ‘예수’의 의미를 밝히는 비교 연구를 하고자 한다. 이러한 연구는 두 시인의 시세계의 본질을 관통하는 연구로서 가치가 있을 것이다. 본고는 이러한 연구를 하는 데 칼 바르트의 『교회교의학』으로부터 신학적 개념을 원용하고자 한다. 그 이유는 횔덜린은 튀빙엔 신학교에서 신학을 수학하였으며, 김춘수는 독학으로 라인홀트 니부어의 신학을 수학하여서, 이들의 시세계의 근저에 신학적 세계관이 놓여 있다고 할 수 있기 때문이다.

칼 바르트의 『교회교의학』은 예수의 의미를 다음과 같이 규정하고 있다. 바르트에 따르면 하나님은 아버지, 아들, 성령의 세 가지 존재 양식으로 계시는 삼위일체적 주권이다. 이 삼위일체 하나님은 인간에게 ‘당신(das Du)’으로 다가와, 인간의 ‘나(das Ich)’와 만나 계시된다. 이때 하나님의 계시는 곧 말씀의 성육신(성육신)인 예수 그리스도의 존재로 구체화된다.예수 그리스도는 참 하나님이자 참 인간으로서, 하나님이 인간의 본질과 현존재를 택하여 거룩하게 하는 존재이다. 바르트는 예수 그리스도의 탄생을 '하나님의 피조물로의 낮아지심'(Kondeszendenz)으로 보며, 이 사건을 통해 하나님이 인간 속에 현존하신다고 본다. 예수의 존재 자체가 인간을 향한 하나님의 자유이며, 이 자유는 하나님의 자기계시다.

예수 그리스도는 인간과 동일한 존재로서 인간 세계에 들어오신 하나님의 자기증거이다. 바르트에 따르면, 인간이 자기 존재를 제대로 이해하고 참된 현존재의 의미를 깨닫기 위해서는 예수 그리스도라는 계시를 받아들여야만 한다. 왜냐하면 예수 그리스도 안에서 창조자와 피조물이 합일되어 있기 때문이다. 이러한 창조는 시간의 시작이자, 인간이 하나님과 맺는 계약의 역사를 여는 출발점이다.

인간은 하나님의 창조와 더불어 존재하게 되었으나, 무(Das Nichtige)와의 대립을 통해 타락을 경험한다. 그러나 하나님은 예수 그리스도를 통해 이 무(無)를 심판하시고, 이를 통해 피조물에 대한 하나님의 통치를 이루신다. 이 통치가 바로 ‘하늘나라’이다. 바르트에 따르면, 예수 그리스도의 십자가와 부활 사건이 바로 하나님과 인간의 화해를 이루는 핵심이며, 이 화해는 완전한 창조의 차원이 아닌 타락한 현실에 이루어진다. 따라서 예수는 인간을 위한 하나님이자, 온전한 인간으로서, 인간 존재를 왜곡된 선택에서 구원하여 영원한 삶을 선사하는 존재이다.

칼 바르트의 이러한 신학적 관점으로 2장에서는 두 시인의 공통적인 세계관으로 신이 부재하는 시대의 의미가 논의될 것이다. 횔덜린은 이러한 시대를 ‘세계의 밤’으로 명명하였으며, 김춘수는 신이 죽은 시대로 인식하였다. 이처럼 신이 부재하는 시대, 인간의 깊은 심연의 발견을 두 시인의 출발점으로 보고자 한다. 3장에서는 예수의 ‘죽음’의 의미를 횔덜린의 「빵과 포도주」 등의 시편과 김춘수의 「겟세마네에서」 등의 시편을 통해 살펴보고자 한다. 예수의 죽음은 두 시인에게 인류 최대의 비극이지만, 신학적으로는 인간의 타락에 대한 정죄이자 심판이다. 4장에서는 예수의 ‘부활’의 의미를 횔덜린의 「빵과 포도주」 등의 시편과 김춘수의 ‘예수 시편’을 통해 살펴보고자 한다. 횔덜린의 시에서는 성체성사라는 예수 부활의 약속이기 때문에 세계의 밤은 예수의 재림을 기다리는 신성한 시간으로 재규정된다. 김춘수의 시에서는 인류의 종말을 연상케 하는 역사에서 예수의 심판이 올 것이라는 묵시록적 인식이 나타난다. 마지막으로 5장에서는 횔덜린과 김춘수의 신화시의 ‘예수’의 의미의 비교 문학적 의의를 밝히고자 한다. 이 연구의 결과는 세계문학사에서 인류의 미래에 혜안을 제시하는 형시상시로서의 신화시의 가치와 인성과 신성을 통한 인간 존재의 성찰의 가치를 드높일 것으로 기대된다.

This essay discusses the uncanny materiality of the past, being rediscovered and often reconstructed to tell stories of the sites as locations of the memory of the nation. This essay addresses the disappearance of medium in history, focusing on how the historical past is re-created on the present space. The role of historical narrative, which used to work as an interstice between the two different time zones, is now being replaced by the immediate convergence of the past and the present temporalities. The uncanniness is detected in actions such as passing without meeting, seeing without looking and meeting without touching, and imagining that the space is entered and experienced. In order to examine the role of such (im)medium, this essay reviews the thoughts on history and historical past, mainly proposed by Walter Benjamin, who demonstrated a new model of time in his unfinished collection of notes and citations now comprised under the title of Das Passagen-Werk (The Arcade Project). According to Benjamin, time progresses in accumulative fashion rather than a linear mode. Focusing on the role of medium, this essay discusses how history is no longer working as a medium, but space is being used as a nodal point where the two different timelines, memories and experiences concur. To be more precise, this study demonstrates how the space intervenes history in the name of historiography. The diminishing role of mediator found at the actual sites of historicization in Seoul will be reviewed in connection to Han Kang's question, articulated at her Nobel Prize Lecture.

Mensagem, Fernando Pessoa's only book published in Portuguese during his lifetime, praises the national “heroes” of his native Portugal and celebrates their achievements. Some of his avant-garde colleagues criticized the work for its nationalism, as it mythologizes national heroes to an excessive degree. However, if we look at the structure of the poem, it is not simply a hymn to national heroes, but contains several symbols in its structure. First of all, Pessoa's Mesagem is divided into parts 1, 2, and 3. The first part is “The Coat of Arms (of the nation),” the second part is “The Sea of Portugal,” and the third part is “Discovery.” In particular, Part 1, “The Coat of Arms,” has the same structure as the flag of Portugal at the time. Part 1 consists of five chapters: 1. Land, 2. Castle, 3. Five castle marks, 4. Crown, 5. Insignia, and if you look at the number of poems in each chapter, you can see that it consists of two lands, seven castles, five castle marks, one crown, and three insignia, just like the Portuguese coat of arms. In terms of content, the book relates the meaning of the Portuguese coat of arms to historical figures and mythology, starting from the time before the founding of the country, through the first dynasty, when the Portuguese were focused on conquering the Moors, to the second dynasty, when they began their maritime expansion. We will analyze the signifier-signified relationship established between the external structure, or form, and the internal content, and read the symbols and signs that are both concealed and revealed through the structure.

아버지의 눈을 뜨게 하려 목숨을 버리는 심청을 주인공으로 하는 <심청전>을 연구 대상으로 <심청전>에서 긴장이 해소되는 지점을 중심으로 ‘안도’를 읽어나가 본다. 죽음을 가운데 둔 이 작품에서 향유층이 죽음으로 인해 빚어지는 긴장감을 어떻게 덜어내게 되는지를 심청이 죽음을 받아들이는 지점, 심청이 용궁에 이르는 지점, 심청이 연꽃을 타고 육지로 나오는 지점, 심청이 궁궐에 이르러 왕과 만나는 지점에 나누어 살펴본다. 이후 이를 ‘숭고미’를 염두에 두고 ‘안도’와 관련하여 해석한다. 서양에서의 숭고미가 ‘자연’에 기반한 것임에 반해 인간의 도리를 중심에 둔 동양에서의 숭고함에 대한 관념은 그와 다른 것임을 읽어나가며 아버지를 위해 희생하는 딸을 그리는 작품인 <심청전>이 왜 아름다운 고전으로 읽히게 되었는지를 미적 측면에서 읽어나간다. 이로써 그간 심청의 죽음 앞에 놓였던 ‘숭고’의 의미를 재탐색하며 심청의 죽음이 보여줄 수 있는 ‘위함’이 무엇인지 새롭게 살펴본다. 이를 통해 ‘희생제의’적인 측면이 강조되는 한국 고전문학에서 도출할 수 있는 미감(美感)의 의미를 화두로 던져보고자 한다.

This study aims to analyze Shimcheongjeon, which depicts Simcheong who gives up her life to open his father's eyes. Focusing on the scenes where narrative tension is relieved in Shimcheongjeon, ‘relief’ should be read in this study. This study shall analyze how the readers relieve the tension caused by Shimcheong’s death. For the analysis, the scenes where Simcheong accepts her death, Shimcheong reaches Yonggung, Shimcheong comes out to land on a lotus flower, and Shimcheong reaches the palace and meets the king. After that, it is interpreted in relation to relief concerning with sublime. While the sublime in the West is based on Nature, the idea of sublime in the East centers on behavior and thoughts in human. It could show that an aesthetic point of view why Shimcheongjeon, a work depicting a daughter who sacrifices her life for her father, was read as a beautiful classic. With this, the meaning of sublime in Korean classic literature text could be newly interpreted. Through this, the meaning of aesthetics that can be derived from Korean classical literature, which emphasizes the sacrifice for the others could be read in another point of view.

This study aims to analyze the issues of women and justice represented in Korean popular culture, focusing on the recently released Korean crime film Citizen Deok-hee(2024). The film, which deals with the emerging crime of voice phishing, is based on a true story. The protagonist, Deok-hee, is modeled after Kim Seong-ja, a victim of voice phishing, who later played a decisive role in uncovering a criminal organization. Kim Seong-ja’s story reveals the deeply embedded male-centered structure within the law, which continues to marginalize women. In other words, although the democratic judicial system pursues the neutrality and fairness of the law, it has historically adopted the perspectives and positions of men as universal, while ignoring or concealing women’s perspectives, experiences, and voices.

In particular, Korean crime films and dramas, which are actively produced and consumed, often reflect a stereotypically male-centered structure of law and crime. The heroes who mercilessly punish villains are usually men, while the victims they rescue are typically the socially vulnerable—children, the elderly, and women. While crime films pursue poetic justice rooted in the moral triumph of good over evil, they maintain a male-centric narrative that sidelines women and other social minorities by focusing on heroic male figures. Citizen Deok-hee, by basing its story on Kim Seong-ja, a real-life crime victim and key figure in resolving the case, criticizes the male-centric nature of the legal system and prompts viewers to reconsider the actual meaning of so-called “gender justice.”

In conclusion, this study argues that Korean popular culture demonstrates how law and institutions must listen to “women’s voices” in order to truly recognize women as legal subjects, and that doing so is essential for the realization of genuine gender justice and equality.

This study compares the Spanish novela negra and digital detective games to examine how both forms, while sharing a common detective narrative structure, construct fundamentally different models of reader/player subjectivity under distinct cultural and media environments. The primary cases include Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Pepe Carvalho series, its 1988 game adaptation Los Pájaros de Bangkok, and the modern digital detective game Disco Elysium.

Novela negra, rooted in the literary tradition of 19th-century detective fiction, presupposes truth as an internally embedded and interpretable entity, positioning the reader as a passive, empathetic, and interpretive subject. In contrast, digital detective games reconfigure truth as a construct generated through the player’s choices and interactions within technologically driven, interactive frameworks. Consequently, the user shifts from an external observer to an internal operator who actively engages in the unfolding of the narrative. Los Pájaros de Bangkok, situated at the boundary between literature and games, functions as a transitional narrative in which the weakening of traditional detective structures is accompanied by the emergence of game-like interactivity, revealing the structural shifts between media.

By comparing these narrative systems, this study argues that the evolution of detective storytelling is not merely a formal change but a reflection of broader cultural transformations in how subjectivity is imagined. Specifically, it shows how sensory perception, technological mediation, and cultural logic shape narrative structures. Ultimately, this research contends that literature and games should not be seen as isolated genres but as interrelated platforms for experimenting with the cultural construction of narrative subjectivity.

This study aims to examine more deeply the relationship and significance between the concept of "stylization(양식화)" and the critique of "schematic realism" through a focus on the criticisms published by Kim Hyeon in the mid-1960s. This will be developed through research in two particular categories. First concerns the influence of Bachelard inherent in the concept of "stylization." Kim Hyeon's reception of Bachelard is well known, and this is particularly evident in his critical work from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s. This paper argues that "stylization" is related to Kim Hyeon's major concept of "enveloping(감싸기)" and that it is based on the scientific epistemology of French philosophy. Furthermore, this argument will be advanced through an approach to "factual form(사실형)" in the critique of "schematic realism(도식적 리얼리즘)" found together in criticisms dealing with "stylization." Second, based on this, we aim to examine why Kim Hyeon develops his discussion centered on "religion(종교)" in "A Study on the Stylization of Korean Literature(한국문학의 양식화에 대한 고찰)" published in 1967. Through this, we seek to reveal that the concept of "stylization" is not simply a matter of style, but rather an epistemological concept closer to the French term modalité, which is more often translated as "modality" rather than "style" in Korean.

본 연구는 한국의 전설적 존재인 구미호와 서구의 초자연적 존재인 뱀파이어의 현대적 변용을 비교 분석한다. 연구 대상으로는 2020년 tvN 드라마 <구미호뎐>과 영화 <트와일라잇>을 선정하였다. 과거 구미호와 뱀파이어는 인간을 위협하는 부정적 존재였다. 이들은 인간이 될 수 없다는 한과 슬픔 속에서 비극적으로 형상화되었다. 그러나 두 작품에서는 이들의 모습이 달라진다. 이제 그들은 인간에게 해를 끼치지 않는다. 오히려 인간 세계의 균형을 유지하는 역할을 한다. 또한 여주인공에게 헌신적인 사랑을 보여준다. 이를 통해 현대 사회에서도 영원한 사랑이 가능함을 암시한다. 여주인공이 수동적이고 나약하게 그려진다는 비판도 있다. 하지만 강한 남성이 여성을 보호하는 서사는 현대인의 심리적 안정을 반영하는 요소로 볼 수 있다. 경쟁 사회 속에서 많은 사람들이 기댈 곳을 원하기 때문이다. 본 연구는 구미호와 뱀파이어가 긍정적인 영웅으로 변모한 점에 주목한다. 이들은 과거 어둠의 상징이었으나, 현대에서는 세상을 지키는 존재로 자리 잡았다. 또한 오랜 시간의 흔적이 재산과 뛰어난 능력으로 표현된다는 점도 흥미롭다. 이를 통해 신화적 존재의 현대적 재해석과 그 사회적 의미를 조명하고자 한다.

Kim Yong Ik, a first-generation Korean-American writer, stands out among his contemporaries, such as Younghill Kang and Richard E. Kim, for his unique literary contributions and his nuanced portrayal of geographical spaces. While all three authors incorporate autobiographical elements into their works, Kim Yong Ik distinguishes himself by consistently drawing inspiration from his childhood in Tongyeong, South Korea—a small coastal town—and by maintaining a bilingual writing practice. Unlike Kang and Kim, who ceased creative activities after a few major works, he sustained a literary career spanning nearly four decades, producing over 50 short stories, novels, and plays. Kim’s portrayal of Tongyeong transcends its role as a mere physical location, becoming what Pierre Nora terms a “site of memory”—a symbolic space where personal and collective identities are reconstructed. Stories such as Happy Days and “From Here You Can See the Moon” depict Tongyeong as an idealized homeland that anchors his fragmented identity amidst cultural hybridity. Through vivid representations of coastal villages, fishing harbors, and traditional Korean customs, Kim reimagines his hometown as a space that bridges his longing for belonging in a foreign land. In contrast to Kang’s focus on assimilation into American society or Richard E. Kim’s exploration of ideological conflicts during the Korean War, Kim Yong Ik’s works focus on themes of nostalgia and imaginative reconstruction of childhood landscapes. His literature reflects a deep connection to his roots while engaging with broader diasporic themes. This geographical imagination is further enriched by his bilingual writing practice. Unlike most Korean-American authors who rely on translators, Kim translated his English works into Korean himself, ensuring the authenticity of his narratives across both languages. Critics have praised Kim for establishing a tradition of short stories within Korean-American literature and for addressing themes of identity through the lens of geography. His works explore the intersections between personal memory and cultural displacement by situating characters in specific spatial contexts—both real and imagined. For instance, while Tongyeong serves as an emotional and poetic foundation in stories like “The Smuggler’s Boat,” American settings such as Maine and Florida in “Sheep, Jimmy and I” and “They Won’t Crack It Open” reflect themes of alienation and cultural negotiation. Kim’s ability to use geography not merely as a backdrop but as an active agent in shaping identity underscores the distinctiveness of his literary contributions. His works reveal how geographical spaces can serve as sites of reconciliation and self-discovery for diasporic individuals. By transforming geography into a narrative framework that reflects the complexities of displacement and belonging, Kim offers a nuanced perspective on diasporic consciousness. In conclusion, Kim Yong Ik’s literary achievements lie in his sustained creative practice rooted in both personal memory and cultural geography. His works not only highlight the complexities of diasporic identity but also contribute to a richer understanding of Korean-American literature through their unique geographical imagination.

In his One Hundred Years of Solitude, Márquez drops a hint that the indigenous populations of Latin America migrated from Asia, through the purported Bering Land Bridge, with the implication that a look towards the East can potentially reshape the pattern of globalization that had doomed Latin American communities since 1492. This symposium proposes to provide new thoughts on this question. We welcome papers that investigate literary means of remaking the world. Possible topics include: 1. How the literary imagine and reimagine international relations, trade patterns and global traffic of people, goods and ideas, merging general perspectives with detailed depictions of lived experiences. 2. How changes in patterns of globalization converge with the emergence of new literary genres or transformations of existing genres. 3. How literary works negotiate the dialectic of forcing group identifications (along social and ethnic lines) and maintaining individual mobility. 4. How media, communication technology, and material culture have facilitated new translocal or transnational networks of communication and action at significant historical moments. The symposium does not limit itself in regard to periods or languages, though we imagine most papers will focus on authors and texts from the early modern period onwards from a broad geographical and linguistic scope, including in particular literary/cinematic texts offering thoughts on Euro-Asian encounters, Asian diasporic experiences or cross-racial connections. Papers that consider the intersections of the material and media conditions of global exchange and literary conceptions of globalization are particularly welcome.

We have already recruited a number of participants. If accepted by the Congress, we would like to make it an open session and recruit more participants who we believe will bring interesting contributions.

Currently, the presentations already included in this panel fall into two time periods, the early period and the 20th-21st centuries. Topics range from the diversity of global imaginings in early modern European literature informed by Asian culture to colonial and postcolonial responses to Eurocentric models of globalization enabled by new technologies of mediation.

Prof. Jin (East China Normal University), Prof. Cheng (Fudan University), Prof. Gao (Beijing University), and Prof. Wang (Guangdong University of Foreign Studies) will present on early modern literature. Prof. Huh (Seoul National U niversity), Prof. Li (Fudan University), Liu (PhD student at Nottingham University) and Ni (PhD student at Nanyang Tecchnological University) will present on modern and contemporary topics.

This article examines the role of affectivity in virtual reality (VR) films, focusing on how personal experiences are conveyed through immersive cinematic narratives. Affectivity, encompassing affect, emotions, and feelings, plays a central role in establishing a connection between the viewer and VR films. The article emphasizes how VR films explore themes of personal trauma, memory, and familial relationships, enabling a deeper affective connection for the viewer.

Drawing on theoretical frameworks of intermediality and new materialism, the article explores how VR’s unique affordances — such as spatial immersion and interactive design — enhance the affective depth of these narratives. The immersive nature of VR intensifies affectivity, allowing for a more nuanced exploration of personal trauma and self-reflection. In doing so, the article considers the broader implications of these emotional experiences for understanding personal identity in modern society, as well as their impact on contemporary media practices.

The display of sexual violence can be represented differently in text and film. When medium

changes the responses to the same act also change – trivialised and consumable

representation entails pornographic and seductive viewership while autobiographical

narrative conforms to and creates counter – public of the former viewership. The

representation of sexual violence in different narratives not only moulds the readers&#39; or

audiences&#39; roles in an act of sexual savagery but it also controls the readers&#39; gaze and

reactions to a demonstration of violence against women. Representation as tool often

becomes significant in playing with the minds of the readers to generate different outcomes

and emotions out of them. The present paper attempts to analyse how the episode of sexual

violence concerning Phoolan Devi is represented differently in two different mediums i.e.

narrative and the cinematic representation and how these distinct portrayals of the same

incident generate different impressions on the readers and viewers with the shifting of the two

mediums. Phoolan Devi was born in a low caste female called Mallahs, who survived a child

marriage, kidnapping and repeated violations of her body, eventually becoming a prominent

dacoit. In an attempt to translate her journey on screen, Shekhar Kapoor made a full fledged

feature film called The Bandit Queen, trying to depict the repeated sexual violation that

Phoolan Devi had to endure along with undergoing struggles due to her low caste. The paper

will also examine how there exist different representations of sexual violence that can

influence a reader&#39;s mind in various ways by emitting different sentiments. The

representations by the author or director bring forth for the a situation through which a reader

may generate feelings depending upon their own psyches, however, the process of

representation makes use of various techniques to get the viewer and reader involved in the

respective narratives. On the one hand the Director of the movie The Bandit Queen represents

sexual violence as something outrageous and explicit promoting voyeurism, while on the

other the author of the novel I, Phoolan Devi presents the same scenes in different evoking

altogether different reactions of empathy from the reader.

This paper focuses on the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise (1990–2001; 2015–ongoing) as a key body of contemporary media products that challenge the conventional anthropocentric understanding of extinction—often framed as a process that primarily affects nonhuman species, leaving humans untouched. In doing so, the franchise foregrounds the dramatic effects of extinction, imagining a world where dinosaurs are resurrected while genetic research radically transforms human-nonhuman relations.

A central premise of this study is that the franchise operates as a site of estrangement, prompting audiences to reconsider extinction through speculative narratives. Dinosaurs are constructed here as liminal beings: living creature belonging to an extinct world, biologically alive yet legally classified as patents, straddling the line between nature and technology, creature and commodity. This strongly resonates with new materialist perspectives, which critique anthropocentric hierarchies and emphasize the agency of nonhuman matter.

A crucial shift distinguishes the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchises. The early films (1990–2001) confined dinosaurs to secluded, artificial ecosystems, where human control over nature inevitably collapsed. The Jurassic World era, however, reverses this paradigm: dinosaurs now roam free, integrating into global ecosystems, disrupting human society and forcing new forms of multispecies coexistence. This transition reflects contemporary anxieties over climate crisis, mass extinction, and the unintended consequences of biotechnology.

Furthermore, through its portrayal of necrofauna, the franchise explores themes of biocapital, ecological precarity, and the fragility of human exceptionalism. Additionally, by extending its speculative narratives across multiple media, the franchise fosters participatory ecological estrangement, encouraging audiences to reconsider their place within planetary life.

Ultimately, this paper situates the Jurassic Park/World franchise within new materialist and ecological discourse, arguing that its shift from controlled enclosures to open-ended ecosystems mirrors broader cultural fears about human extinction and the limits of biotechnological intervention. Through its unsettling yet compelling vision of resurrected species, the franchise moves us to confront the agency of the nonhuman and the complexity of human-nonhuman entanglements.

Most theoretical models of intermediality are inherently epistemological: media studies, including intermedial studies, basically investigates, criticizes and historicizes all the different ways of perceiving the world by way of different apparatus or communicative entities which may be more or less technical, advanced and complex.

However, in recent decades a new set of questions has occurred, approaching the world not only epistemologically but also ontologically: such questions are often subsumed under the heading of New Materialism(s): ontological ideas relating to process philosophy and studies of emergent qualities have become more and more prominent in Media- as well as Literary – and Gender Studies. Such an ontological frame is of special relevance to Comparative Literature, where it raises important questions on the nature, practice, and relevance of comparison, and indeed of the notion of literature itself.

As the integration of such non-substantialist approaches within intermedial studies and comparative literature is still in its early stages, these theoretical-methodological relations deserve closer academic attention. The general aim of this panel is therefore to investigate in depth the possible relations between intermedial studies and new materialist methodologies.

Kalaf Epalanga is a contemporary writer, musician and poet, an African emigrant who settled in Europe during his youth for better education, and as a result of the civil war in Angola. Over the last decades, he experienced the cultural reality of Lisbon and Berlin. Like a 21st century flâneur, Epalanga and his music are present in the center and on the outskirts of Lisbon. The Portuguese press see him as a “cultural agitator”, who demonstrates on behalf of African culture or, in a broader sense, on behalf of black cultures around the world. The present study has as object Epalanga’s novel Whites can dance too (Também os brancos sabem dançar), which could be seen as a “musical novel”, based on the concept of “melophrasis” developed by Rodney Edgecombe (1993) and Therese Vilmar (2020) in response to the idea of “musicalized fiction” by Werner Wolf (1999). In the novel, Epalanga creates a thought-provoking narrative, woven together with the history of African music, including genres like Kuduro and Kizomba, and exploring its complex interactions with canonical genres such as Fado and Rap. Additionally, the author guides the reader through the complex feelings and subjectivity of the characters, providing an experience of their diverse emotions through metamusic. Epalanga thus constructs a unique musical land (a safe space) through words. It is important to note that these music-centered or music-based narratives are intertwined with ancient colonial memories, as well as contemporary narratives that highlight the suffering of the African diaspora on the European continent. In this musical land of the novel, the three main characters are on very different life trajectories, but they all cross paths at some point because of music and, at the end of the story, each of them finds in music a kind of redemption or sanctuary of their own. This narrative conception results in a remarkable contrast between darkness and luminosity, which evokes the clashes in the social arrangement of white and black voices (Achile Mbembe, 2003; Michel Foucault, 1997), and the proposition of a world-space that houses “non-hegemonic” voices. This contrast between darkness and light inspired me to explore the idea of literary music as a “safe space”. What I propose to discuss in this study is not music in its strict and concrete sense, but rather music as a possible verbal and aesthetic experience for the literary reader, for the reader of Os brancos também podem dançar, in short, a music that “can be read”. What is the “song” really about? How can this “musical romance” inspire new perspectives on issues of ethnicity today? How do the rhythm of ideas, frustrations and hopes intertwine with the mixed beat of rap, kuduro and fado? In seeking these answers, I also seek a new path of reflection on the construction of ethnic identities and the forms of existence and resistance of marginalized groups in today’s world.

Chinese academies emerged in the Tang Dynasty, and their functions gradually evolved from book repair and collection to reading and learning. Their service targets ranged from individuals to the general public, and they could cultivate talents and spread culture. The civilization of Bashu Academies not only benefited from the exchange and mutual learning between ancient BaShu culture and other cultures, but also from the "Southern Silk Road" that has lasted for thousands of years and crossed centuries. As a trade and cultural inheritance road, it inherits not only a culture, but also a spiritual force. The Academies culture in the Bashu Academies has shaped the urban character of "openness, innovation and creativity" and the humanistic characteristics of "broad mindedness and friendliness". Communication can make civilization colorful, mutual learning can enrich civilization, and communication and mutual learning can make civilization full of vitality and creativity. Exchange and mutual learning help promote the integration of civilizations from all over the world, and forge a magnificent force for the development and progress of human society. This points out the direction for promoting the development of world civilization and provides a good strategy for resolving conflicts between civilizations. Civilizations communicate through diversity, learn from each other through communication, and develop through mutual learning. The exchange and mutual learning among different countries, ethnic groups, and cultures in the world can enhance the humanistic foundation of a community with a shared future for mankind, spread and exchange each other's cultures, and promote the mutual learning of civilizations.

The academies in the Bashu Academies can become a distinctive medium for cultural dissemination, relying on new academies and utilizing forms such as new media and intelligent media to tell the "Chinese story" well, promoting the true transformation of Chinese civilization from "going out" to "going in" on the global stage. Bashu Academies is a "magnet" that uses advanced cultural dissemination concepts to gather and integrate excellent cultures from ancient, modern, Chinese, and foreign cultures as a "iron"; The Academies is also a "neighborhood". It uses advanced cultural communication concepts to stimulate and amplify the charm of various cultures and vigorously spread them, so that the Academies will become a characteristic platform and an important channel to promote folk friendly cooperation in cultural exchanges along the "the Belt and Road". In effective communication, enhance cultural confidence internally and increase the influence of Chinese culture externally.

Literary animal studies - delving into the roots of human-animal interactions examine how animals are portrayed in different literary works in context of cultural attitudes, and ethical issues, is the study of animals and their representation in literature (Ortiz-Robles 55). Emerging as an interdisciplinary field, human/animal studies encompass a wide range of disciplines that make up the so-called "new humanities," which are concerned with human behavior and culture (Gottschalk11). The discussion draws from a wide range of fields, including but not limited to: “primatology, ethics, genetics, cognitive science, literature, history, philosophy, and cultural studies” (Singer 1). The classified and digitalized illustrations of Animals in the Human Societies worldwide by way of tangible or intangible depiction for consciousness-raising towards their predicament or for extracting the allegorical aesthetics use medium of language and form in creative writings, while visuals are either in digitalized generative images or as sculptures to denote perceptual observation, selection of sensitivity for the sake of perceptual defense to sensitize the readers and viewers. Their existing signifiers signify a set of dominant power relations or religion-ethical connotations of society towards animalism or for animals. Literature, Arts and Media have shown how the 'Animals in Question' are the agents through their mode of action to compete for legitimacy and authority and it is the medium of writing or the pictorial depiction categorically function either as a manner of Liar's Paradox or a counterpoint to humans' humanity. The research area of study attempts to analyze the ’gaze’ that sorts the trajectories, strategies of the internal and external stimuli and draws a brilliant analytical parallel picture of cultural, social, and hegemonic origin and influence by way of totalitarianism, imperialism, capitalism, and materialism. The eco-system both fragmented and diversified

epitomize ‘the deepest tensions, social conflicts, rituals, taboos, and myths of humanity’s struggle to come to terms with its physical environment ‘through the bewildering, skeptical world of fictional’ (Orwell, xii).) animal fables in order to transform and restructure society. Otto Keller's enormous two-volume book "Die Antike-Tierwelt" from 1913 (reprinted 1963) served as the only thorough compilation of data on specific animal species in the ancient sources for over a century (Campbell 27). Scholars like Liliane Bodson and Richard Sorabji began to radically alter this perception and identification. Their goals are comparably metaphorical to bring paradigm shift for understanding both digitalized and non-digitalized, protected or non-protected archival visual representation of animals in order to pave for humanitarian conflict resolution towards prehistoric and modern arguments, and to make the prehistoric data speak to larger issues and concerns in classical research (Sorabji 36).

Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence (2008), the physical museum “The Museum of Innocence” in Istanbul, and Grant Gee’s documentary Innocence of Memories (2015) can be viewed as innovative attempts to reimagine contemporary memory spaces. These three mediums present a shared theme—a fictional romance set between 1975 and 1984—across distinct yet interconnected dimensions: the textual space of the novel, the intimate domestic exhibition space of the museum, and the urban cinematic cartography of the film.

The novel provides extensive contextual information and a deeply personal emotional record, creating an intangible, virtual space for memory preservation. The physical museum anchors these immaterial memories through a collection of objects and materials, transforming ephemeral recollections into tangible artifacts that trigger remembrance and make memories visible. Meanwhile, the cinematic cartography of the film transcends the static boundaries of memory recording by rendering textual memories into an immersive, dynamic memory space. This cinematic medium strengthens the connection between contemporary urban landscapes and personal recollections, preserving the emotional and non-commercial aspects of the city in the face of modern urban transformation.

This essay examines these three forms of memory spaces through the following guiding questions. First, how do the three exhibition spaces—the novel, the museum, and the cinematic urban space—shape meaning, influence audience experience, and construct memory narratives through diverse media, objects, and the local urban topography? Second, how do the creators intertwine complex cultural discourses—politics, history, culture, and emotion—with the varied materials presented in these spaces? Third, how do the three spaces intertextualize and complement one another, collectively forming a multi-dimensional and immersive memory exhibition?

In addition, this essay explores the divergences and tensions between the three spaces in their treatment of the shared theme. It investigates how these differences generate alternative perspectives and interpretations of the exhibition, ultimately contributing to a deeper understanding of the role of cross-media memory spaces in contemporary memory preservation. Furthermore, the essay considers how these cross-media approaches may inspire future methods for constructing immersive memory experiences.

The presentation will come along with an interactive showcase, which features a multimedia immersive exhibition, incorporating photography, texts, video, and an interactive experience designed to highlight my research on the value of various media and spaces for contemporary memory preservation.

The proposed paper will examine the poetry of Cathy Park Hong and the works of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha to uncover how their works rely on technological motifs to address the difficulty inherent in the communicability of their respective experiences as Korean-American immigrants. The works of both poets employ stutters, fragmentation, silences, and erasures to reflect upon the untranslatable and unbridgeable gaps in experience and the inadequacy of available communicative modes to inscribe and convey their individual and collective experience of exile, diasporic travel and assimilation. While Cha’s works employ technological apparatus in various forms (photographs, videos, and art installations) to contemplate upon the themes of immigrant assimilation, untranslatability, and the history of the Korean-Japanese conflict, Hong’s works employ futuristic and fictive scientific images to ponder upon similar questions of exile, linguistic colonialism, and the violent histories that circumscribe Korean-American immigrant experience. The proposed paper is specifically invested in examining how the works of both poets in their unique ways emphasize on the performative and embodied aspects of their subject matter, and in doing so present a poetic performance that resists easy subsumption into algorithmic pattern-seeking or text mining.

In “The Shallow Grave”, James Wood criticizes Auster's writing for falling into the two worst scenarios of "pseudo-realism" and "shallow skepticism." However, he does not situate Auster's creative characteristics within the history of film media development. After the 1950s, the evolution of cinema itself exerted a "rebound effect" on literature. The absurd sense of realism and the characters' unironic use of clichés in Auster's works, as noted by Wood, might indeed stem from the influence of cinema. Perhaps inspired by John Barth's notion of "the literature of exhaustion," Auster is committed to formal innovation, with emerging film media providing significant inspiration. Therefore, this paper takes Auster's novel The Book of Illusions as a case study to explore the extent, aspects, and forms in which cinema has influenced Auster's novelistic creation. This can be seen as a fruitful exploration of the possibilities of form by Auster.

This study examines the nexus of supernaturalism, nationalism, and the concept of "space of memory" in cross-national East Asian horror films, offering a critical analysis of the narrative in the 2024 film "Exhuma" (Excavate The Grave). Set against the backdrop of post-WWII Korea, the movie follows the actions of an elderly Korean Feng Shui master and a young shaman as they unite their forces to combat a curse left by the Japanese onmyōji along the 38th Parallel. Their objective is twofold: to thwart the historical curse and to safeguard Korea's future from the shadows of its past. Using varied filmmaking techniques of the horror genre and transhistorical perspectives, "Exhuma" intricately weaves together forgotten generational and cross-border memories, official narratives, and surreal visions of the Korean Peninsula's historical myth, creating a narrative tapestry that facilitates the healing of historical traumas. By leveraging the "Feng Shui" elements, the film not only critiques the established boundaries and societal norms but also blurs the line between suppressed communal memory and official documents using the unique technique of horror movie storytelling, thereby opening up new avenues for introspection and societal critique within the realm of East Asian cinema.

The 1950s & 60s saw the emergence of the Beat Generation literary movement, which questioned social conventions and encouraged a new generation to pursue unusual avenues for self-expression. Jim Morrison, the iconic front man of the Doors, was profoundly influenced by the writings of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Michael McClure. Morrison's early exposure to Beat literature influenced the formation of his distinct aesthetic perspective. Beat themes of existentialism, rebellion against conformity, and a quest for spiritual enlightenment struck a chord with Morrison and became essential elements of his lyrical and poetic expressions. The research employs a comparative analysis of key Beat texts and Morrison's lyrical poetry to identify thematic parallels and stylistic influences. It also sheds light on the impact of the Beat Generation's rejection of societal constraints on Morrison’s experimentation with tabooed or forbidden subjects. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the essay provides a comprehensive understanding of the symbiotic relationship between Beat Generation literature and Jim Morrison's artistic evolution. In short, this article critically traces the influences of the Beat Generation in the writings of Morrison.

1942 – 1945 were very important years in the history of India and Japan. For India, these years were the height of their anti-colonial struggle and what it meant to be Indian. Japan, too, strove to create a new image of themselves. They wished to recast themselves as the ‘spiritual’ and cultural ‘liberators’ of Asia where western imperialism would be banished and all of Asia would ‘Co-Prosper’. Evidence may be found in the Meiji Pledge of 1868, which sought to promote “Knowledge [that would] be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule”. There was a rapidly growing discourse that positioned Japan as the “guardian and protector of Asia” against the West.

The paper traces the historical circumstances of World War II and Japan’s Asia campaigns during the war and argues that the Japanese Imperial Army’s invasion of India - transformed how Japan was perceived in India. The paper tries to uncover this using the personal and collective memories of and about wartime Japan in India as portrayed in Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya’s novel Love in The Time of Insurgency (originally published as Yuruingam in 1960) and Eastern Kire’s Mari (2010). These narrations specifically focus on the Japanese invasion of North East India during the Second World War. Using theories of memory studies, the paper will study how identity and belonging is continuously constructed, deconstructed and re-constructed by nations, governments, soldiers, citizens in and from Japan and India.

I argue that these narratives also outline the nature of the political discourse in 1940s India, drawing attention to shifting loyalties in support of or opposition to participation in the Second World War. Using literary and historical testimonies from multi-generational sources, this paper also unearths the ideas of nationhood and nationalism that existed in the era. It questions how the ideas of nation’, ‘nationalism’, ‘freedom’ and ‘patriotism’ prevailed in the era. I study these ideas using Rabindranath Tagore’s conceptualisation of Japan, Pan-Asianism and Nationalism, specially focussing on his essays Nationalism in India and Nationalism in Japan. The paper demonstrates how Tagore’s ideas of nationalism may be in contrast with the transforming social, political and cultural policies in the same era, especially propounded by Okakura in his text The Ideals of The East. The paper also briefly tracks the history of Japan and India encounters – through Indian historical and literary archives.

Comparative Literature has much evolved since it was first broached, so much so that there are sub disciplines studied within it globally. One such classification is Comparative Indian Literature or CIL. Given the vast geography and unparalleled diversity of India, the availability of several languages and their respective literatures opens new doors to comparison and comparative analysis. An Indian classical dancer such as a Kathak artiste who performs all over India gets to breathe and live this literature on stage. While performing in Kolkata, one can't avoid taking up a piece by Tagore and while performing in Vrindavan, most dancers take up a Shloka on Krishna.

In 2024, the game "Black Myth: Wukong" produced by Game Science Corporation has sparked a global craze among players and discussions among researchers, reflecting the cross-media performative nature of video games as a new form of productive force. This work is based on the traditional Chinese literary classic "Journey to the West" and integrates elements of Chinese traditional culture. In the construction of cross-media narratives, it demonstrates the performative aesthetic characteristics of the digital, virtual, interactive and generative in the field of humanities from the perspective of cultural exchange and mutual learning. Eastern fantasy stories have been rejuvenated under the creative influence of emerging audio-visual technologies, thereby recreating heroic myths closely related to modern people and generating transcendent life-political significance in immersive user games. Exploring the performative traits of video games will further contribute to exploratory thinking about the community with a shared future for mankind in the era of globalization.

The Chinese experimental opera adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays have become a unique phenomenon of cross-cultural exchange, which not only demonstrates the deep fusion of Chinese and Western theatre cultures, but also promotes the combination of the traditional art of xiqu with modern aesthetic concepts. By analyzing the experimental Peking opera “King Lear”, the experimental opera “Who is Macbeth?” and the experimental kunqu “I, Hamlet”, this article discusses the unique value and significance of these works in cross-cultural exchange. These works bring audiences a refreshing theater-going experience through unique Chinese-style performances, post-modern presentations of traditional opera elements, and deep linkage between Chinese and Western culture and thinking—firstly, the performance structure, stage design and vocal style employ rich Chinese representations in their adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays; secondly, the metatheatrical devices, such as solo performer and play-within-play structure, express their postmodern reinterpretations of traditional xiqu; thirdly, the Eastern and Western character linkage and similar identity exploration show the cultural connection and common value in different backgrounds. Through the unique Chinese-style performance, the post-modern presentation, and the deep linkage between Chinese and Western theaters, Chinese experimental opera brings the audience a brand new experience and provides a useful path for the innovative practice of xiqu.

This article aims to analyze the interplay of migration, boundary, identity and alienation through giving a close eye on the characters of ‘The Boundary’ and ‘The Reentry’, two stories from the book Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. Contrapuntal reading with postcolonial lens, particularly the concept of ‘hybridity’ of Homi K. Bhabha, has been offered to explore how the characters navigate through the liminal ‘third space’ between their native and adopted culture. Lahiri’s projection of Rome serves as a pivotal point of understanding the city as a metaphor for both inclusion and exclusion. The unnamed narrator of “The Boundary” negotiates between both physical and metaphorical borders which addresses the struggle of belonging and alienation. In "The Reentry," the protagonist’s return to Rome highlights the dissonance between memory and reality, reflecting the psychological complexities of reintegration. In both the stories Rome has been depicted as a space that shapes the identities and puts forth the dual shades of the city as it becomes a space of both estrangement and reconciliation. Bhabha’s theory illuminates the characters’ struggles with cultural adaptation and the search for home, revealing the fragmented and hybrid nature of diasporic identity.

With the advent of the digital age, the emergence of multiple media has gradually made "intermediality" a significant focus in literary and artistic studies, providing a new research perspective for Chinese American literature. Based on the intermedial theories of Werner Wolf, this paper explores the intermedial reference and intermedial transposition in the renowned The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter by Chinese American writer Amy Tan. Among them, through the intermedial reference to the structure of polyphony, the novels demonstrate profound cultural connotations, achieving a unity of intermedial form and content. Meanwhile, the two novels have been adapted into a film and an opera respectively. This intermedial transposition reflects the interaction of multi-dimensional intermediality and highlights the important role in enhancing the international communication of Chinese culture. Then, this paper further reveals the unique value of intermediality in Chinese American literature as represented by Amy Tan's works, exploring its significance in fostering exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and enhancing the global influence of Chinese culture.

Within the pattern of diversity in unity of the Chinese civilization, the myths of Ba-Shu are harmoniously integrated yet distinct from those of the Central Plains,.Its regional mythological thinking, characterized by unique cultural features, can provide valuable enlightenment for contemporary people. From the perspective of quantum theory, this paper explores the characteristics of Ba-Shu mythological thinking from three aspects.First, empathetic thinking and inclusiveness. Quantum entanglement reveals a universal and subtle connection between living organisms, which shamans use to achieve spiritual communication. Sanxingdui has unearthed the most numerous and diversified shaman shapes in the country.As the birthplace of Wu culture, the Ba-Shu region demonstrates a strong mythological thinking characterized by its regional features. The animal composite figures unearthed at Sanxingdui, which often integrate features from multiple animals, reflect a cultural mentality of harmony and inclusiveness.Second, the fusion of time and space. The quantum tunneling effect transcends the limitations of classical physics on space-time, enabling individuals to achieve the transcendence of three-dimensional space-time in a special state of consciousness. The early development of astronomical and astrological culture in the Ba-Shu region reflects the ancestors' need to explore parallel universes and communicate with deities of the heavens and earth. The shapes, ranging from the "Tianmen" series to those representing different time-space dimensions, demonstrate the Ba-Shu ancestors' imagination of time-space travel.Third, image-thinking holographic narratives. The quantum field and the holographic principle reveal the wholeness of the universe, where the material world and the world of consciousness are interdependent, manifesting and concealing each other. The ancestors of Ba-Shu were good at figurative thinking and reproduced sacred matters through holographic narratives. These narratives primarily took the form of flat images that conveyed a sense of space, three-dimensional modeling of artifacts, and scene-based narrative of sacred matters.

如果说佛学提倡的是传统宗教思想上的生命升华，那么AI是呈现的则是科学思想上的生命追求。二者在生命认知上虽有各自的理论依据和表述逻辑，但作为宗教的佛学和作为科学技术的AI在生命叙述上都以“意识”为主体。笔者将从佛学和AI对生命“意识”的不同叙述差异出发，探讨佛学对当前AI研究方面的一些启示。

In the mythical narratives of the emperors of the Chinese dynasties, the myth of "Yu’s reward of black jade" was directly related to the mandate of heaven, the virtues of saints, the achievements of emperors, and the change of the royal power. These can be called the most core narrative element of the founding of a state and the divine right of kings. However, was the "black jade" appearing first in the myth of Yu related to the creation myth? What was the relevance? This paper uses the quadruple evidence method to explore the hidden facts and mainly focuses on the elements of the creation. It will highlight a clear clue about the narrative of the creation myth and the ritual performance "from the first separation of the earth and heaven by an axe to Yu’s reward of the black jade and then to the offering of sacrifices with black jade and the worship of the Orient with green jade in the elusive mythical narratives. The tools for the creation of the earth and heaven in China's narrative of the creation myth were an axe and a chisel, and the core tools in the myth of “Grand Yu Controls the Waters” were a mountain-cutting axe, black jade and a jade slip. All these tools were born directly or indirectly out of the axe and battle-axe. The “offering of sacrifices with black jade” and the “Oriental God of Xi” in the inscriptions on shells and animal bones in the Yin Dynasty, and the royal ceremony of "worshiping the Orient with green jade" in ancient books were undoubtedly the ceremonial illustration and inheritance of the creation myth.

In Three-Body, Liu Cixin employed the “Wallfacer Project” as a pivotal narrative device to re-define the theatrical display of human political power as a survival gambit on an interstellar scale, thereby deconstructing the epistemological and ethical frameworks of traditional political performance. Within this interstellar theater, the Wallfacers weaponize political performance into an informational warfare tool for civilizational survival through the absolute informational monopoly of “cognitive barricades” and the deceptive tactics of “strategic subterfuge”. The genuineness of performance is entirely suspended, plunging the audience — including the Three-body civilization, human society, and potential cosmic observers — into a deadly loop of the “chain of suspicion”. In this schema, the roles of performer and spectator dissolve into instrumentalized proxies for survivalist gamesmanship, while the traditional “performer-audience” relationship collapses into a zero-sum contest governed by the Dark Forest Law.

When performance becomes inextricably bound to species survival, Three-Body exposes the violent displacement of morality by technological rationality: Luo Ji’s deterrence ritual as the “Swordholder” reveals itself as a “civilizational trick”, where performative violence sustains the illusion of peace. By magnifying political performance on an interstellar stage, the novel not only lays bare the fictive nature of power narratives but also furnishes a dehumanized critique for posthuman performance through the ruthless logic of “cosmic sociology” — ultimately asserting that all performance is survivalist enactment of power in the existential crucible of civilizational continuity.

The Canonization of Gesar's Epic" for consideration for inclusion in the conference program. Gesar's Epic, characterized as a historical poem, is a long heroic epic formed by the accumulation of various cultural elements from Tibetan myths, historical narratives, cultural memories, customs, beliefs, and expressive discourse throughout different periods. In different eras, among different ethnic groups, and within varied historical contexts, continuously creating new versions of the epic. Moreover, through the recording, organizing, research, commentary, and further creative contributions by generations of eminent monks, wise sages, and scholar-literati, the process of its canonization has been persistently advanced. Gesar's Epic is a living classic. From its orally transmitted form to the written texts that have been recorded and organized, through literary historiography, diverse interpretations among different ethnicities, and its translation and dissemination both domestically and internationally, it has gradually established its status as a classic.

In traditional studies of violence, as a coercive means for the strong against the weak, violence reflects the strong will of the strong. Whether it is an innate biological instinct or the result of social upbringing, human beings need to confront to their own violence. René Girard, a famous contemporary French literary critic, anthropologist and religious scientist, has been thinking about violence all his life, and explores the roots of violence with mimetic anthropological theories. Mimetic anthropology mainly consists of three parts: mimetic desire, scapegoat mechanism and Biblical revelation. Mimetic desire is presented as a triangle with the desire subject, the mediator and the object as the apex, and Girard thus denies the linear structure of human desire from subject to object. The desire subject learns the object from the mediator and desires the same object with the mediator, which leads to interpersonal conflict and violence. In primitive society, when mimetic desire pervades, the differences between human beings are lost, the distinctions that are the basis of social order are dissolved, the members of the community confront each other and a sacrifice crisis breaks out. In the extreme chaos, mimesis draws the primitive people to activate scapegoat mechanism, and transform the chaotic violence of all against all into the unanimous violence of all against one. The Community executes the victim, social harmony is restored, and social order is reestablished. By running scapegoat mechanism, the community attributes its own violence to external violence, and in this way, obscures the truth of collective violence and prevents the demise of ancient societies and cultures. Therefore, Violence is the heart and soul of the sacred. Myth narrates the sacred, but also covers the sacred. Although the Bible is similar in structure and motif to myth and is also filled with narratives of violence, its narrative perspective is not that of the persecutor who perpetrates violence, but that of the victim who suffers it. Girard thus argues that Biblical revelation offers humanity the possibility of salvation from the mechanism of violence by replacing violence with love and forgiveness, renouncing all forms of violence. Mimetic anthropology combines the dual perspectives of persecutor and victim, taking into account the destructive force and the constructive force of violence, but its theoretical construction is only based on the meta-dynamic of mimesis. Girard left behind the historical and cultural context and social reality to talk about violence. The path of religious forgiveness and absolution as a solution to the reality of violence is doomed to a utopian bubble. Nowadays, the forms of violence are ever-changing, and the connotation and extension of violence have greatly expanded. Girard is unable to face the derivation of violence, and his path to solving violence is not practical or feasible.

Fan studies has been an interdisciplinary, or even anti-disciplinary, field of research. Scholars have drawn on methodologies from both literary studies and anthropology to analyze contemporary fan communities and their productions. However, some key terms and theories from anthropology have been applied arbitrarily and indiscriminately in fan studies, most notably the theory of the gift economy.

Digital fandom is often seen as an epitome of the gift economy in the digital age, within a world dominated by the capitalist market economy. This paper aims to examine the application of the term “gift economy” in fan studies and analyze the misunderstandings and idealizations associated with the concept. Two images or scenarios of the gift economy are frequently used as examples in fan studies: the first being the pre-modern potlatch referenced in Marcel Mauss’s seminal discussion of gift economies, and the second being the familial and acquaintance networks in the modern, atomized urban world, maintained by women’s affective labor and gifts.

While scholars in fan studies have correctly identified the similarities and parallels between fan culture and the gift economy, they often overlook the nuances in the dynamic interactions between the gift economy and the market economy, typically idealizing fan culture and positioning it as an alternative to the market economy. On the other hand, the application of the gift economy theory to fan cultural studies also opens up new perspectives. As fan culture becomes increasingly hybrid, it may be more productive to understand it through people's identification with and understanding of fan products, rather than through the binary between gift and merchandise.

Asserting the primacy of the sonic as an interconnected but independent entity in the field of textual studies, this paper engages with Work Songs as technology in order to establish an alternative framework for understanding the relationship between work and music in the contemporary times. Through a close study of representative examples of Work Song scholarship and archival documentation from the United States of America, India, and the United Kingdom the paper first locates the existent tension between competitive styles of categorization where the analytical foci alternates between ‘labour’, ‘occupation’, ‘work’, and ‘work process’. Within the rich field of debates on categorization that arise from such archival documentation and scholarship, the paper then locates at least and by and large, two dominant strands of seeing, hearing, and thinking about Work Songs. The first strand of thought focuses on the issue of origins. In that, Work Songs are linked to certain populations in terms of their race, community, or class becoming a part of a select few – namely, the “primitive” and “natural” people of the world in their everyday labouring lives. The second strand of thought focusses on the notion of musical value in relation to the work process. In that, the ideas of labour and work gains primacy where Work Songs are seen to work as a facilitator for aiding the process of work in terms of maximizing its productivity. In both strands of thought, content and structural analyses of songs become the primary modes of engagement with an assumption of homogenous language culture or class realities. In both cases the field of textual studies become limited in the absence of an engagement with the politics of sound and audibility. It is by questioning the two abovementioned dominant strands of thinking about Work Songs that this paper arrives at reasserting ‘sound’ as that interconnected and independent entity – one that not only expands the field of textual studies but also leads us towards an alternative perspective on understanding the crucial relationship between work and music in today’s times.

Classical Indian music is deeply rooted in tradition, with its origins tracing back to the Vedic period, according to many sources. Ragas are more than just musical compositions; they evoke specific emotions and are associated with different times of the day and seasons. Traditionally, each raga is linked to a particular time of day, season, and rasa (aesthetic emotion). Raga Bhairava holds a position of primacy, traditionally considered the first raga in the Ragamala classification. Associated with early morning devotion, the Ragamala paintings of the Bhairava raga have motifs of reverence and religiosity.

Various schools, from the Rajput to the Mughal to the Pahari traditions, have rendered Raga Bhairava differently, showcasing a range of emotional intensities and aesthetic interpretations. The Raga is also linked to Lord Shiva, in his fearsome form, but most Ragamala paintings of the Bhairava Raga focus on austerity, asceticism, and devotion. Scholars suggest that ragas may have evolved over time, undergoing changes in their notes and rendition. This could explain the near absence of fear as a theme in surviving Ragmala paintings. However, depictions of the fearsome Bhairava Raga do exist, particularly in Pahari and Nepalese traditions. Most representations, however, use dark tones and early morning hues to emphasize the introspective quality of the raga, focusing more on devotion and spirituality rather than fear.

At a fundamental level, my paper will try to understand the various ways in which elements like fear, introspection or devotion are transplanted from music to poetry and painting. Likewise, the various kinds of binding verse or bandish used in renditions of the raga will also be analysed for the theme of fear and gravity. Mapping available Raga Bhairava paintings on a temporal and spatial axes will allow for a deeper understanding of artistic evolution and regional stylistic differences. Such a study of these paintings can reveal shifts in patronage, artistic conventions, and cultural influences over time. This will further offer insights into how the visual representation of Raga Bhairava evolved, reflecting broader changes in artistic taste and philosophical perspectives.

In the post-human era of the 21st century, artificial intelligence has transformed every aspect of human life, including literature, aesthetics, and reception. Contemporary creation has gradually entered the poetic age of post-human AI. With the constant update of communication media and the cyberization of humanity, the creation and interpretation of poetry have developed in multiple directions. In this context, contemporary Chinese poets have actively explored the writing of science fiction poetry, with Ouyang Jianghe's The Dormant Ink and the Quantum Boy and Zhai Yongming's Full Immersion Apocalypse Script standing out as representative works. These two poets' creative approaches exhibit different aesthetic tendencies: "embedding sci-fi elements" and "integrating sci-fi backgrounds," in stark contrast to how Western poets such as Dylan Thomas and T.S. Eliot approach science fiction elements. One of the most notable aspects is Zhai Yongming's depiction of the human paradox in the post-human era, where technology has deeply integrated with the human body, making it difficult to separate the two. In this technological age, humanity must reassess its relationship with non-human beings. Meanwhile, the emergence of AI-generated poetry has sparked significant debate among critics, providing new insights into contemporary poetic writing. From the perspective of reception theory, before readers and critics start evaluating AI's creations, their reading experiences are already shaped by poems from both ancient and modern, Eastern and Western traditions. As a result, when encountering similar imagery, their associations are not formed by the AI's creation itself, but rather by these prior poetic experiences. Even though AI can generate sentences with leaps and heterogeneity, from the reader's perspective, these often violate grammatical rules and fail to create a poetic effect. This highlights that current AI poetry cannot yet question or explore human essence and future destiny, nor empathize with history and the present in the way contemporary poetry can. It is here that contemporary poetry can expand its creative possibilities. In the face of the interweaving of virtual and real realities in the post-human era, contemporary poets, from the perspective of the development of the times, will increasingly depict the future of humanity through science fiction poetry writing, marking a new trend.

Chinese civilization has the richest historical records, and its literature is unique in world literary history. Chinese characters remain the only continuously used classical script and the origins of Chinese literature are intertwined with the genetic foundation of Chinese civilization, embodying principles such as Wen Yi Zai Dao, Xiuci Li Qi Cheng, etc. and a pluralistic yet cohesive textual tradition. These elements form the Chinese core thought and become distinct symbols of Chinese civilization. Unlike other civilizations, Chinese literature was shaped by the origins and characteristics of its civilization—while oral literature provides insight into early Chinese literature, it was not its foundation. Artifacts like jade over the past ten thousand years and late-Paleolithic stone tools and ornaments functioned as unique material strategies and skills, laying the groundwork for the literary concepts of “Wen-Tao”, “Wen-De”, and “Xiuci” in the writing age. Related to ancient cosmology, belief and ideology, these issues cannot be fully explored through empirical or a text analysis method alone, necessitating new approaches.

Unlike overseas studies that focus on written literature or even believe Chinese literature began in the Zhou or Eastern Han Dynasty, research on literary origins from the lens of Chinese civilization genes integrates the conceptual germination, spiritual foundations, and functional origins of literature with the Chinese nation’s characteristics. It also positions material culture—Wu (“Thing”) in early Chinese civilization—as the starting point, and the formation of mature literature as its endpoint.

The project Tracing the Origins of Chinese Civilization now supports new ways of studying the origin of Chinese literature through the lens of Chinese civilization genes. Longitudinally, the interaction and formation of the five characteristics of the Chinese nation can be examined. Distinctive ideas, categories and early literary genres can also be traced and constructed through the Heaven-Earth-Human-Things framework and databases. This approach explores the formation and transmission of Chinese cultural genetics from the pre-writing period to classical texts by examining cosmological thought, geographical forms, the concept of Wu, and text origins. Over the past ten millennia, the concept of Wu has contributed to the evolution of Chinese characters, influenced written narratives, and shaped literary genres. Along this trajectory, literature not only recorded history and culture, reflected literati thought, and shaped a distinct Chinese literary style, but also facilitated cultural integration, advancing literary innovation through the adaptation of foreign literature. The interactive study of Chinese civilization genes and the origin of Chinese literature not only offers a new model for the tracing project but also engages with the international debate on early Chinese writing, providing a response from Chinese academia.

As a staple food essential to human survival, grains have been closely linked to human life since ancient times. Early humans sought to explain their origins, giving rise to mythological figures such as Houji, Demeter, and Inari, along with grain origin myths. This study analyzes the Shennong–Dog Fetching Grain Seeds myth in Hunan, China, examining its origins and formation process.

Grain myths have emerged and spread globally, attracting significant scholarly attention for their diversity and deep connection to human life. Among them, grain origin myths constitute the most important category. Existing research classifies the myths into several types, such as the Corporeal Transformation type and the Flying Rice type. In China, the Animal Transport type—mainly found in southern ethnic minorities—exhibits variation depending on the animal protagonist.

As a key branch of this type, the Dog Fetching Grain Seeds myth originated in Yunnan and has spread widely across China. While preserving the defining characteristics of grain origin myths, it also incorporates elements of human origin myths (the Panhu myth). This myth centers on a dog obtaining grain seeds from a distant land, explaining the origins of grains. Based on specific narrative variations, this study categorizes the myth into three subtypes: the basic type, the Dog/Pig Fetching Grain type, and the Dog Pleading to Retain Seeds type.

During its transmission, the Dog Fetching Grain Seeds myth adapted to regional cultures, leading to localized variations. In Hunan, local Shennong Worship influenced its transformation, incorporating Shennong to form a new subgenre—the Shennong–Dog Fetching Grain Seeds myth. In typical Shennong myths, Shennong appears as a solemn God of Agriculture, which contrasts with his more humanized role as the Progenitor of Humanity in the Shennong–Dog Fetching Grain Seeds myth. This study argues that Hunan’s longstanding rice-farming tradition played a crucial role in shaping this myth. Not only did it ensure that rice remained central to the myth, but it also influenced the emergence of Emperor Yan Shennong as a key figure in the myth. Additionally, Shennong worship in Hunan promoted his transformation from an ancestral figure to a deity, placing Emperor Yan Shennong—a locally adapted image—into such myths. Notably, the relationship between the dog and Emperor Yan Shennong in the myth also exhibits parallels to the corn spirit described by James Frazer, suggesting a dualistic unity between the two figures.

Therefore, this study argues that Hunan, with its unique geographical and cultural conditions, gave rise to the Shennong-Dog Fetching Grain Seeds myth. Shennong in this myth, shaped by local Shennong worship, embodies a figure that simultaneously acts as the dog’s traditional owner and merges with the dog’s role. While influenced by conventional depictions of Shennong and Panhu, this localized Shennong ultimately diverged due to the distinctive culture of Hunan.

This paper focuses on the concept of "Gu" (ꈭ) in the culture of the Liangshan Yi people, exploring its historical evolution in cultural translation and ecological aesthetics. Through an analysis of the Yi people's rich oral traditions and field research materials, the study finds that "Gu" in traditional Yi beliefs is not a single species but a sacred, typological bird whose meaning transcends zoological classification, reflecting the Yi people's unique ecological cognition. Under the influence of multi-ethnic interactions and Han Chinese culture, "Gu" gradually became associated with the wild goose (Anser cygnoides). This process incorporated both the Han Chinese understanding of the wild goose and the lyrical imagery of the wild goose in minority literature. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, this correspondence was increasingly reinforced in written texts as the sense of the Chinese national community grew stronger. In recent years, driven by local tourism development and ecological conservation needs, the black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) has been introduced as a new cultural symbol into the cognitive system of "Gu," reflecting a shift in species representation under ecological aesthetics. This study reveals the dynamic evolution of Yi bird cognition in different socio-cultural contexts, providing new perspectives for understanding ethnic cultural exchanges, evolution of ecological concepts, and the mechanisms of cultural translation.

Robert Payne has presented the wartime landscape of Chongqing to the Western world through diverse literary forms. As a war observer, Payne integrated the three images of "the bombing", "the bathhouse" and "opium", not only portraying the shocking dark landscapes of the war but also constructing a landscape framework distinct from those of other Western writers visiting China. As an urban wanderer, from the urban fringes to the center, from individuals to the crowd, Payne focused on the two symbolic images of "the rivers" and "the falling towers", as well as the "crowd" and "individuals within the crowd" in specific urban spaces such as banks, clubs, teahouses and buses, presenting a modern urban landscape where tradition and modernity, the East and the West, interacted vigorously. Payne uncovered the eternity, the sacredness and the poetics of Chongqing landscape from the natural mountains and waters, the religious culture and mythologies, and the daily life through the synthesis of senses. "Rocks" were not only the symbol of Chongqing created by Payne but also a metaphor for his urban writings. The multi-dimensional Chongqing landscape transcended temporality and locality, and became a symbol of eternal Chinese landscapes and even human landscapes.

In my paper, I would like to explore the Mongolian literary genre of historical novel in a comparative framework, using the example of Köke Sudur, a well-known Mongolian narrative.

Köke sudur is an abbreviated title of Yeke yüwan ulus-un manduɣsan törü-yin köke sudur （Chin.青史演义, Eng. The Blue Chronicle), a novel by Injannasi (1837–1892), the famed Inner Mongolian novelist and poet.

Injannasi wrote in Mongolian but was under the spell of two literary traditions: Mongolian and Chinese. Two novels, the First Floor （Mong. Nigen davhur asar, Chin. 一层楼） and The Pavilion of Weeping Red（Ulagan-a uhilahu tinghim, Chin.泣红亭）, he wrote under the strong influence of the Chinese novel A Dream of Red Chamber (Chin. 红楼梦). Köke Sudur, on the other hand, wrote under the influence of Mongolian and Chinese literature, most probably such Mongolian chronicles as Lu Altan Tobchi, Erdeni-yin Tobchi, Huriyangui Altan Tobchi, and Altan Khurdun Minggan Hehesutu, the Chinese version of The Secret History of the Mongols (Mong. Mongol-un Nigutsa Tobchiyan, Chin.蒙古秘史), and Continued Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance (Chin. 续资治通鉴长编). Moreover, he enriched certain chapters of Köke Sudur by reading the Manchu-Mongolian translation of the History of the Yuan Dynasty (chin. 元史).

As early as 1943, the German scholar Walther Heissig argued in a paper that Köke Sudur is not a historical work but rather a historical novel. Subsequently, scholars from Mongolia and China have reached a similar consensus. In 1959, in his book One Hundred Works of Mongolian Ancient Literature, Ch. Damdinsüren also stated that Köke Sudur is not a chronicle but a historical novel. He argued that the main character, Genghis Khan, is not a historical figure but an imagined hero created by the author—a hero of the people. Prominent Inner Mongolian scholars such as Zalaga and Bolog[ 宝力高：《长篇历史小说<青史演义>初探》，《内蒙古师大学报》，1983年第二期。] have also held the same view.

Injannasi most probably knew historical novels such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and historical chronicles, so it would be surprising if he did not distinguish between “historical novel” and “official history.” Even so, he regarded Köke Sudur as a historical work rather than an unofficial history and certainly not as a novel.

Injannasi believed that there is an essential difference between “official historical record” (正传) and “unofficial history” (俾官). He argued that “official historical records” are strictly records of factual events without embellishment or fictional elements and serve as scientific, historical works. In contrast, “unofficial history” adds stories, ornate language, and imaginative content based on minor historical facts to entertain and provide aesthetic value.

He repeatedly emphasized the difference between an “official historical record” and “unofficial history.” In the third chapter of The First Floor, he stated: “Upon careful analysis, it is clear that unofficial history differs from an official historical record. It is often the work of talented literati who display their knowledge or express their emotions.”[ 尹湛纳希：《一层楼》，内蒙古人民出版社，1982年，34页。] (chin.仔细分析便可知，俾官与正传不同，多为有才华的文人墨客展现所学知识或表述情怀之所为)

In the second section of the preface of Köke Sudur, Injannasi, while asserting that his work is an “official historical record,” stated: “If this book were merely a common historical romance, a novel, or a frivolous piece of unofficial history, it would be easier to deal with. One could patch up the incoherent parts based on the context or even resort to imagination and fiction. However, this book is the official history of the Great Yuan”[ 尹湛纳希：《青史演义》，内蒙古人民出版社，1979年，15页。](chin.若此书是一般演义、小说俾官或者浮躁的文章，那还好说，见到欠通之处可依据上下句子加于补丁或凭想象虚构亦可。此书乃大元盛世正史).

The same argument appears multiple times in the preface of Köke Sudur. In Sections 2 and 4, Injannasi continues to emphasize the necessity of distinguishing Köke Sudur, as an “official historical record,” from works of “frivolous literature” and “flowery rhetoric” such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, The Golden Lotus, and the legendary tales from the Han, Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties.

From this, it can be seen that he considered his own writing to be an official historical record. Throughout his discussion, he consistently focused on “historiography” rather than “fiction.” However, the issue is that scholars do not concur with Injannasi’s view. They argue that what he wrote is essentially a historical novel.

I want to discuss the raised issues in the light of comparative studies on fictional and non-fictional literature shaping understanding of history and preserving cultural memory of the chosen society, in this case, of the Mongols.

The autobiographies, biographies, fiction, and non-fiction writings on the aristocratic ancestry of the noblewomen belonging to royal Indian family lineage especially from medieval history if to be analysed – they are mostly shown as women engaged in warfare either as guardians of ruling states or struggling to retain power position as symbolic figures of co-equality. While the blue-blood women of Sultanate dynasty, Mughals and of the Hindu Indian Princely States later delineated their social-cultural, political, and personal life struggling with gender-edge – resilient towards conventional convictions and constructions of disparities prevailing normally in the society of contemporary times. Women of such noble origin portrayed with feminine artistry and aristocracy, had to uphold their identity per se the wishes and expectations of the royalty. Many of the ruling family’s princesses like Mirabai of Mewar region in the 16th century, Marathi Hindu Princess Sona Bai of Khuldaba in the 17th century had seen lots of disturbance and conflict in their life for being a catalyst to shun the regal splendour and exotic orient’s fortune. But there were many other such as Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi, Rani Durgawati pf Bundelkhand, Rani Ahilya Bai of …., Maharani Brinda of Kapurthala in Punjab, Sunity Deve from Cooch Bihar, and Princess Indra from Baroda, Maharani Gayatri Devi from Jaipur, Late Vijaya Raje Scindia from Gwalior, etc. who challenged feminine longings and adopted the gender roles and responsibilities with as much care as the expected norms of gender lens and dimensions of dominance to control multifaceted areas of ruling order.