#ReadingTheStone

#ReadingTheStone had our first Saturday chat of the new year, on January 14, 2023. Last we left off, we had read up to Chapter 80 - and in this first session of the new year, we discussed the textual history of Story of the Stone, how readers and scholars have differentiated between the first 80 chapters (understood to be definitively penned by Cao Xueqin) and the remaining 40 that make up the entire text. Waiyee, Ann, and Eileen are joined by our stalwart reading group members in a wide-ran...

14 Jan 202356min

#ReadingTheStone Episode 7 was supposed to be a continuation of our discussion of the education of Baoyu, the young scion of the Jia family - but Waiyee, Ann, and Eileen were diverted by questions about the 'creation' of the extraordinary Jia daughter-in-law Wang Xifeng. From her keen knowledge of maths and household economy, to her minimal literacy (certainly in comparison to the other high-status young women in HLM), to her casual cruelty – Xifeng properly stole the show this week. Th...

26 Mai 202250min

#ReadingTheStone Saturday live chats are back after a week's hiatus, and in this episode Waiyee and Eileen discuss the history of interlinear & eyebrow commentary in Chinese fiction and possible resonances with 21st century online fanfiction community practices; crossover fic potential with Pride and Prejudice; fiction as pedagogy - what is a bad reading? who is a misguided reader?; sexual transgression in the private schoolrooms and in the family mansion; and whether the hapless Jia Rui ...

15 Mai 202247min

Our fifth Saturday chat continues the past week's conversation on Baoyu's sexual initiation - both in dreamland at the end of Chapter 5, and in the 'real world' at the beginning of the following chapter. Waiyee, Ann, and Eileen chat about Granny Liu 劉姥姥, narrative spaces as seen by outsiders and interlopers, and reader/writerly identifications. Thanks for listening! Find us at readingthestone.com or @ReadingTheStone on Twitter.

11 Mai 202251min

Eileen, Waiyee, and Ann dive into Chapter 5 of Hongloumeng - and respond to #ReadingTheStone questions about the role of dreams in Chinese literature, translating xian as immortal or fairy, the author's invention of a supernatural pantheon, the illusion of knowledge and the novelistic form, and musical structure as a way of thinking about Chapter 5's revelations.Thanks for listening! Find us at readingthestone.com or @ReadingTheStone on Twitter.

23 Apr 202249min

Thanks for listening! Find us at readingthestone.com or @ReadingTheStone on Twitter.

20 Apr 202253min

Thanks for listening! Find us at readingthestone.com or @ReadingTheStone on Twitter.

20 Apr 202254min

In this third round of Saturday chats on #ReadingTheStone, Eileen and Waiyee and special guest Ann Waltner talk about the introduction of key characters in the open four chapters of the Story Of The Stone.Thanks for listening! Find us at readingthestone.com or @ReadingTheStone on Twitter.

16 Apr 202239min