Discussion of Gao Xingjian's visit to Hong Kong
Discussion of Gao Xingjian's visit to
Professor Zhang Longxi of CityU responded to the SCMP article on Gao's visit to
Nobel Prize winner GAO used to fewer restrictions in his adopted home of
Comments of SCMP article on GAO's visit to HK
by Zhang Longxi, Chair Professor of Comparative Literature and Translation, CityU (
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After reading the SCMP article on GAO Xingjian's lecture given yesterday at my own University in
Mr. GAO Xingjian, winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature, came to
A close friend of his, Mr. Liu Zaifu, is currently a visiting professor in my department (Chinese, Translation, and Linguistics) at CityU, who was instrumental in bringing Mr. GAO to CityU for a lecture.
Mr. GAO gave an excellent lecture on how his novel, Soul Mountain, was first conceived in the early 1980s and how, in a ten year period thereafter, he found the appropriate form and language for this novel. His lecture was a convincing, elegant, and stimulating self-analysis of the novel in terms of artistic form and techniques. The whole lecture was a big success, and anyone interested can read the lecture in either a transcript in Chinese or an English translation now made available on CityU Publications Office's webpage (http://www.cityu.edu.hk/cityutoday/).
Mr. GAO never talked about politics per se, and the question of political implications of his visit did not come up till after the lecture when a reporter in the audience asked why he chose to come to
May Sin-mi Hon of SMCP, however, latched on to this brief exchange of question and answer, while ignoring the entire lecture and much of the question and answer session afterwards. The SMCP article gives the impression that the Nobel Laureate feels restricted in
Before Mr. GAO's lecture, Professor H. K. Chang, CityU President, gave a warm welcome to our speaker, and after the lecture, our President invited Mr. GAO and a number of academics and scholars to a pleasant lunch before Mr. GAO went to another gathering in the afternoon. It is true that Mr. Tung Chee-hwa or other high level officials of the HK Government did not meet Mr. GAO, and I think that was unwise and embarrassing. To overly politicize Mr. GAO's visit and misrepresent his lecture at CityU in an article, however, makes one wonder whether the reporter in question had any respect for a Nobel Laureate in Literature, whether that reporter had any understanding of, or even interest in, what Mr. GAO had to say about his own art and works.
As someone actively involved in Mr. GAO's visit to City University of Hong Kong, I feel obliged to send this corrective.
Zhang Longxi
Chair Professor of Comparative Literature and Translation
Tel: (852)2788 8789
Fax: (852)2788 8706
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Originally appeared in South China Morning Post,
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Nobel Prize winner GAO used to fewer restrictions in his adopted home of
by May Sin-MI Hon
(
Exiled Chinese Nobel laureate GAO Xingjian said he was embarrassed by the lack of freedom he felt in
Asked at a
"'If I don't come, my friends will be disappointed. The situation of
"However, it is difficult to resist a warm invitation and I have also received a warm welcome here. I have no relations with the Government. Literature has nothing to do with government in the first place."
The central Government has said the conferring of the Nobel Prize for Literature on GAO was politically motivated. GAO has refrained from making political comments since arriving on Monday.
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has not met the author during the visit. The highest ranking official to attend a function for GAO has been Secretary for Home Affairs Lam Woon-kwong, who was at a speech at
Deputy Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Choi Suk-kuen was among 360 invited guests at yesterday's speech and seminar. A further 800 academics watched on TV monitors outside the hall.
Asked whether mainland authors were free to say what they wanted, GAO said yesterday he was not qualified to comment since he left
"
Attending the seminar was veteran journalist Thomas Lu Keng, who now lives in
"It's neither the problem of GAO Xingjian nor that of Tung Chee-hwa - it's the stupid advisers of Mr Tung," he said.
A spokesman for the Chief Executive's office responded by saying that the Government maintained an interest in cultural exchanges.
Mr GAO leaves for
He will also take part in a seminar at the Taipei International Book Exhibition next week.
GAO, who is also a painter, said he planned to display up to 50 of his works at an exhibition in
Last night he attended a reception given by Ming Pao newspaper.
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