The Plum in the Golden Vase: An Interview

By any measure, David Tod Roy’s five-volume translation The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P’ing Mei is a landmark achievement for East Asian Studies, translation studies, and world literature. It was an honor and a great pleasure to talk with David about his work on the occasion of the publication of the fifth and final volume of his translation, and you can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading The Plum in the Golden Vase: An Interview

Carla NappiMay 20, 2014May 29, 2021

Podcasts

Songs of Seoul: An Interview

Nick Harkness and I spoke recently about his inspiring new book. Songs of Seoul explores the human voice as an instrument, and object, and an emblem in a rich ethnography of songak in Christian South Korea. It is a thoughtful and conceptually sophisticated account, and you can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading Songs of Seoul: An Interview

Carla NappiMay 19, 2014May 29, 2021

Podcasts

Between Birth and Death: An Interview

Michelle King’s wonderful new book explores the intertwined histories of imperialism and infanticide, situating the histories of infant killing and abandonment in China within a broader account of these practices in western Europe and across Eurasia. You can listen to our recent conversation about it here. Continue reading Between Birth and Death: An Interview

Carla NappiMay 19, 2014May 30, 2021

Podcasts

Modernity with a Cold War Face: An Interview

Xiaojue Wang’s new book reimagines the history of literature in modern China by considering the work of authors writing across the 1949 divide in the context of the global Cold War. It’s a careful, thoughtful, and ambitious study, and you can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading Modernity with a Cold War Face: An Interview

Carla NappiMay 16, 2014May 30, 2021

Podcasts

Eurasian: An Interview

Emma Teng’s wonderful new book explores the history of discourses about Eurasian identity and the lived experiences of Eurasian people in China, Hong Kong, and the US between 1842 and 1943. She generously made the time to talk with me about it recently, it was such a pleasure, and you can listen to our conversation here. Continue reading Eurasian: An Interview

Carla NappiMarch 1, 2014May 30, 2021

Podcasts

Japanese Historiography and the Gold Seal of 57 C. E.: An Interview

Josh Fogel and spoke recently about his thoughtful new exploration of the transformations of an artifact as read through the transformations in the way that artifact has been understood historically. It’s a book about a very particular gold seal in the history of Japan, and simultaneously about much more, and you can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading Japanese Historiography and the Gold Seal of 57 C. E.: An Interview

Carla NappiMarch 1, 2014May 30, 2021

Podcasts

A Sense of Place: An Interview

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Dave Spafford about his great new book on the production of space (all kinds of space!) in late medieval Japan. It was great fun, and you can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading A Sense of Place: An Interview

Carla NappiMarch 1, 2014May 30, 2021

Podcasts

Opera and the City: An Interview

I had the pleasure of talking with Andrea Goldman about her wonderful study of opera in late Qing Beijing. It’s a rich book full of nuanced readings of some great historical documents, and you can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading Opera and the City: An Interview

Carla NappiJanuary 11, 2014May 30, 2021

Podcasts

Public Law, Private Practice: An Interview

Darryl Flaherty and I recently talked about his fascinating new study of nineteenth-century legal culture in Japan, and you can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading Public Law, Private Practice: An Interview

Carla NappiJanuary 11, 2014May 30, 2021

Podcasts

Mr. Selden’s Map of China: An Interview

Timothy Brook’s beautifully written new book explores the secrets of a map in the Bodleian Library of Oxford University. I recently had the pleasure of talking with Tim about it for New Books in History, and you can find our conversation here. Continue reading Mr. Selden’s Map of China: An Interview

Carla NappiJanuary 5, 2014May 30, 2021