Today, we're unfurling the scrolls of one of the most provocative, scandalous, and riveting novels to ever emerge from China’s Ming dynasty: "Jin Ping Mei," or as it's tantalizingly translated, "The Plum in the Golden Vase." This novel is not just a story; it's a journey into the opulent, and often morally ambiguous, world of 16th-century China. We have the esteemed Dr. Junjie Luo, associate professor in East Asian Studies at Gettysburg College, joining us in the studio. Dr. Luo, with his vast knowledge of Chinese literature and culture, will help us unravel the complex narrative threads and uncover the hidden pearls within this golden vase of a novel.

Reading Recommendations:
Lanlingxiaoxiaosheng, The Plum in the Golden Vase, trans. David Roy
Junjie Luo (2014) Translating Jin.Ping.Mei: a preliminary comparison of The Golden Lotus and The Plum in the Golden Vase, Perspectives, 22:1, 56-74.

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Madame Bovary scandalized and fascinated nineteenth-century France upon its release, and is a groundbreaking exploration of desire, romantic disillusionment, and the mundane realities of rural life. Joining us are Professors Mary Donaldson-Evans who taught at University of Delaware, Jennifer Yee from Oxford University, Rachel Mesch from Boston University, and C.F.S. Creasy from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan.

Recommended Readings:
Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary
Creasy, C.F.S.. "Flaubert’s Alibi: The Impossible Ensemble of Madame Bovary," Novel. 2015. p363-380.
Donaldson-Evans, Mary. Madame Bovary at the Movies. Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - New York, NY 2009
Yee, Jennifer. "Making Madame Bovary's Wedding Cake." article

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Gulliver’s Travels remains one of the finest satires in the English language, delighting in the mockery of everything from government to religion and —despite the passing of nearly three centuries-remaining just as fun, funny and relevant today.
Our guest-speakers are chief editors of the 2023 Cambridge Companion to Gulliver’s Travels Dr. Daniel Cook and Dr. Nicholas Seager. Daniel is an Associate Dean and Reader in English Literature at the University of Dundee whose teaching and research interests include eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature. Nick is Lecturer in English Literature at Keele University, UK. His research interests are Restoration and eighteenth-century literature.

Recommended Readings:
Johnathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (1726)
Cambridge Companion to Gulliver's Travels (2023)

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