Wang Anyi at the Women's Forum

I was lucky enough to attend the Women's Forum Asia over this past weekend. Apparently it's ranked as one of the top 5 most influential forums globally by the FT, Davos of course being THE most important one. This year they decided to take it to Asia for the first time, and in Shanghai because China's the most dynamic country in the region, etc. etc. The speakers there were o-kay, no-one that I'd say was particularly A-list, but I did get to see Wang Anyi (王安忆) speak about women in Chinese literature. The moderator was Dong Qiang 董強, professor of French literature at Peking University and student of Milan Kundera and Jacques Derrida. Dong himself has contributed greatly to the study of French literature in China and was responsible for translating many works into Chinese; I believe he is part of a circle of writers and artists who came of age toward the end of the Cultural Revolution and expressed their view of a rapidly changing China through their work. Wang, whose work revolves around the Cultural Revolution and whose life was deeply impressed with the scars of that time in Chinese history, is solidly inscribed in the Shanghai circle of authors, and so much of her work winds its way through this city's longtangs and thoroughfares.

Wang is a living legend: she is the chair of the Shanghai Writers' Association and holds a professorship from Fudan University's Chinese department. Her 1995 novel 长恨歌 was just released in English in March. Here's a review of The Song of Everlasting Sorrow from NYT, by Francine Prose.

At the Forum, Wang was incredible: every sentence that came out of her mouth was a measured string of beautifully crafted literary gems. She presented the work of four Chinese women authors, who, in a curious twist of coincidence, were born about ten years apart from each other. Their work sketches out the changing place of women in Chinese society as well as the changing perception of sexuality and relationships.