Xuan Qiao

MU XIN AND CHINESE AESTHETIC MODERNITY

Sun Pu 孙璞, with pen-name Mu Xin 木心 (1927-2011), is a poet, essayist, and artist. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), he was imprisoned for words, and all his works were confiscated or destroyed. He moved to New York in 1982, and since then, Mu Xin gradually re-started his writing and painting career. In 2006, he returned to his hometown and settled down. Until his death in 2011, Mu Xin left thirteen volumes of literary works and two volumes of paintings, as well as Literary Memoirs (two volumes) and Mu Xin’s Discussion on Mu Xin: Addendum to Literary Memoirs. The last two books were based on his student, another distinguished artist and essayist, Chen Danqing’s 陈丹青 notes from Mu Xin’s lectures on world literature history, between 1989 and 1994.

Mu Xin’s return has stirred a series of debates, mainly focusing on his unique aesthetic thinking compared to today’s Chinese writers and artists. By conducting a comprehensive and interpretive study on Mu Xin’s literary and artistic creation, my project aims to highlight that Mu Xin’s aesthetical thinking could reveal Chinese aesthetic modernity’s dilemma and make his contribution as well.

Joseph Lawson, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University

Jianfei Zhu, School of Architecture Planning & Landscape, Newcastle University

Jun Qian, School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University