Izabella Łabędzka, born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1960. Ph.D from Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań. Professor of Chinese Studies and Theatre Studies at the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, and the Jagiellonian University, Kraków.
Visiting Grant Scholar (Winter 2006)
GAO XINGJIAN’S AESTHETICS OF NEW THEATRE
During my three-month stay at NIAS I worked on the last chapter of my book devoted to the aesthetics of Gao Xingjian’s theatre. The chapter analyses the new narrative strategies introduced by Gao into his dramas and novels and compares them with the most innovative narrative methods used by contemporary Western and Chinese playwrights and prose writers. The English version of this chapter will be published in an academic journal in 2006. The paper based on this chapter will be presented at the 5th International Convention of Asia Scholars in Kuala Lumpur in August 2007.
Intensive library research allowed me to get acquainted with the most recent studies on Euro-American theatre, drama, theory of performing arts, as well as Chinese contemporary culture and literature, avant-garde theatre and experimental art.
Several chapters of the above mentioned book were corrected by me during my brief stay in Holland, and then edited by the editors working at NIAS. The book will be published in 2007/2008, possibly in the Netherlands.
In March I was invited by Prof. Dr. Maghiel van Crevel from Leiden University to give a lecture on Gao Xingjian’s idea of a “neutral actor”. I had also an opportunity to present my research project to the students of Sinology at Leiden University. Library research conducted at Leiden University’s libraries made my further research on Gao Xingjian’s literary output in Hong Kong (May/June 2006) much easier and fruitful. I had also translated into Polish two dramas by Gao Xingjian: “The Other Shore” (“Bi’an”) and “Between Life and Death” (“Shengsi jie”). Both of them will be published by Adam Mickiewicz University Press this year. Numerous visits to Dutch theatres and museums allowed me to learn more about the specificity of the local culture. In the near future I plan to continue my research on the aesthetics of modern dance theatre in the Netherlands