James AU Kin Pong (MALCS, Class of 2014) has been awarded the prestigious Monbukagakusho Scholarship (MEXT) by the Japanese government as administered by its Hong Kong consulate. A highly competitive award requiring three rounds of interviews, the MEXT scholarship funds an entire course of PhD study at an institution of higher learning in Japan, pending the selection of the recipient’s project proposal by a supervisor possessing expertise in the proposed area of research.

The title of James’s proposed research project is “Colonial Modernity: Chinese/Japanese Modern Poetry in a Comparative Approach.” The project attempts to locate the common characteristics of an “Asian” literary modernity shared by Chinese and Japanese literature after 1910. Using historical and cultural approaches, the project will focus upon literary works by Guo Moruo (郭沫若), Wen Yiduo (聞一多), Takahashi Shinkichi (高橋新吉) and Nakahara Cyuya  (中原中也).

Professors from Tokyo University, Keio University, Nagoya University and Tsukuba University have all signaled preliminary interest in working with James towards the completion of his PhD degree under the MEXT scholarship. The Japanese government will select the host university by the end of October 2014, with James’s studies commencing in September 2015. During AY 2014-2015, James will undertake Master’s level research at the School for Oriental and Asian Studies in London.