Michel Hockx is professor of Chinese at the London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and founding director of the SOAS China Institute. He was educated at Leiden University in the Netherlands and at Liaoning and Peking Universities in China.He has published widely on aspects of the social, political and technological context of literary production and publishing in China.
China’s Internet remains something of a walled garden, isolated from the rest of the world by the Great Firewall and by language barriers. There are many downsides to this isolation, but it also creates opportunities for China’s Internet to develop in unique and innovative ways.
Michel will draw upon material from his recently published book Internet Literature in China to discuss the startling array of creativity to be found on the Chinese Internet. He will show how online writing not only breaks through existing literary norms, but also how it challenges the conventional state-run system of publishing, opening up new opportunities for China’s creative economy.
SOAS China Institute is a partner of YCW. Representing the largest community of China scholars under one roof in Europe, the Institute showcases the strength of Chinese Studies research at SOAS and provides students with a rounded set of highly competitive skills for a broad range of careers.
