Education
Yanli He
Ph.D., Sichuan University (2013)
Post-Doctoral Fellow, East China Normal University
Visiting Scholar, Harvard University
Visiting Scholar, Stanford University
Non-Resident Fellow of Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University
Interests and Expertise
African American Literature and Literary Theory
Socialist Realism and World Literature
Third World Literature, (Semi) Fourth World Literature
Soviet and American Children’s Literature
Film Aesthetics, Fashion and Biopolitics
Minority Soldiers’ Memoirs and U.S.-China, Sino-Soviet Diplomacy History during World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War
Book in Progress (in English, independent author):
1. Third and (Semi-)Fourth World Literature as World Literature Through the (Post-)Cold War, forthcoming
2. Crossing Color, Iron and Bamboo Curtains, forthcoming.
Book Collection (in English):
3.Third World Literature & Culture as/and World Literature & Culture, forthcoming.
Books (in English)
4. The Socialist Side of World Literature, Lexington Books, January 2025 (482 pages, independent author).
5. Mapping Minor/Small and World Literatures: Periphery and Center, Lexington Books, June 2024 (with Nicholas Birns, 296 pages).
Book in Progress (in Chinese, independent author)
6. Comparative Study of Children’s Biographical Literature in the United States and the Soviet Union（《美、苏儿童传记文学比较研究》），forthcoming.
Books (in Chinese)
7. The Talking Book: Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s African American Literary Theory (《会说话的书——盖茨的非裔文学理论研究》)，Sichuan University, October 2023 (372 pages, independent author).
8. Boris Groys’ Art and Literary Theory（《鲍里斯·格罗伊斯文艺理论研究》）， Sichuan University Press, August 2022 (252 pages, independent author).
9. Film Studies Through the Lens of Gender Poetics （《性别诗学下的电影研究》）, Sichuan University Press, May 2013 (202 pages, the first and primary author).
Articles (in English, 11 articles are independently authored):
1. “From ‘National Allegories’ to ‘Modernist Ghosts’”: The Reception of Jameson’s ‘Third World Literature’ in China, 1985–2024”, forthcoming.
2. “Chinese Women’s Perception of Body, Clothing, Aesthetic and Power in the Mao Era, 1949–1976”, forthcoming.
3.“Korean War POWs’ Individual Gastrodiplomacy: Comparing Morris R. Wills and Clarence Adams’ Odessey”, Territories, forthcoming.
4. “From Capitan Cook to One-Eyed Aboriginal Ghost: Melissa Lucashenko’s Narratives on Gender Issues among Australian Aboriginal Women”, Antipodes, forthcoming.
5. “Joseph Reményi and Socialist World Literature: Shifting Minor, Small and World Literature from Singular to Plural”, Remate de Males, April 2024, Vol. 43 (2), pp. 539-573.
6. “Erasing the Pink on World Atlas: Re-mapping African American Literature”, Space and Culture, January 2024, pp.1-19.
7. “Impact of World Wars and the Cold War on Langston Hughes”, Alea:Estudos Neolatinos, December 2022, pp.30-55.
8. “Introduction: Socialist World Literature” (Yanli He and Daniel Pratt), Journal of Narrative Theory, Fall 2022, pp. 267-282.
9. “Equal Aesthetic Rights, Semi-Centers/Peripheries and World Literatures”, chapter 2, in Littératures périphériques, littératures mondiales, Peter Lang Publisher, 2022, pp.31-61.
10. “John Kinsella, International Regionalism and World Literature”, Angelaki, March 2021, pp. 81-91.
11. “Rethinking Minor Literature and Small Literature as the Secondary Zone Literature”, Territories, August 2020, pp.32-48.
12. “Boris Groys and the Total Art of Stalinism”, Australian journal: Thesis Eleven, May 2019, Vol. 152, pp.38-51.
Articles (in Chinese, 33 articles are independently authored):
13. “The Biographical Characteristics of African American Children’s Literature: Development and Evolution Across Two Stages,” Journal of Modern Life Writing Studies, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, forthcoming
14. “Reverse Travelers in Wrinkles in Time: Child-Centric Narratives in Bill Peet’s Children’s Literature”, Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, forthcoming.
15. “Early Cold War Heroic Images in American and Soviet Children’s Biographical Literature:1947–1953”, forthcoming.
16. “An Aesthetic Analysis of Atmosphere in Forbidden Love Tragedy Films: A Comparative Study of The Great Gatsby and Anna Karenina: Vronsky’s Story”, Journal of Beijing Film Academy, Spring 2025, forthcoming.
17. “Phillis Wheatley in Chains: The Three Developmental Stages of African American Literary Theory”, Frontier of Literary and Art Theory, Spring 2023, pp. 63-94.
18. “Cold Media, Hot Media and the Cultural Logic of Equal Aesthetic Rights: Boris Groys’ Art and Literary Theory”, Difference, Sichuan University Press, 2022, pp.160-179.
19. “Gates and African American Literary Canon Strategies”, Journal of Lan Zhou University, 2018(1), 110-116.
20. “Gates and African American Formalism”, Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2017(4), 258-272.
21. “Anti-Essentialism and Essentialism of Gates’ Literary Theory”, Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2013(3), 203-210.
22. “Gender Equality and Gates’ Literary Theory”, Contemporary Literary Criticism, 2013(2), 23-27.
23. “Naipaul Fallacy and Gates’ Literary Theory”, Foreign Literatures, 2012(3), 23-30.
24. “From Signifying Monkey to Esu-Ellabara: A Study on the ‘Reverse Growth’ of Gates’ African American Literary Theory”, Journal of Sichuan Normal University, 2013(1), 61-67.
25. “Rethinking Gates’ Theory from Post-Colonial Perspective”, Journal of Chengdu University, 2012(2), 62-66.
26. “The Interconnection Between Artistic Space and Political Power: A Study on Thomas De Quincey’s Theory of Museums”, Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2016(3), 317-331.
27. “The Identity Transposition and The Great Chain of Being: Django Unchained”, Journal of Mian Yang Normal University, 2014(5), 146-150.
28. “Flexible Blackness and Rigid Subjectivity: The Butler”, Journal of San Xia University, 2014(5), 97-101.
29. “Their Eyes Were Watching Heaven: Interpreting Twelve Years of Slave”, Journal of Lang Fang Normal University, 2014(4), 32-36.
30. “The African Identity Problems in Amistad”, Journal of Sichuan Cultural Industry College, 2014(2), 33-38.
31. “African Identity in British Films”, Journal of Ning Bo Radio & TV University, 2014(2), 116-120.
32. “The Mobius Strip from Body to Post-body: Feminism Research of Desert Flower”, Journal of Guang Dong Radio & TV University, 2012(4), 55-60.
33. “The Definition of Colonial and Post-Colonial Film”, Journal of Chengdu University, 2014(4), 67-72.
34. “Review of Post-Colonial Film Theory”, Journal of Guang Dong Radio & TV University, 2014(2), 49-54.
35. “Chinese Identity in British Films”, Journal of Hai Nan Radio & TV University, 2013(1), 24-31.
36. “The Identity Temptation in Posthumous Life Space: Analyzing the Identity Aspirations in Love for Life”, Journal of Ning Bo Radio & TV University, 2013(2), 117-121.
37. “A Study on DreamWorks' Spatial Design Strategy: Taking Kung Fu Panda as an Example”, Journal of Guang Dong Radio & TV University, 2013(2), 78-83.
38. “The Female Identities in Secret Fan and Snow Flowers”, Journal of San Xia University, 2012(3), 108-112.
39. “Three Kinds of Female Identities in The Piano in a Factory”, Journal of Ning Bo Radio & TV University, 2012(2), 118-122.
40. “Mr. & Mrs Single: The Identity Choice of Female Fake Singles”, Movie and Literature, 2011(19), 68-71.
41. “The National Aesthetic Features and Cultural Origins in West China”, Contemporary Literary Criticism, 2012(6), 101-104 (the second author).
42. “Life Aesthetics Spirit and Innovative Consciousness in Zhou Yi”, Social Science Research, 2012(6), 189-205 (the second author).
43. “The Buddhism of Ki-duk Kim’s Film”, Journal of Ning Bo Radio & TV University, 2012(3), 117-121.
44. “Jack Sully’s Identity in Avatar”, Journal of Hai Nan Radio & TV University, 2012(1), 8-13.
45. “The Identity Choice of the ‘Forth World’ in The Only Good Indian”, Movie Literature, 2011(21), 26-29.
46. “Dances with Wolves: The Vacillating Identity of John Dunbar”, Journal of Biographical Literature, 2011(1), 51-56.
47. The Interconnection Between Religious and Aesthetic Consciousness and Its Impact on Cinematic Art, May 2010, Outstanding Master’s Theses in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), 91 pages.
48. “Interpreting Love in the Time of Cholera Through the Lens of Roland Barthes”, Jiannan Literature, 2009 (8), pp. 56-58.
Editing Special Issues
1. “Socialist World Literature”, Journal of Narrative Theory, Vol. 52, Fall 2022, Yanli He and Daniel Pratt, pp. 267-418.
2. “Periphery and Center: Mapping Minor/Small and World Literatures”, Space and Culture, Yanli He and Robert T.Tally, 2018.
3. “Socialist Realism and World Literature within the Soviet Union”, Journal of World Literature, Daniel Pratt and Yanli He, 2021.
4. “World War and Cold War on Literature”, Alea, Yanli He, Nicholas Birns, Ana Maria Lisboa, and Jaime Ginzburg, 2022.
Leading Projects:
1. 2017 China Postdoctoral Science Foundation for International Conference and Communication, “Soyinka’s Nobel Prize and World Minor Literature” (May 31 of 2017, no authorized number)
2. 2016 State Social Philosophical Scientific Foundation Research Program of China (State PSFRP), “Boris Groys’ Literary and Art Theory” (No. 16CWW002)
3. 2015 Ministration of Education of Social Science Foundation in China, “Gates and the Historical Problems of African American Formalism” (No. 15YJC751017)
4. 2015 China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, “Gates and the Historical Problems of African American Literary Theory” (No. 2015M571517)
5. 2015 Sichuan University Publishing Foundation, “The Aesthetic Hegemony and Others’ Identity in American and British Films” (No. skcb201504)
6. 2014 Sichuan Province Social Science Foundation, “African American Theory and its White Context” (No. skq201415)
7. 2014 Sichuan University Young Scholar Foundation, “The Double Faces of Gates’ Literary Theory” (No.SC14C024)
Awards:
Excellence Award for Undergraduate Classroom Teaching Quality, Sichuan University, 2024
Outstanding Young Scholar in Research and Teaching, College of Literature and Journalism, Sichuan University, 2023
Outstanding Research Award, Sichuan University, January 2022
Outstanding Teaching Award for 2020–2021, Sichuan University, October 2021
Outstanding Student Counselor, Sichuan University, December 2015
Outstanding Researcher. CASHL, July 2014
Teaching Courses:
“Literary Theory,” “Introduction to Classic Literature and Film Adaptation,” “Studies on Third World Nobel Prize-winning Literature,” “Trends in Contemporary Western Literature,” and “Introduction to Visual Culture Studies.”
Book links and personal Links:
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793650566/The-Socialist-Side-of-World-Literature
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666944679/Mapping-Minor-Small-and-World-Literatures-Periphery-and-Center
https://thesiseleven.com/2025/02/05/new-book-the-socialist-side-of-world-literature/
https://journalofnarrativetheory.com/jnt-52-3-featured-author-yanli-he/
