We cordially invite all students and staff to a guest lecture organized by the CCK-ISC
Matthias L. Richter (University of Colorado, Boulder)
Kongzi’s autobiographical persona in the Lunyu
Monday, November 24, 2025, at 5:30 pm, at the CCK-ISC, Faculty of Arts, Celetná 20, 1st floor, room 117.
Abstract:
Scholarship on masters literature of the classical period (5th to 3rd c. BCE) has come to recognize the masters as creations—rather than as creators—of their texts. This shifts the focus to the masters’ teachings, away from the teachers, and thus potentially obscures the paratextual function of those figures. This paper is interested in the hermeneutic potential of the fact that the masters present their teachings through different personas in the texts transmitted to us. Focusing on the Lunyu, this paper describes the autobiographical persona of Kongzi and its authority-generating function, distinguishing it from other first-person statements that do not provide biographical information on the master. This distinction throws a critical light on traditional constructions of masters’ biographies.
Prof. Richter’s profile: https://www.colorado.edu/faculty/richter-matthias/
The lecture is open to all without registration, up to the seating capacity.
