Peking University, May 24, 2019: Didier Alexandre, a prominent French scholar and professor of Sorbonne University, visited the Department of French Language and Literature, School of Foreign Languages at Peking University from May 13 to 18. During his visit, Alexandre delivered four lectures to professors and students of the department.
On May 14, Alexandre gave a lecture named “Paul Claudel and China”, in which he introduced the multiple identities of Claudel. From 1895 to 1909, Paul Claudel was a French diplomat in China, who was also a writer and a Catholic. These various identities gave him a more profound and complicated understanding of China. As a result, Claudel’s literature has surpassed the contemporary travelogues of exoticness; instead, he tried to touch upon the true face of China through his anthropological and economic studies, which provided modern researchers with loads of valuable references.
On May 15, Alexandre attended a lecture named “Columbus’s myth in literature”, in which Lu Yanping, lecturer of School of Foreign Languages introduced how to utilize the database to study the image of Columbus in literature from 1750 to 1970.
On the same day, Alexandre attended the third lecture during his visit. This lecture, titled “The digitalization and application of literary text”, aimed to introduce a series of changes of texts caused by digital technology.
On May 17, the last lecture, named “The confliction of Eastern and Western ideology in France”, was host by Qin Haiying, professor of the Department of French Language and Literature. Professor Alexandre discussed the concept of “the Orient” with the faculty of the related departments. Focusing on “the Orient” image under the Western gaze, the heated discussion between Alexandre and PKU professors continued after the lecture, which drew the satisfying conclusion of the series of lectures.
Written by: Ge Pengcheng
Edited by: Wang Nini, Hu Rong
