Rockbund Art Museum 上海外滩美术馆

“An Imperial Message” and the Inescapable System 《御旨》与难以逃离的系统

Event Information

Date: 23 July 2022 24 July 2022
Time: 11:00 12:30
Venue: Rockbund Art Museum

活动信息

日期: 2022年 7月 23日 24 July 2022
时间: 11:00 12:30
场馆: 上海外滩美术馆

About the Event 关于活动

Eine kaiserliche Botschaft (An Imperial Message) is a short parable by Frank Kafka, one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century. The parable is about a messenger who failed to deliver the message of the dying emperor out of the majestic and obstructing city wall no matter how hard he tried. In other words, he just couldn't reach "your gate", not to mention to read the "imperial message" he was supposed to deliver to you. The process of delivering the message from afar was teeming with difficulties and uncertainties. The story, in a sense, is a metaphor of individuals escaping the system. The profound insights Kafka demonstrated imbues the story with a strong sense of contemporaneity. 

"Metaphor" plays an important role in Adel Abdessemed's practice. To him, "escape" is a theme that he constantly revisits and responds to. It pushes us to think: What are the "inescapable systems" surrounding us? As individuals living within this system, will we gradually lose ourselves?

Speaker Zhang Yi is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature and World Literature of Zhejiang Normal University. He will lead audience to take a closer look into the artistic characteristics of An Imperial Message and several other works by Kafka, including Before the Law, The Next Village and The Great Wall of China. With an introduction of Kafka's life stories, the speaker inspires audience to reflect upon the contemporary dailiness, exploring social issues such as public relations and self-consciousness. Those inescapable systems are exactly where Kafka' charisma lies and the embodiment of the abyss of terror of the modern world.

《御旨》(Eine kaiserliche Botschaft,或译《一道圣旨》)是二十世纪现代派文学先驱卡夫卡的重要作品之一。它篇幅不长,讲述了皇帝的一个信使无论如何也无法走出皇城,也就无法抵达“你”的家门,更无法向你宣读他所携带的“御旨”。来自远方的消息在传递的进程中困难重重而又结局未卜,这个充满隐喻的故事在某种意义上表达了个体对系统的逃离,是卡夫卡对现代世界的洞见和寓言,他此刻成为了我们的同代人。

“隐喻”在阿德斯梅的艺术中扮演着重要的角色,“逃离”对他而言是需要不断回溯和应答的主题。这促使我们去思考:我们身边有着怎样“难以逃离的系统”?身处其中的个体,是否会因此而逐渐迷失自我?

本讲座由浙江师范大学比较文学与世界文学博士候选人张翼,与我们一道,从《御旨》及其它相关作品(《在法的门前》《邻村》《中国长城建造时》等)的艺术特征出发,结合卡夫卡本人的切身经历,反观我们当下的日常遭遇,展开对公共关系、自我意识等社会议题的探索。那些难以逃离的系统,既成就了卡夫卡的迷人之处,也化身为现代世界的恐怖深渊。

About the Speaker 关于讲者

Zhang Yi is a Ph.D. Candidate in Comparative Literature and World Literature at Zhejiang Normal University. His interest of research includes Kafka studies and 20th century German literature. His writings and translations have been published on journals such as Writers and World Literature Studies. His book Variations on Rescue and Escape – Interpretation of Kafka's "A Country Doctor: Short Stories" (co-author) will be published soon.

张翼,比较文学与世界文学博士候选人,研究方向为卡夫卡研究、二十世纪德语文学研究,著译文章散见于《作家》《世界文学研究》等刊物,专著《拯救与逃离的变奏——卡夫卡〈乡村医生:短故事集〉解读》(合著)即将出版。

Adel Abdessemed: An Imperial Message 阿岱尔•阿德斯梅:御旨