The sixth seminar of “Latin America and China” series was successfully held by Fudan Development Institute and College of Foreign Languages and Literature at 14:30, 18th October, 2018. The main topic of the lecture is “Latin America Studies in China – Expansion and Development” and the speaker is Prof. Yu Man, director and doctoral supervisor of School of European and Latin American Studies, Shanghai International Studies University. She serves as Secretary General of the Spanish Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee of Foreign language Teaching in Universities under the Ministry of Education. Her main researches consist of Spanish and Latin American literature, contrastive linguistics in Chinese and Spanish and teaching methods. More than fifty people including students and teachers from Fudan University were presented.
Prof. Yu Man started the seminar with two questions: “What is ‘Latin’? What is ´Latin America´?”. She explained the triple definitions of the word “Latin” from the etymological perspective. At the beginning Latin referred to the area near Lazio, Italy. With the social changes in European History, the meaning of Latin gradually expanded, becoming the common label of the Latin languages speaking countries in the Western Europe after the dissolution of the Roman Empire. Due to the voyage of discovery carried out by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the cultural symbol of Latin reached the Americas with European colonists and became an important geographical concept of the Catholic American countries. Today, Latin America includes more than 20 sovereign countries, more than 22 million square kilometres of vast landscape, more than 600 million people, including Spanish, Portuguese, French and many other cultural blocks.
Prof. Yu Man conducted a survey with big data on the status of Latin American research in China. According to her survey, there are more than 7,000 papers written on Latin American Studies in China. Only three research papers on Latin America Studies before 1964 were found. During the Cultural Revolution, Latin America Studies were at a standstill. In the last two decades of the past century, Latin America Studies have gradually received the attention of domestic academic circle. Especially in the past two decades, Latin America Studies have become a prominent discipline. Nowadays the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has occupied a pivotal position in this research area. Nankai University and Fudan University are ranked as nationwide leaders. Fudan University has a glorious past with prestigious experts, but after their retirement, there is a lack of talents dedicated to these studies. Prof. Yu also hopes that young people shall pay more attentions to Latin America Studies and promote its research level in Shanghai's universities.
Prof. Yu Man emphasized that Latin America is rich in natural resources. the world's longest river, the largest copper mine, the best fishing ground, the sweetest fruits and the most fragrant coffee… all of these forged the Latin America, a magical continent. With the development of China's economy and the expansion of its influence in the international community, many domestic medias are now paying more and more attention to Latin America. Medias as Latin American Studies, People's Daily, Wenhui Daily and Daily Economic Herald provide a platform for the publication of Latin American research results. Looking ahead to the future, whether it is political cooperation between governments, economic cooperation between enterprises, or cultural exchanges among scholars, a booming trend emerges. The relationship between politics and economy in the region, the relationship between culture and economy, the relationship between history and modernity, the relationship between language and international organizations, the relationship between education and culture, and the relationship between society and ideology now have much room for further research and discussion, which are waiting for scholars across the country.
The series lecture of “Latin America and China” has 9 rounds in total, inviting well-known experts and scholars in the field of Latin America studies from China and abroad. On 24th November, former president of Latin America Development Bank Enrique García will talk about the current world situation and the future of Development Bank. On 26th November, Wei Ran, assistant researcher of the Institute of Latin American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, will make a speech about “Latin American Literature, Third World and Intellectual Issues in 1986”.
Edited and translated by WANG Longxing
Photo by WU Ruisi