Rita Chang

In her fiction, Chang often explores cultural myths and modes of storytelling. Her thesis project in particular contains many metafictional elements, with references to Greek mythology, the Bible, and other works of the Western canon. Unfortunately, the canons of other regions, such as East Asia, have been harder to come by. The primary reason being that not all cultures prefer to disseminate their lore through written text. She plans to spend some time in Shanghai researching Chinese folklore and storytelling methods, something that will be of great value to her thesis. She is especially interested in attending performances at traditional storytelling halls and opera houses to study how narratives are constructed and presented in those contexts. Additionally, she will be visiting libraries in Shanghai to examine collections of both original and translated text, which will provide fodder for her own creative works.