Wiebke Denecke
Harvard University, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Wiebke Denecke received her Ph.D. degree at Harvard University's Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations in June 2004. Her thesis is entitled "'Mastering' Chinese Philosophy: A History of the Genre of 'Masters Literature' [zhuzi baijia] from the Analects to the Han Feizi." It makes a case for reading what since China's encounter with the West has been considered "Chinese philosophy" instead as a textual genre of "Masters Literature" and analyzes its generic conventions and rhetorical strategies from the Confucian Analects through the Han Dynasty.

While at the Society of Fellows she will continue work on a Japanese literature project she has been pursuing. "'Quoting' China in Early Japan: On the Emergence of Sino-Japanese and Japanese Topic Poetry" explores the subgenre of poems on set "topics" -that is, lines taken from famous Chinese poems- in 8th- through 12th- century Japan. The project aims to develop a more balanced view of early Japanese culture that does not disregard or oversimplify China's impact on Japan.

Wiebke is teaching an "Asian Humanities Colloquium" in the fall and "Introduction to East Asian Civilizations: China" in the spring semester.

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