【Academic Lecture】Interview with Professor Chloe Starr from Yale University —— a Dialogue of Sinology and Civilization from a Global Perspective

On the morning of April 14, 2022, the interview-style lecture "A Dialogue of Sinology and Civilization from a Global Perspective" hosted by the Institute for Advanced Study in Dialogue of Civilizations of Wuhan University was successfully held on Zoom.

At the beginning of the lecture, Professor ChloeStarr reviewed her academic background, which began with the study of novels in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and later turned to the study of Chinese literature and theology. She majored in modern literature as an undergraduate at Cambridge University. After entering Harvard University, influenced by the course of Professor Patrick Hanan (1927-2014), she became interested in the study of brothel novels in the late Qing Dynasty, which also inspired her doctoral dissertation. In her doctoral dissertation, Professor ChloeStarr focuses on narrative issues, especially self-reflexivity and the textuality of novels. In the process of reading late Qing novels, she also came into contact with some late Qing Christian texts. She worked and taught Classics at Durham University for some time before returning to Cambridge for a diploma in theology. She has always maintained passion for literature and theology, and her works published in recent years reflect her attempt to combine literature with Chinese theology and Christian thoughts.

Later Professor Wu Genyou asked questions about the specific research objects, research methods and the current development status of the Chinese and Japanese Christian literature courses taught by Professor ChloeStarr. She said that due to the differences of the students, the content and methods of the courses will naturally vary. Professor Starr introduced the Christian thoughts contained in the works of writers such as Lin Yutang, Lu Xun and Lao She, and reviewed in detail the process of the gradual development and deepening of Chinese Christian literature research. At the same time, she also pointed out that there is not enough attention paid to the current research field of Christian literature in China, which needs further research and exploration.