Huiwen Zhang

Huiwen Zhang is Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at the Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Humanities, University of Bergen (UiB). She joined UiB in January 2021 after academic experiences in China, Germany, and the USA. Her research focuses on cross-cultural phenomena through her innovative 'transreading' methodology that integrates attentive reading, transdisciplinary translation, transcultural hermeneutics, and creative expression.

Her educational background includes:

• Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Peking University
• PhD from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University

Professor Zhang's research centers on the dialogue between Chinese and Western literary and philosophical traditions. She has developed the 'transreading' method to explore how history, literature, philosophy, and art generate and reshape one another across cultures. Her work examines both the reception of Western literature in modern China and the reception of Chinese literature in the modern West, with particular focus on Daoism's influence on European thinkers including Kafka and Nordic poets like Olav H. Hauge. Her current QUANTACT project investigates quantum physicists' engagement with ancient Chinese texts.

Her publication pattern reveals a deepening focus on Nordic modes of transreading, particularly examining how Norwegian poet Olav H. Hauge engaged with Chinese philosophical and poetic traditions. The publications show an evolving trajectory from general comparative literature to increasingly specific studies of cross-cultural transmission between Chinese and Nordic intellectual traditions, with growing attention to the resonance between science, philosophy, and poetry.

Professor Zhang has created and taught over thirty innovative courses spanning comparative literature, philosophy, religion, history, cinema, and creative writing. Her teaching reflects her transdisciplinary approach, with courses like 'Kafka and Daoist Philosophy' and 'Transreading across Genres' that bridge cultural and disciplinary divides. She actively engages with the public through interviews and outreach, positioning herself as a 'transreader between Chinese and Germanic poetry and philosophy' who discovered 'a gold mine of Norwegian and Nordic culture' after moving to Norway in 2021.

She leads the international QUANTACT research project and is developing several book projects including 'Kafka's Dao: The Patience Game' and 'Nordic Modes of Transreading,' which examine cross-cultural intellectual exchanges through her transreading methodology.