Titleof report: Multiculturalism & New Zealand’s Contemporary Literature: Trendsand Problems

Lecturer:Professor Mark Williams

Time: 14:30-16:00, Nov.1, 2016 (Tuesday)

Address:Room 406 of the Administrative Building of Shanghai Ocean University

Aboutthe lecturer:

Mark Williams, Doctor of University of British Columbia and Professor of theDepartment of English Literature of the Victoria University of Wellington inNew Zealand, is mainly engaged in studies on New Zealand literature and modernEnglish literature. Williams is a world-renowned expert in English literature,and his monograph History of New ZealandLiterature is an importanct reference for the academic world in studyingNew Zealand literature; he has also participated in the compilation of Selected English Poems of New Zealand,which has won Montana New Zealand Book Award, the most famous book award in NewZealand. He is also the editorial board member of Commonwealth Literature, CanadianLiterature, New Zealand Literature, InternationalComparative Literature & Translation Studies and so forth, and acts asreviewer in Auckland University Press, Victoria University of Wellington Pressand many other presses. By virtue of his prominent contributions, “Williams”has been included by the authoritative Oxford Guide to New Zealand Literatureas an entry, and he has also been presented with many awards by the academiccircles of Japan and Canada.

Aboutthe report:

New Zealand literature is an essential part of the world’s English literature, and,after more than a century of development, it has seen a prosperous situation ofrigorous development of different genres. Besides an examination of past andcontemporary New Zealand literature in the lecture, the report will alsoprovide a retrospective review of the main patterns of multiculturalism inCanadian and New Zealand society, and analyze the reason why New Zealand hastaken a different approach. The primary cultural pattern of New Zealand societyis biculturalism, which believes in the existence of two founding cultures,i.e., European white culture and Maori culture, in New Zealand and upholds themechanism of sharing of power. Compared with Canada and Australia, New Zealandhas yet to further develop its new immigrant literature, however, currentlysome cities in New Zealand are already witnessing the extremely dynamicdevelopment of multiculturalism and the continuous emergence of new writers andartists. Professor Williams has investigated some contemporary writers, andcombed the history of the image of China in New Zealand literature.

All teachers and students are encouraged to attend the symposium!