Yunwen GAO
Assistant Professor
PhD, East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Southern California
Born and brought up in Shanghai, I am especially drawn to the culture and language of the local and the regional manifest in literature, film, and oral performance in the Wu fangyan (topolect) speaking region. My academic training at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Southern California where Cantonese is widely used among the Sinophone communities further stimulated my research interest in the relationship between fangyan and cultural plurality. Currently, I am working on my book manuscript titled “Language, Soundscape and Identity Formation in Shanghai Fangyan Literature and Culture.” It examines the changing discourse and cultural significance of Wu fangyan writing in the history of Shanghai literature and culture from the late Qing period to the present. My teaching interests cover a wide range of topics such as Modern Chinese literature and culture; Sinophone studies; Chinese cinema and performative arts; post-colonial literature and cultural studies.
Research Interests
- modern Chinese literature and culture
- sinophone studies
- Chinese cinema and performative arts
- post-colonial literature
- cultural studies
Representative Publications
Journal Articles & Book Chapters
| 2017 | Gao, Yunwen. “Sounding Shanghai: Sinophone Intermediality in Jin Yucheng’s Blossoms” Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies, 43(2), 87-105 |
| 2015 | Gao, Yunwen. “Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Colonial Modernity in Liang Qichao’s Ban Dingyuan Conquering the Western Region” Ming Qing Studies. Vol. 2015, pp. 159-174. |
| 2013 | Gao, Yunwen. “M. Butterfly: A Deconstructive Performance on Oriental Fantasy” Intercultural Communication, Representations and Practices: A Global Approach. |
Current Research Projects
|
2019, Dialect Writing and Identity Formation from Late Qing to Contemporary Shanghai, RGC Early Career Scheme |
|
2018, Tracing the history of Chinese Immigrants in Cuba through Cantonese Opera in Havana during the 1920s-1940s, Direct Grant For Research |
Courses Offered
| CHES1000 | Introduction to Chinese Studies |
| CHES1001 | Chinese Languages, Past and Present – Sound and Script |
| CHES1002 | Chinese Languages, Past and Present – Text and Translation |
| CHES2105 | Modern Chinese Literature |
| CHES3200 | Advanced Chinese Literature Seminar |
| CHES4001 | Research on Chinese Texts I |
| CHES4500 | Capstone Research Paper |