An Innocent Abroad ─ Lectures in China

Since 1988, J. Hillis Miller has traveled to China to lecture on literary theory, especially the role of globalization in literary theory. Over time, he has assisted in the development of distinctively Chinese forms of literary theory, Comparative Literature, and World Literature. The fifteen lectures gathered in An Innocent Abroad span both time and geographic location, reflecting his work at universities across China for more than twenty-five years. More important, they reflect the evolution of Miller’s thinking and of the lectures’ contexts in China as these have markedly changed over the years, especially on either side of Tiananmen Square and in light of China’s economic growth and technological change. A foreword by the leading theorist Fredric Jameson provides additional context.

J. HILLIS MILLER is Distinguished Research Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine.

FREDRIC JAMESON is professor of literature at Duke University. In 2012, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Modern Language Association.