In the Chinese tradition, there are two contradictory views of the idea of Chineseness, one of which defines the concept of identity in terms of kinship and ethnicity, while the other understands Chineseness as culturally defined and potentially all embracing. Zhang Longxi will explore the two different views and discuss their implications in the effort toward an adequate cross-cultural understanding.

Zhang Longxi received his M.A. in English from Peking University and his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Harvard University. He has taught at Peking, Harvard and the University of California, Riverside, and is currently Chair Professor of Comparative Literature and Translation and Director of the Centre for Cross-Cultural Studies at the City University of Hong Kong. He has many publications in Chinese and English, including Mighty Opposites: From Dichotomies to Differences in the Comparative Study of China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998); and most recently Out of the Cultural Ghetto (Hong Kong: Shangwe, 2000).

This event is cosponsored by the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, Department of the History of Art and Architecture, East Asia Center, and the Interdiscplinary Humanities Center.