Programme 2010
WEDNESDAY 23rd JUNE
Dundee Arts Café
5.00pm
Free, no ticket required
Dundee Arts Café is a brand new event, introducing the brightest ideas from the University of Dundee and beyond, for a lively discussion and debate. The launch event, The War for Tea: China and the British Imagination, is introduced by Peter Kitson, Professor of English, University of Dundee.
Find out how tea, the Bible and opium featured in the fascinating history between these two great World Empires and discuss the long-lasting effects these encounters have on us to this day.
As China emerges once more as an economic powerhouse its influence on our lives increases day by day. But this is not something new, at the start of the 18th century, China was generally seen as a much admired civilisation more refined and advanced than the nations of Europe; yet by the end of the 19th century, it is seen as a stagnant, degraded and inferior nation in need of British technology and religion.
What caused this change of opinion?
Professor Kitson will explore how this shift in thinking can be seen in books and travel writing on China from Robinson Crusoe to Dr Fu Manchu and beyond.
www.dundeeartscafe.co.uk
New Writing Dundee6.00pm
Free, no ticket required
A party to launch New Writing Dundee and the start of the Dundee Literary Festival, with wine, readings from the book and a chance to hear Costa Prize winner Christopher Reid read his poem from the anthology.
Entry is free and there will be a chance to purchase the book and meet several of the authors who contributed to the publication.
