Cycle de conférences : Current Research on East Asia

Thursday October 2, 2025

Katarzyna Cwiertka (Leiden University)

From Vision to Texture: Taste and Food Perception in Contemporary Japan

Abstract : Food is among the most potent ambassadors of Japanese culture. Japanese cuisine is celebrated worldwide for various reasons, but the beauty of presentation, in particular, tends to be placed in a spotlight and generally considered transtemporal. In reality, the focus on visuality is a relatively recent product of four independent processes. First, a gradual diffusion of features characteristic of haute cuisine (kaiseki) beyond the realm of high-end restaurants. Second, the proliferation of visual images of food, including colorful print magazines, color television, and, most recently, social media. Third, the omnipresence of food models (shokuhin sanpuru) that line the windows of cafes and restaurants and, finally, the growing visual sophistication of the packaging in which food items are being retailed.
While aesthetics is certainly important in current discourses on food, the predominance of the visual register – often referred to as “ocularcentrism” – overshadows the fact that the appreciation of food in contemporary Japan is a multi-sensory affair, with the emphasis on texture clearly coming to the forefront in recent years. This typically involves ideophones, or words that depict sensory imagery and emotional evaluations of taste. Contemporary Japanese has a large inventory of such expressions that can describe in minute details how food tastes and feels. These words are now omnipresent in advertising and food packaging, on television, in manga and on social media.

This lecture presents preliminary results of the multidisciplinary research project carried out by a team of experts from Leiden University and University of Helsinki, and funded by the Japan Past & Present (https://japanpastandpresent.org/en) a global information hub and repository that promotes research and teaching in the Japanese humanities across disciplinary, temporal, and geographic borders.

Thursday October 23, 2025

Michael Prentice (University of Sheffield)

On the impossibility of studying South Korean corporate life: Insights from anthropology and Asian studies

Abstract : Corporate life is a central part of contemporary South Korean economy, culture and society. Compared to its relative size and prominence, it remains a surprisingly under-researched topic. Superficially this seems like a problem related to access and power. In this talk however, I suggest that circulating Euro-American ideas about South Korean economic life have made corporate life appear to be un-researchable. I structure my talk around ten myths that continue to shape both popular and academic discussions about South Korean corporate life, including topics around hierarchy, the chaebol, and change over time. I draw on my own experience studying South Korean white collar work culture as an anthropologist and insights from broader Asian studies. While these myths have become particularly engrained in both Euro-American and South Korean understanding, I suggest there is still quite a lot to explore, understand, and research about corporate life from different social science and humanities perspectives.

Thursday December 4, 2025

Jessica Imbach (University of Freiburg)

Boys’ Love Fiction and the Politics of Masculinity in Contemporary China

Abstract : Boys’ Love fiction (danmei) is a popular genre of romantic literature that focuses on homoerotic relationships between male characters, but is primarily written by and for women. Over the past decade, it has surged in popularity, especially in China, despite the country’s stringent anti-obscenity laws. Recent waves of criminal prosecutions brought against Boys’ Love (danmei) fiction writers of the online literature platform Haitang have reignited a heated public debate over censorship, gender norms, and literary freedom in the PRC. While much scholarship has interpreted danmei primarily through its audience¾framing it as feminist subversion, consumerist fantasy, or erotic escapism, this talk shifts focus to ask how danmei as a distinct literary genre gives form to a set of contemporary experiences. More specifically, I explore how danmei’s most distinctive formal feature, the creation of a hyper-male-centered world, relates to the politics of masculinity in contemporary China: the narrowing of feminist discourse, a perceived “crisis of masculinity,” and the rise of masculinist, technocratic nationalism online.

Thursday January 29, 2026

Martin Gehlmann (Ruhr-University Bochum)

Education, Edification and Examinations. Confucian Learning in Chosŏn Korea

Abstract : The education and examination system of Korea’s Chosŏn dynasty has been variously interpreted both as an exemplary meritocratic mechanism for bureaucratic recruitment and as a symbol of social injustice and oppressive Confucian orthodoxy. By exploring the purposes and functions of educational institutions, the interactions between court and countryside, and the everyday lives of students and teachers, I aim to shed light on the remarkable ideals and the, sometimes familiar, realities of the Chosŏn educational system.

Thursday February 19, 2026

Ann Heirman (Ghent University)

Fleas and bedbugs in Buddhist monasteries: moving from India to China

Abstract : Buddhist texts generally prohibit the killing or harming of all sentient beings. This is certainly the case in vinaya (disciplinary) texts, which contain strict guidelines on the preservation of all animal life. When these vinaya texts were translated into Chinese, they formed the core of Buddhist behavioral codes, influencing both monastic and lay followers. Medieval Chinese vinaya masters, such as Daoxuan 道宣 (596–667), wrote extensive commentaries and accounts, introducing Indian concepts into the Chinese environment. In this paper, we focus on often neglected sentient beings: namely, some of the world’s smallest, but also those most annoying to humans — fleas and bedbugs.

Insects, such as mosquitoes, flies, but also fleas and bedbugs are indeed not the most pleasant animals to human beings, and as such they easily fall victim of human activities trying to eliminate them. Yet, all of these animals are sentient beings that — according to Buddhist principles — should not be harmed or killed. Accepting them as part of life, including monastic life, comes with some consequences, though. Bedding and clothes can be destroyed, bodies can be harmed, and living can become very troubled. On top of these challenges, these creatures are very numerous and hard to avoid.

What this implies for Chinese vinaya masters is the core question of this paper. How do they deal with these realities? How did they translate the Indian concepts? What about the basic principles of Buddhism they hold in the highest esteem ?

Thursday March 12, 2026

Thursday April 2, 2026