A discussion based on Dr. Melody Li’s new book Transpacific Cartographies: Narrating the Contemporary Chinese Diaspora in the United States. The book examines how contemporary Chinese diasporic narratives address the existential loss of home for immigrant communities at a time of global precarity and amid rising Sino-U.S. tensions. Intersecting with and bridging Sinophone studies, Chinese American studies, and diaspora studies and drawing on theories of literary cartography, Transpacific Cartographies demonstrates how the transpacific “maps” the Chinese diaspora draw offer their readers different paths for finding a sense of home no matter where they are.

Dr. Melody Li is assistant professor in Chinese studies at the University of Houston, Texas. She has a PhD in comparative literature at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research interests include Asian diaspora literature, modern Chinese literature and culture, translation studies, performance studies, and cultural identities. She is the co-editor of Affective Geographies and Narratives of Chinese Diaspora (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022).

Globally Connected @ FIT is hosted by the Office of International Programs, History of Art, and the Cultural Fellows.

February 8, 2024