#ReadingTheStone S1 Episode 9 On Embedded Refrains and Incipient Desire in Hongloumeng

[Conversation originally recorded on 6/4/22]

Our 9th week of #ReadingTheStone was lively and wide-ranging both on Twitter and during our Saturday live conversation . Now that the imperial consort's visit has concluded, Chapter 19 seems like a narrative refrain, in showing us the maid Aroma's return visit to an albeit far humbler natal home. We talked about HLM's frequent doubling of characters and narrative beats; the way the author often presents genre tropes - scenes of flirtation and seduction - but circumvents them; and 'incipient but unfulfilled desire' as central to how HLM proceeds. Finally, we picked up the lively Twitter discussion that week of translation choices that David Hawkes makes - see readingthestone.com for some screenshot excerpts of the Battle of the 'Watercress'!

[Episode 9's image is of the young David Hawkes in Beijing]

Thanks for listening! Find us at readingthestone.com or @ReadingTheStone on Twitter.