At the invitation of the Modern Language Association of America (MLAA), Prof. Gao Feng from the
Institute of English Literature was present at the annual conference of MLAA in San Francisco from
Dec.26 to 30, 2008. At the conference, she also presented her paper.
Every year, MLAA invites about 9,000 scholars and professors to its annual conference, which is the
largest and top International academic seminar for the research of literae humaniores. The major topics
of the conference concentrate on 3 fields including European and American Literature, Linguistics and
Comparative Literature. Important writers, works and periods of different countries such as America, Great
Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Australia from the Middle Ages to the end of the 20th century
and the relatively concerned core issues of the day such as Modernity and Cultural Studies are researched
into by different scholars from different angles. This annual conference held altogether 806 seminars of
different kinds, the most unique research topic of which is the relationship between literature and other arts
like music, painting and architecture. Besides, the conference raised its key question: In today’s highly
modernized world, what is the value of literature? And how should literature be taught and learned?
At the conference, Prof. Gao Feng read the paper “the Snow Man by Wallace Stevens and Zen Arts of China” with an explanation of the Zen ideas contained in the poet the Snow Man by Wallace Stevens from
the viewpoint of traditional Chinese paintings, which aroused interest and attention among all the scholars
present. Apart from that, she made further discussions on the relationship between literature and other arts
like music and painting with scholars from America, England, France, and Switzerland and so on.
Arrangements for the “Modernism and East Cultures” international seminar in Zhejiang University were also discussed.
（Translated by TONG Shan）
