In 1923, Shen Congwen left Xiangxi(Western Hunan) and came to Beijing, where he struggled to find a place for himself in an alien social and cultural structure. His early experiences and works can be taken as some kind of historical materials, to analyze the self-constructed identity of literary youth against the backdrop of new modes of social mobility and the reconstruction of urban space.

Guest: Jiang Tao (associate professor at the Chinese Department at Peking University)

Jiang Tao, Ph. D. in Literature, Associate professor at the Chinese Department at Peking University, fields of study are ”new poetry” and modern Chinese literature and society. He published New poetry collections and the rise of New Poetry, The hand of Bakunin, Classic of Birds (poetry collection) and other works.