E.K. Tan: "Parasite: Conceptualizing a Sinophone Approach and Ethics"

About This Event

The future of Sinophone studies needs to engage with practices beyond defining distinctive Sinophone localities in order to imagine the Sinophone as a parasite that exists in the form of a continuous nuisance and irritation to the main(stream) body. This will allow the field to reconfigure itself to engage with the complex network of power it encounters. It is in this sense that the parasitic nature of the Sinophone could enable the burgeoning field to grow in vitality and visibility while forcing power centers to acknowledge its critical energy as threat. Under this premise, I propose a Sinophone ethics that hopes to promote a solidarity among communities to address the similar history of sufferings or injustices experienced by these communities. To illustrate, I offer examples in politics and activism to explore how the Sinophone occupies the parasite as both tactics and metaphor to disrupt political processes and question their legitimacy.

E.K. Tan is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, English and Asian & Asian American Studies at Stony Brook University.

Featured Guests

E.K. Tan, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, English and Asian & Asian American Studies, Stony Brook University