Asian Studies Program, Art History and Visual Culture Program, American and Indigenous Studies Program, and Language and Literature Division Present
Pearl S. Buck vs. H. T. Tsiang
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Olin Humanities, Room 102
6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Who gets to speak for China? During the interwar years, when American
condescension toward “barbarous” China yielded to a fascination with
all things Chinese, a circle of writers sparked an unprecedented
public conversation about American–Chinese relations. Hua Hsu will
discuss his book, A Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Failure Across the
Pacific, and the rivalries which emerged between powerful writers and
gatekeepers like Pearl Buck, Carl Crow, and Henry Luce and largely
overlooked immigrant writers like the D.I.Y. oddball H.T. Tsiang. How
do these conversations about Asian American identity or transpacific
geopolitics continue into today? What role do market pressures and
imagined rivalries play in the creative process? How did failure
inspire one man toward radical dreams of floating away?
Hua Hsu is an associate professor of English at Vassar College, where
he also directs the program in American Studies. He is the author of A
Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Failure Across the Pacific, published
last year by Harvard University Press. He has previously written for
Artforum, The Atlantic, Grantland, Slate, and The Wire. He is
currently a contributor to the New Yorker where he reviewed Kanye West's
“The Life of Pablo'" and Run the Jewels’ “RTJ3.” He serves on the
executive board of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop.
All invited!
condescension toward “barbarous” China yielded to a fascination with
all things Chinese, a circle of writers sparked an unprecedented
public conversation about American–Chinese relations. Hua Hsu will
discuss his book, A Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Failure Across the
Pacific, and the rivalries which emerged between powerful writers and
gatekeepers like Pearl Buck, Carl Crow, and Henry Luce and largely
overlooked immigrant writers like the D.I.Y. oddball H.T. Tsiang. How
do these conversations about Asian American identity or transpacific
geopolitics continue into today? What role do market pressures and
imagined rivalries play in the creative process? How did failure
inspire one man toward radical dreams of floating away?
Hua Hsu is an associate professor of English at Vassar College, where
he also directs the program in American Studies. He is the author of A
Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Failure Across the Pacific, published
last year by Harvard University Press. He has previously written for
Artforum, The Atlantic, Grantland, Slate, and The Wire. He is
currently a contributor to the New Yorker where he reviewed Kanye West's
“The Life of Pablo'" and Run the Jewels’ “RTJ3.” He serves on the
executive board of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop.
All invited!
For more information, call 845-758-7247, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Location: Olin Humanities, Room 102