Traditions, Canons, and Contacts: European Rewritings of Chinese Texts from Voltaire to Goethe

The 18th century marked a crucial moment of an "identified China" distinct from "the Orient" that emerged in European literary works.

My project will start with the 18th-century notion of "literary traditions" and compare the trajectories of canon formation in China and Europe.

Through the analysis of intertextual relations between Chinese original texts and European writers' rewritings, the functional roles played by Chinese literary works in sociological dynamics will become the focal point of enquiry.

In this process, the project will also develop new ways to understand how European scholars processed the knowledge about China before the birth of Sinology.