Eccentric Readings in East Asia (RBS-Mellon Symposium)

Date: 21 April 2017
Time: 3:00–7:00 p.m.
Location: West Lecture Hall, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton University
Presented by: Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography at Rare Book School and the Institute for Advanced Studies

Why did some people produce idiosyncratic texts that defied the norms of reading and writing of their period? How did these practices change social actors’ relationship to political or religious authorities? What information can we obtain from the nontextual elements of documents, and in what ways does this kind of information help us better understand the meanings of texts?

By exploring the important and rich textual tradition of East Asia, this half-day symposium hopes to expand our understanding of the relationship between written culture and sociocultural power. By focusing on material and nontextual aspects of premodern East Asian texts, it aims to diversify our approaches to textual studies.

See the event webpage for additional details.