In my talk, I offer a textual and discursive exploration of an eighteenth-century Algerian folk poem (malḥūn) about the 1770 Danish-Norwegian bombardment of Algiers, referred to in Algerian sources as "The Poem of the Bomb" (Qaṣīdat al-Būmbah). I explore this vernacular poem alongside other previously overlooked late eighteenth-century Algerian historiographical-cum-autobiographical sources, namely Ibn Ruqayyah al-Tilimsānī’s (d. 1780) al-Zahra al-Nayyirah (The Radiant Flower) and al-Ḥājj Aḥmad al-Sharīf al-Zahhār’s (d. 1830) Mudhakkarāt (Memoir). Through this comparative reading, I underscore the critical importance of engaging with neglected non-European and non-Eurocentric sources that foreground Algerian and broader Maghribi perspectives on the 1769–1772 Danish-Algerian War and the 1770 bombardment of Algiers. Relatedly, I analyze the poem’s use of Romance loanwords associated with corsairing and piracy, drawing intertextual connections to an older Algerian folk poem, "My Corsair Has Won a Booty"(Qurṣānī Ghannim) on the 1565 Algerian-Ottoman siege of Malta, known in the Arabo-Siculo-Maltese as "L-Assedju l-Kbir" (The Great Siege).

This paper undertakes a comparative philosophical and literary investigation into the role of artificial intelligence as a narrative agent in both digital games and AI-generated literature. Central to this inquiry is a question that cuts across aesthetics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language: what does it mean to "author" in an age where machines generate, structure, and even co-create stories? How do these practices challenge our inherited categories of authorship, intentionality, and interpretation? Focusing on the Nemesis system in Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War as a model of adaptive procedural narrative, and supported by cases such as AI Dungeon, the paper examines how narrative is constructed when authored partially or wholly by algorithmic systems. In digital games, AI narratives are not merely generated but enacted, shaped through the player’s interactivity and embedded within dynamic, feedback-driven systems. In contrast, AI-generated literature, including works produced by large language models such as ChatGPT, often retains the conventions of linear authorship, albeit without a stable authorial subject. Philosophically, this paper builds on theories of authorship and meaning from W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley, who argue that an author’s intention is neither accessible nor relevant, and from Roland Barthes, who claims that the origin of meaning lies in the reader’s engagement rather than the author’s voice. These frameworks highlight a broader transition from traditional authorial control to interpretive plurality which finds new expression in machinic and interactive forms of storytelling. On the basis of these frameworks, I argue that AI’s narrative interventions demand not only new literary classifications but a rethinking of narrative itself as a philosophical object that is no longer grounded in human intentionality alone, but distributed across machinic processes, player engagement, and algorithmic design. This theoretical inquiry into authorship and interpretation articulates how digital technologies serve as co-constructors of meaning in evolving literary environments.

Following the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, postcolonial themes—such as the cultural identity of Hong Kong—once prominent in Hong Kong literature, gradually faded into the backdrop of historical change. Yet, the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) has sparked renewed interaction between Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese literature, prompting fresh debates about the place of Hong Kong literature and its ties to Mainland literary traditions in today’s context. Given the complexity of this evolving dialogue, this study revisits earlier explorations of Hong Kong’s cultural identity by writers like Leung Ping-kwan and Li Pi-Hua during the handover period. Building on their work, we undertake a textual analysis of two novels by post-90s Hong Kong Drifters writers—Stefanie Chow’s The Wandering Dragon Toys with the Phoenix (Yau Lung Hei Fung, 遊龍戲鳳) and Lucia Lo’s The Memory Puzzles of Hong Kong Drifters (Gong Piu Gei Jik Ping Tou, 港漂記憶拼圖)—to probe the cultural identity of Hong Kong anew.

This study seeks to reframe the dynamic between “periphery and center” in literary narratives by examining how Hong Kong Drifters writers portray the city amid the GBA’s rise. In doing so, it explores their cultural identity and proposes the concept of a “literature circus within the GBA” as a means to connect peripheral and central narratives. This framework engages with Leung Ping-Kwan’s notion of a “third cultural space,” aiming to mend the rifts and tensions stemming from differing colonial histories. Looking ahead, the study also considers how this “literature circus” might open up new narrative possibilities, fostering deeper connections between Hong Kong and Mainland literature in the future.

Bao Daizhi Outwits by the Chalk Circle is a typical legal drama written by Li Xingdao, a writer from the Yuan Dynasty in China. In 1832, the French sinologist Stanislas Julien first translated The Chalk Circle into French.Unfortunately, the play did not gain widespread attention in European academic circles at that time. In 1876, the German writer Anton Fonseca translated Julien's French version into German. Subsequently, through the translations and introductions by German sinologists such as Wilhelm Grube and Alfred Forke, the play gradually entered the receptive horizon of German writers in the 20th century. Among them, Klabund's adaptation of The Chalk Circle is particularly notable. The successful staging of this adaptation not only brought international reputation to the writer but also played a significant role in promoting the development of drama in the Weimar Republic. It even sparked a trend of adapting Chinese dramas among German writers in the first half of the 20th century. By this point, the "Two Mothers Contending for a Son"story had truly entered the German-speaking literary world, embarking on its journey around the globe. This paper aims to return to the historical context, examining the reasons behind Klabund's adaptation and the initial staging process, and exploring his rewriting strategies and the implied motives behind them. Such an examination of the reception history of this particular case not only clarifies the traces of Sino-German literary and cultural exchanges but also reveals the formation process of a world literary classic.

Abstract: Late 19th century to early 20th century, Missionaries' works in Southwestern Mandarin mainly include Dictionnaire Francais-Latin-Chinois de la Langue Mandarine Parlée, Proverbes Chinois, Recueillis et mis en Ordre,Dialogues Chinois-Latin Traduits mot a mot avec la prononciation accentée，Grammaire de la Langue Chinoise，Dictionnaire Chinois-Français de la Langue Mandarine Parlée Dans l‘Ouest de la Chine Avec un Vocabulaire Français-Chinois，Western Mandarin, or the Spoken Language of Western China，A Course of Lessons in Spoken Mandarin Based on the Gouin Method,Short Cut to Western Mandarin first hundred steps(Romanized), and Chinese Lessons of First Year Students in West China. We have researched and interpreted the words "鸭静", "姨台", "凑", "㧯", "奏奏", "柇皮" and "谷𣿅鸡" that appear in the literature. On the basis of clarifying the relationship between many variants, we have researched the dialect original character and explored their etymology.