Prof. Dai Xianmei from Renmin University of China (RUC) was invited to deliver academic lectures for students from School of International Studies (SIS) on September 24th, 2020. The two lectures were entitled “Classics Reading and the Inheritance of Humanistic Values——Exploring Concepts and Methodology in Literary Criticism” for postgraduates, and “Growing Healthily in Classics——Taking Portrait of a Lady as an Example” for undergraduates respectively.
During the lecture for postgraduates, with her own experiences of pursuing education and attending academic conferences, Prof. Dai started by analyzing several problems of postgraduate study. By citing stories of such renowned writers as Hawthorn and Henry James, she suggested that postgraduates dive into reading and establish their own views. Then she explained the objectives and methodology of literature studies from four aspects of author qualification, reader qualification, reading content and reading skills. And she stressed that the reviewing of classics, attention to details and training of mind were absolutely critical in reading. Also, through the review of writers, literature and qualification of readers of western countries, Prof. Dai, taking British and American writers in the 19th and 20th centuries as examples, advocated that we focus on all human beings in literature studies, rather than restricting to one specific nation or gender. Then she ended the lecture with three words “Learning, Awareness, Inheritance”, inspiring students to lay a solid foundation and pass on the humanistic values by extensive reading and critical thinking. The lecture further stimulated all the attendants' interest in literature studies with liveliness and passion.
During the lecture for undergraduates, Prof. Dai began with several classical comments from masters in literature. She pointed out the important role of classics in cultivating people’s cognition and emotion with the development of intercultural communication. Meanwhile, through perception, inclusiveness and aesthetic values, she explained the essence of a truly piece of classics. Then, taking the literary work Portrait of a Lady as an example, Prof. Dai instructed students on how to read a piece of classics. And she elaborated the beauty in this work by analyzing its structure, language and rhetoric. In the end, she emphasized that readers should avoid their cognitive biases and improve their ability of judgment by intensive reading and reflecting. Only in this way can they meet a better self and set the appropriate goals of life and learning.
(Translated by Yang Dongmin & Li Xuan)
