David Der-wei Wang (; born November 6, 1954) is a Taiwanese-American literary historian, critic, and the Edward C. Henderson Professor of Chinese Literature at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. He has written extensively on post-late Qing Chinese fiction, comparative literary theory, colonial and modern Taiwanese literature, diasporic literature,
Chinese Malay literature,
Sinophone
Sinophone, which means "Chinese language, Chinese-speaking", typically refers to an individual who speaks at least one Varieties of Chinese, variety of Chinese (that is, one of the Sinitic languages). Academic writers often use the term Sinophone ...
literature, and Chinese intellectuals and artists in the 20th century. His notions such as "repressed modernities", "post-loyalism", and "modern lyrical tradition" are instrumental and widely discussed in the field of Chinese literary studies.
Life and career
David Der-wei Wang was born in
Taipei
, nickname = The City of Azaleas
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. He graduated from
Cheng Kung Senior High School
Cheng Kung Senior High School logo
Taipei Municipal Chenggong High School (CGHS in Hanyu Pinyin, originally CKSH in Wade-Giles: Taipei Municipal Cheng Kung Senior High School, Traditional Chinese: 臺北市立成功高级中學) is a senior hi ...
and took his B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literature from
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...
and his M.A. (1978) and Ph.D. (1982) in Comparative Literature from the
University of Wisconsin at Madison
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
. Wang taught at National Taiwan University (1982–1986), Harvard University (1986–1990), and Columbia University (1990–2004). He served as the head of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
(designated in 1997), when he taught there as the Dean Lung Professor of Chinese Studies. In 2000, he succeeded
Irene Bloom as chair of the University Committee on Asia and the Middle East. In 2004, he rejoined Harvard University and was named Edward C. Henderson Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures. Wang received the
Changjiang Scholar Award in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in 2008. He was the 2013–14 Humanitas Visiting Professor of Chinese Studies at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, where he gave 3 public lectures on the "Chineseness" of Chinese literature. He is one of the chapter contributors of
The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature.
In addition, Wang has been the editor of "Modern Chinese Literature from Taiwan" series published by
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
Press which include works by writers such as
Huang Chun-ming
Huang Chun-ming (; born 13 February 1935) is a Taiwanese literary figure and teacher. Huang writes mainly about the tragic and sometimes humorous lives of ordinary Taiwanese people, and many of his short stories have been turned into films, in ...
,
Yang Mu
Yang Mu ( zh, t=楊牧, p=Yáng Mù, September 6, 1940 – March 13, 2020) was a pen name of Wang Ching-hsien (), a Taiwanese poet, essayist, critic, translator, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at the University of Washington, and fo ...
, and
Chu Tʽien-wen.
Wang was elected as an Academician of
Academia Sinica
Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei.
Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...
(2004) and member of
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2020). Aside from his scholarship, Wang has written numerous book reviews in Chinese since 1980s and is recognised as an active and accomplished literary critic in Taiwan. He received the National Award for Arts in Taiwan for a volume of critical writings on Chinese fiction in 1993. He also translated
Michel Foucault
Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...
's
The Archaeology of Knowledge
''The Archaeology of Knowledge'' (''L’archéologie du savoir,'' 1969) by Michel Foucault is a treatise about the methodology and historiography of the systems of thought (''epistemes'') and of knowledge (''discursive formations'') which follow ...
into Chinese.
Selected works
*
*. The first full-length English language survey of late
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
fiction, it has been praised as a major contribution to scholarship on the fiction of the era.
*. Reflections on violence in Chinese fiction and real-world history, covering famous writers such as
Lu Xun
Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...
and
Mao Dun
Shen Dehong (Shen Yanbing; 4 July 1896 – 27 March 1981), best known by the pen name of Mao Dun, was a Chinese novelist, essayist, journalist, playwright, literary and cultural critic. He was highly celebrated for his Literary realism, rea ...
as well as less-well-known ones from mainland China and Taiwan.
*. A collection of essays discussing the history of modern literary creation in three cities: Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Taipei.
*
*
*(co-edited with
Carlos Rojas)
* (co-edited with
Ping-hui Liao Ping-hui Liao (Traditional Chinese: 廖炳惠) is Chuan-liu Chair Professor in Taiwan Studies at the Department of Literature of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He is also a Chair professor at National Taiwan Normal University. Prior ...
)
*
*
References
External links
List of recent publications(hosted by the
Academia Sinica
Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei.
Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...
)
David Wang , East Asian Languages and Civilizations(
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, David Der-Wei
Living people
University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni
Columbia University faculty
Harvard University faculty
Taiwanese emigrants to the United States
1954 births
Members of Academia Sinica