Shu-mei Shih (simplified Chinese: 史书美; traditional Chinese: 史書美; pinyin: Shǐ Shūměi; born April 1, 1961) is a Korean-born Taiwanese American scholar and literary theorist. She is a Professor of Comparative Literature, Asian Languages and Cultures, and Asian American Studies at University of California, Los Angeles and was the president of the American Comparative Literature Association from 2021 to 2022.[1] In 2018, she was also appointed as Honorary Chair Professor of Taiwan Languages, Literature and Culture at National Taiwan Normal University and is the current director of the UCLA-NTNU Taiwan Studies Initiative of the UCLA Asia Pacific Center.[2][3]

Shu-mei Shih
史書美
Born (1961-04-01) 1 April 1961 (age 63)
South Korea
EducationNational Taiwan Normal University
University of California, San Diego
University of California, Los Angeles
Alma materUniversity of California, San Diego
EraContemporary philosophy
21st century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Los Angeles
National Taiwan Normal University
ThesisExpressionism, cubism, impressionism, and the novels of William Faulkner (1985)
LanguageEnglish, Chinese, Korean
Main interests
Sinophone studies, comparative literature, transnationalism, Taiwan studies, postcolonial studies, critical race theory
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese史书美

Early life and education edit

Shih was born in 1961[4] in South Korea as a Republic of China citizen to Chinese immigrant parents who escaped from Shandong around 1947 during the second phase of the Chinese Civil War (1945–49).[5][6] She completed her primary and secondary education in Chinese-language schools sponsored by the Republic of China government in Korea. In 1978, Shih passed her college entrance examination and went to National Taiwan Normal University, where she studied English with Shakespearean scholar Tsu-wen Chen.[6] She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Department of English in 1982.[2] After a year of teaching middle school in Taipei, Shih acquired an M.A. from the University of California, San Diego. She then moved to the University of California, Los Angeles where she earned her Ph.D. in comparative literature.[5]

Career edit

Shih joined the University of California, Los Angeles in 1993, and was promoted to professor in 2000.[6] From 2019 until 2022 Shih was the Edward W. Said Professor in Comparative Literature,[2] and as of 2023 she holds the Irving and Jean Stone Chair in Humanities.[7]

Shih is known for her work in the field of Sinophone studies,[8] a field that takes as its object of study "Sinitic-language communities and cultures outside China as well as ethnic minority communities and cultures within China where Mandarin is adopted or imposed."[9]

Honors and awards edit

Shih was elected to the Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities in 2013.[2][10] In 2018, National Taiwan Normal University named Shih as a distinguished alumni.[6]

Selected publications edit

  • Shih, Shu-Mei (2004). "Global Literature and the Technologies of Recognition". Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. 119 (1): 16–30. doi:10.1632/003081204X22828. ISSN 0030-8129. S2CID 162293444.
  • Shih, Shu-mei (2001-04-20). The Lure of the Modern: Writing Modernism in Semicolonial China, 1917-1937. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-93528-0.[11]
  • Shih, Shu-mei (2007-06-19). Visuality and Identity: Sinophone Articulations across the Pacific. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-94015-4.[12]
  • Shih, Shu-Mei; Tsai, Chien-hsin; Bernards, Brian (2013). Sinophone studies: a critical reader. Global Chinese culture. New York: Columbia University press. ISBN 978-0-231-15750-6.[13]

References edit

  1. ^ Truong, Phuong (2019-04-23). "Professor Shu-mei Shih Acquires Leadership Role in ACLA". Asian Languages & Cultures Department - UCLA. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  2. ^ a b c d "Shu-mei Shih appointed Edward W. Said Professor of Comparative Literature". www.international.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  3. ^ "Alumna Shu-mei Shih Receives Outstanding Alumni Award Becomes Chair Professor". Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  4. ^ "Virtual International Authority File for Shu-mei Shih". viaf.org. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  5. ^ a b SHAN, Te Hsing (2016-05-01). "Sinophone studies and beyond : an Interview with Shu-mei Shih". Journal of Modern Literature in Chinese 現代中文文學學報. 13 (1). ISSN 1026-5120.
  6. ^ a b c d "史書美". alumni.ntnu.edu.tw (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  7. ^ "Shu-mei Shih @ UCLA".
  8. ^ Yu-cheng Lee; Shu-mei Shih; Kim Tong Tee (2019-09-01). "Critical Issues in Sinophone Studies: A Dialogue between Shu-mei Shih and Kim Tong Tee, Moderated by Yu-cheng Lee". Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies. 45 (2). doi:10.6240/concentric.lit.201909_45(2).0007.
  9. ^ Shih, Shu-mei; Tsai, Chien-hsin; Bernards, Brian (2013-01-22). Sinophone Studies: A Critical Reader. Columbia University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-231-52710-1.
  10. ^ "Shu-Mei SHIH 史書美 (Fellow)". HKAH. 2019-04-13. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  11. ^ Reviews of The Lure of the Modern
  12. ^ Reviews of Visuality and Identity
  13. ^ Review of Sinophone Studies

External links edit