Xudong Zhang is Professor of Comparative Literature and East Asian Studies at NYU, and founding director of the International Center for Critical Theory (a consortium of Peking University, New York University, University of Tokyo and Eastern China Normal University). He has published widely on critical theory and transcultural comparisons of Chinese and European modernities.

Xudong Zhang
Professor of Comparative Literature & East Asian Studies
Ph.D. 1995, Literature, Duke
B.A. 1986, Chinese Language and Literature, Peking University
Xudong Zhang’s research interests include critical theory; modernism and modernity; theories of representation, narrative, and interpretation; political philosophy; aesthetics; and twentieth century Chinese literature and culture. Of his ongoing concerns are literary criticism and theory as poetics, socio-ontology, and historiography in one; identity and identity-formation in politico-philosophical and cultural-civilizational contexts; a theory of comparison and comparability; and methodological reconsiderations of area studies. Publishing in both English- and Chinese-speaking worlds, he is currently at work on manuscripts on Hegel’s aesthetics; Lu Xun; and the second volume of/sequel to his 2005/06 book, Cultural Politics in the Age of Globalization.
Zhang is a member of the Advisory Board of the Berggruen Institute of Philosophy and Culture; a member of the International Academic Advisory Committee of Yenching Academy, Peking University; and the founding Director of International Center for Critical Theory (ICCT), a research and joint-training consortium consisting of NYU, East China Normal University (Shanghai), University of Tokyo, and Peking University where he is a Visiting University Chair Professor in the Humanities. He is also the Editor of Frontiers of Literary Studies in China, a peer-reviewed, English-language quarterly published by Higher Education Press in Beijing.
Department of Social & Cultural Analysis
Publications
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Cultural Politics and the Chinese WayShanghai: Century Publications Group, Shanghai People's Press, 2015. ISBN 978-7-208-13169/D2714. 427pp.
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Tradition and Formal Innovation--Essays from the Inaugural Himalayas Cultural Forum, edited with and introduction by Xudong ZhangShanghai: Century Publications Group, Shanghai People's Press, 2015. ISBN 978-7-208-13140-8/G1728. 148pp.
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Literature and Its Times: Essays, Symposia, and Interviews on Republic of Wine and Life and Death Are Wearing Me Outco-authored by Xudong Zhang and Mo Yan (我们时代的写作——对话《酒国》《生死疲劳》Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780192990265
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ICCT series 1: Rethinking Enlightenment in Global and Historical Contextsco-ed: NAKAJIMA Takahiro , ZHANG Xudong, & JIANG HuiTokyo: The University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy, 2011. ISSN: 1882-742X
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Duihua qimeng shidai 对话启蒙时代 (A Discourse on The Age of Enlightenment)Xudong Zhang & Wang AnyiBeijing: Sanlian shudian, 2008. ISBN 978-7-108-02952-2
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Postsocialism and Cultural Politics: China in the Last Decade of the Twentieth CenturyDuke University Press, 2008.
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Qidi 启迪 (Illuminations: Essays and Reflections by Walter Benjamin)edited by Hannah Arendt, translated by Xuodong Zhang and Ban Wang, with an introduction by Xudong ZhangPaperback edition issued by OUP (Hong Kong) in 1998. Reprint. Simplified (mainland Chinese) edition: Beijing: Sanlian shudian, 2008. ISBN 978-7-108-02
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Letters from New YorkShanghai: Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 2006.
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Quanqiuhua shidai de wenhua rentong (Cultural Identity in the Age of Globalization)Beijing: Peking University Press, 2005. 2nd edition, 2006 (ISBN:7301081499)
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Whither China: Intellectual Politics of Contemporary Chinaedited and introduced by Xudong ZhangDuke University Press, 2002. (ISBN 0822326485)
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Postmodernism and Chinaco-edited with Arif DirlikDuke University Press, 2000. (ISBN 0822325446)
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Chinese Modernism in the Era of Reforms: Cultural Fever, Avant-garde Fiction, and New Chinese CinemaDuke University Press, 1997. (ISBN: 0822318466)
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Pi Ping De Zong JiBeijing: San Lian Shu Dian, 2003. (ISBN: 7108018624)
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Huan Xiang De Zhi XuOxford University Press, 1997. (ISBN: 019586008X)
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The Cultural Logic of the Late Capitalism (Wan Qi Zi Ben Zhu Yi De Wen Hua Luo Ji)Fredric Jameson, edited by Xudong ZhangOxford University Press, 1996. (ISBN: 0195864824)
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Charles BaudelaireWalter Benjamin, trans. by Xudong ZhangSan Lian Shu Dian, 1989. (ISBN: 7108001535)
Selected Articles
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Agonistic Memory, Compound Temporality and Expansion of Literary Space in Lu XunFrontiers of Literary Studies in China, 2019, 13(2): 200-261.
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China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House, 2019.
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China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House, 2019.
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Modern Chinese Literature Studies, 2019, Vol 7: 1-29.
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观察者网, Observer Net, 2019.
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在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话, China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House, 2018.
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新青年, China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House, 2015.
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Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2014, 8(3): 374−409.
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The Oxford Handbook of Global Modernisms, 2012.
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Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2012, 6(1): 112–137.
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New Left Review, 2010.
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Postsocialism and Cultural Politics: China in the Last Decade of the Twentieth Century, 2008.
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Understanding Film, Pluto Press, 2005.
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Journal of Contemporary China, 2003.
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New Literary History, 2002, 33(1): 137-167.
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Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique, 2000, 8(2): 349-387.
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New Left Review, 1999.
Contact Information
Xudong Zhang
Professor of Comparative Literature & East Asian Studies xz3@nyu.edu 19 University Place, room 510New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 998-7622