26 December, 2013
With the support and active involvement of Research Center of American Literature, Institute of English Literature, International Relations Department and students and teachers of SIS (School of International Studies), Pro. John Wharton Lowe from University of Georgia had successfully finished his series of four lectures on literature up to Dec. 20th. In these lectures, Pro. Lowe not only expressed his special opinions of research methods on literature but also explained and discussed the topics of ethnicity，identity, folk cultures, humor, masculinity and so on combining with concrete fictions.
In the lecture of How to Approach a Novel?: On Literature Reading and Thesis Writing, Pro. Lowe gave his valuable advices on research method of literature with reference to a short story The Story of An Hour and a research monograph on William Faulkner, which he has been working on.
In the lecture of Identity and Ethnicity in African American Literature, Pro. Lowe explained the ethnic identity in the present African-American literature with reference to the novels, The Invisible Man and A Lesson Before Dying and so on.
In the lecture of Orality, Humor and Folk Culture in African American Literature, Pro. Lowe discussed the important role of language style of oral English, humor and folk culture in the present African-American literature with reference to the novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.
In the lecture of The Issue of Manhood in American Literature, Pro. Lowe explained the topic of masculinity with reference to The Yearling. He explained the important role of the definition and the theme of masculinity in the research on American literature in depth.
During these lectures, Pro. Lowe was very humorous and kept his common touch, which showed his unique personality as a humanist and reflected his wide eye-sight of theory and skilled command of words. This series of lectures have benefited the students and teachers in SIS a lot no matter in the research method of literature teaching or the discussion of the frontier issue in literature.
(Translated by GAO Lin)
