Exploring Chinese language and culture

Dr Anita Chang

Dr Anita Chang’s courses in Chinese language, film, literature, calligraphy and painting link the richness of the classics and ancient cultural traditions to a modern world that is ‘going very fast’. 

"Classic Chinese novels and poetry often deal with themes which have messages for today’s world," she says. "They show rebellion against oppression, and justice won. They talk about how to achieve harmony and peace, and how to gain emotional strength."

Bi-lingual in Chinese and English from an early age, Chang talks eloquently of opening doors between cultures so that what is unfamiliar and even frightening can be understood and embraced. But she is constantly aware of the great gulfs which loom between people who don’t understand one another’s language. A thesis she is supervising explores the many difficulties of capturing the real meaning of Chinese poetry when it is translated into English.  

Chang’s first degree was in English literature, and the first course she taught, Literature in Translation, showed how the search for common human values crosses cultural boundaries. Her first students were older Australians. Now they come from everywhere - Japan, Korea, China, Portugal, Britain, Scandinavia and Germany. Some of her students are also studying science.

Courses such as The Chinese Martial Arts Novel offer the opportunity to polish skills in translation, essay-writing and oral presentation. But it is in the analysis of the historical and social situation out of which the work arose, and increased understanding of the underlying philosophy of the time, that students can develop true depth of knowledge.   

Chang’s artfully cluttered office is that of a Chinese scholar. The walls are lined with books. Exquisite vases are arranged on the window sill. A jar of calligraphy brushes sits beside the lacquer tray from which visitors help themselves to fresh tea. As well as teaching and supervising theses, Chang writes and practises calligraphy and martial arts. She won a 2002 International Creative Writing Prize awarded by the World Chinese Writers’ Association. She was the only Australian to have her calligraphy selected for exhibition at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.  

Many of the students who flock to Chang’s courses are attracted by the ways Chinese culture has become mainstream, with films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon shown in multiplexes, and martial arts classes held in suburban gyms. She brings popular culture right into her classes. She invited Liang Yusheng, author of The White-Haired She-Devil, adapted three times for the screen, to talk to her students. Hordes of others who also turned up had to be sent away, because the room was too small to hold them.     

Chinese culture is famously dynamic, and Chang maintains contact with how it is changing through trips to China and Taiwan and spending time at institutions such as Tsinghua University, Beijing Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. She is also President of the Australian East Asian Arts and Culture Association.  

Her ex-students follow many different career paths. Two former PhD students now teach Chinese in Hong Kong. Another is the principal of a high school there. Others teach in Australian institutions. A 60-year-old Master of Arts student subsequently set up a calligraphy studio and display area in her home. 

For further information on Anita Chang’s courses, contact her at achang@hmn.mq.edu.au and see the Department of Asian Languages website at www.asianlang.mq.edu.au/chinese

More Humanities and Language stories here