Mapping the Central-Peripheral Dynamic: Literary Platforms in the Field of Huizu wenxue

In recent decades, Sinophone literary studies has emphasized cultural and language-based modes of identification, with the stated goal of moving away from the traditional conceptualization of China as constituted by a central cultural core and its peripheries. This shift, however, artificially obscures the state-established platforms for the creation, promotion, and evaluation of ethnic minority literatures (shaoshu minzu wenxue). Drawing on textual analysis and fieldwork interviews, this talk explores how Hui literature (Huizu wenxue) relies primarily on two state-funded publishers: Ningxia People's Press and the journal Hui Literature. Following state’s policies and relying on state-funding, these two publishers have created a Hui literary canon and facilitated literary exchanges with the Arab-speaking world, thus playing a central role in channeling Hui literature, both nationally and internationally. Although geographically and symbolically displaced from China’s economic and political centers, the literary initiatives carried on by Ningxia People’s Press (Yinchuan, Ningxia) and Hui Literature (Changji, Xinjiang) are central for the existence of Hui literature in China and for its crisscross exchanges with the Middle East. For this reason, I argue that they are best characterized as “central peripheries.” Mario De Grandis is Assistant Professor/Lecturer at the Irish Institute for Chinese Studies at University College Dublin. He earned his Ph.D. in modern Chinese literature from the Ohio State University in 2021. Dr. De Grandis's research primarily focuses on ethnic minority literature (shaoshu minzu wenxue 少数民族文学) and its cinematic adaptations. "Ethnicity in Print," one of his upcoming article in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, was initially presented at the workshop "A glimpse at the world of the Rgyalrongs" held here at TCD in August 2022. In addition to his academic pursuits, Mario is an active translator. He has contributed subtitles to documentaries and translated works of fiction from Chinese into his native language, Italian. His translations include documentaries by prominent artist Ai Weiwei and literary works by the Uighur author Alat Asem.