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Ronald Egan (Stanford University): Unspeakable Acts and Suppressed Meanings in Twelfth-Century Chinese Tales
Thursday, 10 November 2016,  4:30pm -  6:00pm

Location: Brower Commons A

 

Abstract: There are plenty of stories in Hong Mai's collection of supernatural tales, Yijian zhi, that feature conventional morality and outcomes, such as divine retribution for wickedness and self-indulgence. But there is also a significant portion of the work that goes beyond these standards, treating sensitive and "awkward" topics such as grievances toward the officical class, antagonism towards Buddhist clergy, sexual desire, madness (among women), the criminal mind, and infanticide. In these stories the taboo or nearly taboo topic overshadows the tale's outcome or denouement. The willingness to deal with such issues gives many stories a somber tone, as they detail for us some of the darker aspects of Song period life that we rarely glimpse elsewhere. Among these often troubling stories, some are so sketchy on details that it is difficult to know exactly what is happening or why. Presumably, this is because the unseemly conduct or motives of the persons involved tends to give rise to a degree of narrative suppression in the telling and retelling (Hong Mai did not write these stories; he recorded tales he heard from informants.) These can be the most challenging and intriguing stories for us today. This talk examines examples of such stories and tries to explore the events and meanings that they simultaneously evoke and veil. Collectively, the stories trace the boudaries of what was permissible to put into writing even as they broach conduct that lay beyond those boundaries.