On October 9, Professor Shang Biwu, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, delivered a lecture titled From Object to Method: On Interdisciplinary Literary Studies and the Turn to Agency of Literature as part of CSU’s Distinguished Scholar Forum. The event was chaired by Professor Fan Wuqiu, Vice Dean of the School, and attended by over 100 faculty and students.

Beginning with the method wars in Western academia at the turn of the 21st century, Prof. Shang critiqued interdisciplinary approaches to literary studies exemplified by 20th-century literary theory for their unidirectionality. He argued for an agency turn in literary research, calling for the transformation of literature from a mere passive object into an active method. He advocated restoring literature’s original role as a technology, that is, literature is not merely an objectified and reified entity to be studied and interpreted, but a “non-human actor” that intervenes in reality and changes the world through direct engagement with problems and influence on those who shape it.

During the Q&A session, Prof. Shang addressed questions on the materiality of literature, emphasizing literature’s reciprocal influence on science and its status as a non-human actor shaping readers. His responses deepened the audience’s understanding of literature's function and agency.

In closing, Prof. Fan highlighted literature’s artistic language, structural complexity, imagery, emotional intensity, and narrative uniqueness, while encouraging reflection on literature’s impact on social reality and its role in advancing science within specific historical and cultural contexts.

About the Speaker: Shang Biwu is a Distinguished Professor and Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a high-level talent recognized by the Ministry of Education, and a Foreign Member of the Academia Europaea. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Fronters of Narrative Studies (ESCI), Associate Editor of English Studies (A&HCI), and sits on the editorial boards of several A&HCI and CSSCI journals. He also serves as Chief Investigator of a major project funded by the National Social Science Fund of China. Specializing in Anglo-American literature, narratology, and ethical literary criticism, he has published five monographs and over 100 articles in A&HCI and CSSCI journals, receiving multiple national and provincial research awards.