Fang Weigui (; born 1957 in Shanghai) is a Chinese comparative literature scholar, sinologist, and literary translator.See Kürschner’s Who is who of German scholars: Kürschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender 2007: Bio-bibliographisches Verzeichnis deutschsprachiger Wissenschaftler der Gegenwart, 21st edition, 2007. Berlin; Boston; New York: DeGruyter / Saur, 2007. . - Kürschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender notes that Fang’s main research focus is on "Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft; moderne chinesische Kultur und Literatur; Sprachwandel des Chinesischen (Historische Semantik); chinesische Medien" (i.e., comparative literature; modern Chinese culture and literature; language change of Chinese (historical semantics); [and] Chinese media).
Early years Fang graduated from Shanghai International Studies University where he subsequently taught at the German Department before enrolling in a cooperative academic program of Beijing Foreign Studies University and Humboldt University of Berlin.
At the time he wrote a thesis on Bertolt Brecht and Lu Xun that was published by a West German publisher in 1991.See the text Fang Weigui 方维规”, ibidem. http://wxy.bnu.edu.cn/szdw/wyxyjs/91270.html Accessed Nov 23, 2017.
Subsequently, he obtained a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from RWTH Aachen University. His doctoral dissertation on the image of China in German literature 1871–1933 was published 1992.The book was positively reviewed in the journal Hefte für ostasiatische Literatur (Cahiers on East Asian Literature, Munich), Nr. 15, Nov. 1993, S.144-146. This book was inspired by the theoretical work of the Aachen-based Belgian comparatist Hugo Dyserinck that was focused on what Dyserinck called "imagology".As Adrian Hsia noted in 1998, "imagology is experiencing a renaissance in Europe. A recent example is the doctoral dissertation of a Chinese scholar from Shanghai with the subtitle “Ein Beitrag zur komparatistischen Imagologie” (“A Contribution to Comparative Imagology”). As a student of the comparatist Hugo Dyserinck and benefitting from the latter’s erudition, he devotes over 60 pages to delineating all aspects of imagology. (Adrian Hsia, Chinesia: The European Construction of China in the Literature of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1998; p.13. - , 978-3-484-63016-1.) Dyserinck demanded critical research of mutually existing (ideological) auto-images and hetero-images current in "national literatures" like the French and the German that influenced each other.Thomas Krause thinks that Fang emphasized the recurrence of typical ideological images: "Auffällig ist, daß bestimmte imagotype Elemente immer wieder mechanisch übernommen und trotz verändertem Kontext nur leicht veränder benutzt werden. Weigui Fang schlußfolgert daraus, daß die charakteristischen Merkmale der Konstanz die 'Wirkungspotenz ', die 'Überlieferungsmöglichkeiten' und die 'Gebräuchlichkeit' sind. Dadurch, so seine Überlegungen, wird erst die 'Universalität' ermöglicht." (Thomas Krause, Die Fremde Rast Durchs Gehirn, Das Nichts…: Deutschlandbilder in den Texten Der Banater Autorengruppe (1969-1991). Frankfurt; Berlin; Bern; New York; Paris: Peter Lang, 1998, p.19.)
Career in Germany Since 1992, Fang worked as research fellow at the University of Trier. While teaching courses on Chinese literature and being engaged in research at the university"s Institute of Chinese Studies, he also wrote a Post-doctoral thesis on Chinese literature of the post-May 4th or Republican period (1919–1949).
From 1996 to 2000, Fang was a senior research fellow at the Department of East Asian Studies of the University of Göttingen. He was engaged in research on "new knowledge" in Late Qing China. Professor Michael Lackner advocated acceptance of Fang's post-doctoral thesis as a thesis of habilitation at the time.
In 2001, Fang was employed as a senior research fellow at the Department of Chinese Literature and simultaneously at the Department of Communication Theory of Trier University. He worked in a media-focused research project initiated by both departments.
In 2002, a slightly revised version of his post-doctoral thesis was accepted as his "Habilitationsschrift" by the University of Erlangen (Erlangen Umiversität, today the Erlangen campus of the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg). This work, entitled Selbstreflexion in der Zeit des Erwachens und des Widerstands – Moderne Chinesische Literatur 1919-1949 (Self-reflection in the Period of Awakening and Resistance – Modern Chinese Literature, 1919–1949), was published by the Harrasowitz publishing company as a volume of a well-reputed series (Lun Wen: Studien zur Geistesgeschichte und Literatur im China, Vol. 7) in 2006. The book was positively reviewed by Prof. Wolfgang Kubin.Prof. Kubin wrote about this book: “eine … gut lesbare Literaturgeschichte, die schön bebildert, klug nach Themen eingeteilt und vor allen Dingen verständlich ist. … Wer China im 20. Jahrhundert verstehen will, kommt um dieses Buch nicht herum. Es bringt auf wunderbare Weise die gesamte Problematik des chinesischen Intellektuellen, man kann auch weitergehend sagen: des chinesischen Geistes, ja der Chinesen, auf einen Punkt. Wäre der Verfasser in der Lage gewesen, diese Problematik auch in die Problematik des 20. Jahrhunderts der Weltgeschichte allgemein zu stellen, dann wäre er genial gewesen!” See Wolfgang Kubin, “ WEIGUI FANG, Selbstreflexion in der Zeit des Erwachens und des Widerstands. Moderne chinesische Literatur 1919-1949, Lun Wen. Studien zur Geistesgeschichte und Literatur in China, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2006, 671 S., 58,- Euro”, in: Orientierungen : Zeitschrift zur Kultur Asiens (Magazine sur la culture de l'Asie), 2/2007, pp. 143ff. The book was also positively reviewed in the renowned scholarly journal Weimarer Beiträge.See the article “ Heute höchst aktuell – der Blick zurück, auf eine fast schon vergessene Phase des Umbruchs im ‘Land der Mitte’. Einige Anmerkungen zu Weigui Fangs Geschichte der modernen chinesischen Literatur in den Jahren zwischen 4. Mai Bewegung (1919) und Ausrufung der Volksrepublik (1949)”, in: "Weimarer Beiträge: Zeitschrift für Literaturwissenschaft, Ästhetik und Kulturwissenschaft" (Contributions de Weimar : Revue d'études littéraires, d'esthétique et d'études culturelles (Vienna and Berlin)), vol. 55, no. 2, 2009, pp. 309-313.See also the following information regarding the scholarly journal Weimarer Beiträge, see also: ; .
Since 2002, subsequent to his habilitation (or professorial, postdoctoral qualification), Fang Weigui was an Associate Professor (Privatdozent) lecturing at the Department of Middle Eastern and Far Eastern Languages and Cultures of Erlangen University (Universität Erlangen).At the time, Weigui Fang was probably the first citizen from an East Asian country to achieve his “habilitation” in Germany in recent decades. When he became a “Privatdozent,” that was the utmost a Chinese citizen could achieve in that country. In fact, there were no full professors of Chinese or of comparative literature (“ordentliche Professoren” with unlimited tenure) from China teaching at German universities when Fang was habilitated, and probably there are none today. There have been allegations that this was due to a “closed-shop policy” of departments of Chinese, Japanese, French, English and so on to keep out foreign citizens who are native speakers of the language taught and who have a profound knowledge of their own culture. Foreigners were employed as lecturers or invited for short periods of a one, two, and perhaps up to four years as “guest professors.” This limits opportunities for scholars from all foreign countries. An important legal basis for this practice was the requirement that “regular” (“ordentliche”) professors must be civil servants, without the right to strike. Only German citizens can be employed as civil servants.
As a Privatdozent, and simultaneously, until 2006, a senior research fellow, Fang was not only permanently engaged in research while also teaching courses at the Dept. of Chinese Literature. As noted already, he was likewise very active at the Department of Communication Theory in Trier.See the German-language online journal TELEPOLIS, on Aug. 11, 2003, regarding Weigui Fang’s role as a researcher engaged in the research project The Internet in China ("Das Internet in China") supported by both the Dept. of Chinese Literature and the Dept. of Media Science of the University of Trier. - URL https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Du-bist-ein-286-3430589.html - Accessed Nov 23, 2017. This work led to Fang's book Das Internet und China that was discussed in the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung, mentioned by Der Spiegel, and reviewed in the Swiss journal Der Bund.In his book review of Das Internet und China (Hanover, Germany: Heise, 2004), Nick Lüthi writes, “Bei der Lektüre stellt sich heraus, dass sich der Autor der […] Problemzonen durchaus bewusst ist, sich aber davor hütet, einen anprangernden Ton anzuschlagen – im Wissen, dass manche der denunzierten Missstände Folge einer vielschichtigen Gemengelage sind.” Nick Lüthi, “Hinter dem Grossen Firewall: Internet-Boom in China: Sars hat dem E-Business weiteren Schub verliehen”, in: Der Bund (Bern, Switzerland), Aug. 4, 2004, p.35. Fang's book was also referred to by many other authors, for instance by Nele Noesselt.See Noesselt’s book, Governance-Formen in China: Theorie und Praxis des chinesischen Modells. Hamburg: GIGA, Springer VS, 2012. ; (eBook)
Career in China When Fang returned to China in 2006, Professor Wolfgang Kubin saw "a good scholar" leaving the country (i.e., Germany) and regretted this very much.Prof. Wolfgang Kubin wrote, “Gute Wissenschaftler verlassen bekanntlich Deutschland, und so ist auch der hochtalentierte Sinologe Fang Weigui 方维规, der in Deutschland promoviert worden ist und sich daselbst auch habilitiert hat, nach China zurückgekehrt.” In English: “It is a well-known fact that good scholars are leaving Germany, and thus, the highly talented sinologist Fang Weigui, who obtained a Ph.D. in Germany and accomplished his “habilitation” in this country, has returned to China.” See Wolfgang Kubin, review of Weigui Fang (ed.), Den Kranich fragen. 155 Gedichte von Bai Juyi. Goettingen (Cuvillier Verlag) 1999; 362 pp.; in: ORIENTIERUNGEN. Zeitschrift zur Kultur Asiens # 1/2007, pp.129-130.
Subsequent to his return to his native country in 2006, Fang soon became a professor at the School of Chinese Language and Literature of Beijing Normal University, and a researcher at the Center for Literary and Art Studies. Since 2012, he has been a Chiangjiang Scholar and Distinguished Professor.See the text entitled ”Fang Weigui 方维规”, ibid., http://wxy.bnu.edu.cn/szdw/wyxyjs/91270.html Accessed Nov 23, 2017.
His main research focus is on comparative poetics, comparative literature, history of concepts, sociology of literature, and Chinese literature written abroad.