The conference will explore the original historical context of the novel, as well as the numerous screen adaptations and literary spin-offs the book has inspired.
By contrast, virtually every work in "The Artful Recluse: Painting, Poetry, and Politics in Seventeenth Century China" warrants its own essay on the composition's literary or political allusions, the lineage of its brushwork, and the personal and historical context in which the painter dipped brush into ink.