Events

Acclaimed New York based veteran Hong Kong director Evans Chan will present Two or Three Things about Kang Youwei 康有為二三事 (2013) a documentary on Chinese reformer and intellectual Kang Youwei modern China’s pioneering constitutional reformer, whose abortive Hundred Days reform is identified by Evans Chan as “the Ground Zero of Chinese
modernity.” Kang Youwei  was also the author of Datong Shu (The Book of Datong, or The Book of the Great Commonwealth), modern China’s first major utopian tract. The screening will be followed with a disussion and Q & A with Evans Chan.

What They Played in the Salons: Literary Games in Seventeenth-Century Paris
Karin Kukkonen, University of Oslo

In the salons of seventeenth-century Paris, writers, intellectuals and scholars met regularly to discuss the latest from the world of literature but also to play games together. In particular, the early novelists were central figures in these game sessions. Did these games serve as creative catalysts for the novelists? If so, how does the collective dynamic of gameplay relate to the development of novelistic storytelling? This talk will give an introduction to the kinds of games that the salonnières played, what impact they had on storytelling experiments in the early novel and how they can be played today.

Karin Kukkonen is Professor in Comparative Literature at the University of Oslo (Norway). She is the author of several monographs, most recently Creativity and Contingency in Literary Writing (Bloomsbury, 2026). Her current research investigates literary games from the early-modern period and their impact on the development of the novel (JEUX, ERC Consolidator, 2024-2028).

The Playlab! Journalism course hosts a workshop for anyone who wants to make a zine their favourite research – either to popularise your favourite paper by someone else, or to turn your own research into accessible form! The workshop will start with a paired or small group exercise explaining the research to each other, then be about crafting, writing and drawing your zines. Please prepare by bringing a printout of the research paper or papers and their correct citation; print them single sided, in a smaller size than 100% so you can include direct quotes if you want. You might also want to bring your favourite pen and personal scissors. Also make sure to re-read the paper in advance! NO GRAPHICS SKILLS NECESSARY.

AAKK's book club meetings are open to everyone, but currently our main language is Finnish. Lisätietoa toiminnasta: @aakk.kerho