Fantasy and Humanity in East Asian Literature and Media

Panel Convenor(s)

• JL

  Jessica Tsui-yan Li

  York University, Canada

Panel Chair(s)

• JL

  Jessica Tsui-yan Li

  York University, Canada

Presenter(s)

• JL

  Jessica Tsui-yan Li

  York University, Canada
• KK

  Kaby Kung

  Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong
• JH

  Jeesoon Hong

  Sogang University, Republic of Korea

Fantasy has become a popular worldwide genre since the second half of the twentieth century and has grown to be more prominent in current literature, art, and media in the early twenty-first century. Fantasy refers to human imagination of impossible mental images and ideas involving magical or supernatural elements, which expresses human desire, fear, love, abhorrence, and hope. This panel explores how East Asian literature and media depict human imagination through the fantasy of time travel, space travel, and metamorphosis. It consists of four papers that investigate the fantasy world in literature, TV dramas, and films produced in Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China, Korea, and Japan from the 1980s to 2023. Jessica Tsui-yan Li’s paper, “The Ambiguity of Affect in Yi Shu’s Zhaohua Xishi (Dawn Blossoms Picked Up at Dusk),” examines the theme of ambiguous affect through the fantasy of time travel depicted in the novel, Zhaohua Xishi, first published in Hong Kong in 1985, with reference to its film adaptation in 1986. Li discusses the deconstruction and reconstruction of human relationship as well as the fear of political supervision in the age of ever-growing advanced technology. Jack Hang-tat Leong’s paper, “Ascending to the Stars: Ideology and Transcendence in Science Fiction by Cixin Liu and Arthur C. Clarke” discusses the theme of space travel in the science fiction written by Cixin Liu and Arthur C. Clarke. Leong analyzes the intricated relationship between “cosmic” transcendence and humanity in terms of cyberspace, cyborgs and evolution and argues a spiral movement of humanity’s progression in technology and society. Kaby Kung’s paper, “The Female Pygmalion in the Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean television series, Absolute Boyfriend,” investigates the theme of humanism and posthumanism in the feminist parody of the Greek mythology of “Pygmalion” in three East Asian television adaptations (the Japanese one in 2008, the Taiwanese one in 2012 and the Korean one in 2019) of Yuu Watase’s Absolute Boyfriend, a popular Japanese manga. Jeesoon Hong’s paper “Between Virtualities: Time Travel in Someday or One Day (2019) and A Time Called You (2023)” analyzes the Taiwanese TV drama, Someday or One Day (2019), its shorter film adaptation/semi-sequel (2022), and the Korean TV drama adaptation, A Time called You (2023). Hong discusses the theme of time travel and dissimilar selves in relation to post-subjectivity and anti-ontology with reference to Deleuze’s concepts of the “virtual” and “difference” and François Jullien’s notion of “between.”

Presentations:

• 09:00 – 10:45 (GMT+7)

  The Ambiguity of Affect in Yi Shu's Zhaohua Xishi (Dawn Blossoms Picked Up at Dusk)
  

  Presenter: Jessica Tsui-yan Li – York University
• 09:00 – 10:45 (GMT+7)

  The Female Pygmalion in the Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean television series, Absolute Boyfriend
  

  Presenter: Kaby Kung – Hong Kong Metropolitan University
• 09:00 – 10:45 (GMT+7)

  Between Virtualities: Time Travel in Someday or One Day (2019) and A Time Called You (2023)
  

  Presenter: Jeesoon Hong – Sogang University