Giulia BACCINI

Current position

Associate Professor, Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice

Research fields

Pre-modern Chinese Literature, Classical Chinese, Chinese Textual Culture, Literary History, Literary Criticism, Literary Theory, Humor studies.

Education Background

3 /03/ 2011

PhD in co-supervision, Graduate School in Languages, Civilisations and Societies – East Asian Studies, Università Ca’ Foscari”/Graduate in  Theories and History of Literatures of Asian and African Countries, Charles University. PhD dissertation: “The Forest of Laughs (Xiaolin): mapping the offspring of self-aware literature in ancient China”. Advisors: Tiziana Lippiello, Olga Lomová.

2006 – 2007

Individual researcher at the Institute of East Asian Studies of Prague’s  Charles University, with the scholarship granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the  Czech Republic, to study under the supervision of Prof. Olga Lomová.

2004 - 2006

Attended courses, as “Normal Student” (putong jinxiusheng 普通进修生), in classical Chinese literature at the College of Chinese Language and Literature of Beijing Normal University 北京師範大學 with the scholarship granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

28/06/2004

M.A. in East Asian Studies at Ca’ Foscari University, Venice (Department of East Asian Studies), Italy. Thesis Title: “Feng and shan sacrifices: between dynastic legitimation and immortality-seeking belief system” (Qin - Former Han dynasty). Final grade: 110/110 summa cum laude; advisor: Prof. Tiziana Lippiello.

09/2001- 02/2002

Intensive language course in China, Shenyang Normal University    沈陽師範大學  Liaoning, China.

SCHOLARSHIP and GRANT

2016

Grant “Teaching Staff Overseas Research Mobility”, destination: Peking University (Beijing daxue).

2012-2015

Three years Post-doctoral research fellowship, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice.

2008–2010

Three years full PhD Scholarship, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice.

2006–2007

Eight months scholarship granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the  Czech Republic for attending one year of research at the Institute of East Asian Studies, Charles University, Prague.

2004–2006

Two years scholarship granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China for attending courses in classical Chinese literature, Beijing Normal University, Beijing.

ACADEMIC DUTIES

- Member of the Undergraduate Teaching Board LICSAAM (Membro del Collegio Didattico LICSAAM), (2017-).

- Member of the Undergraduate Quality Assurance Committee LICSAAM, (Gruppo AQ LICSAAM), (2018-).

CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS

4-5/12/2025, Workshop: History and Historiography of Early Medieval Period:The Book of the Southern Qi Dynasty (Nan Qishu 南齊書, 524), Paper: NQS 33; “Literature & Scholarship” 文學;

23/11/2025 Paper: “Bian Bin 卞彬 and Qiu Juyuan 丘巨源: Two Men of Letters from the “Wenxue” 文學Chapter of the Nan Qishu 南齊書 (Book of Southern Qi)”. Early Medieval China Workshop, Organized by: The Oriental Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, and the Chiang Ching-kuo International Sinological Center at Charles University in Prague

6/08/2025 Lecture: “Introduction to Literary Chinese: Zhiguai (Accounts of anomalies) from the Early Medieval Period”, Princeton-Cafoscari Classical Chinese Summer school.

13/11/2024 Paper: “Fantasmi, oggetti animati e animali che cambiano forma
infestazioni e spazio infestato nella letteratura cinese premoderna”, as part of the series of conferences organised by Agostino De Rosa, Geometrie del terrore, IUAV, Venezia.

23/09/2023 Discussant for the panel Manoscritti e cultura testuale nella Cina classica: prospettive e metodologie, XIX Convegno AISC, Sapienza Università di Roma.

3/02/2023 Paper: “Insegnare la letteratura cinese premoderna: scegliere un canone senza tralasciare il ‘canone’”. Conference: Insegnare la letteratura cinese: materiali e metodi, esperienze e prospettive, Università La Sapienza, Roma.

4/11/2022  Paper “Favoured and Undeserving,” Song shu, Conference: Shifting Categories in Early Medieval Chinese Histories: The “Good officials” and “Favoured and Undeserving” in Wei shu, Song shu and Nan Qi shu, Dip. Studi sull’Asia e l’Africa Med. Ca’Foscari, partecipanti invitati Jakub Hruby, Alexis Lycas, Jörg Henning-Hüsemann.

12-14/09/2022 Shiji translation workshop, Dip. Studi sull’Asia e l’Africa Med. Ca’Foscari, partecipanti invitati Prof. William H. Nienhauser (University of Wisconsin-Madison), editor of The Grand Scribe’s,Record (Indiana University Press, Nanjing daxue chubanshe), Prof. Hans van Ess (LMU Munich), Dott. Clara Luhn (LMU Munich), Dott. Jakob Pöllath (LMU Munich)

13/05/2022 Relatore per la tavola rotonda Ricerca e formazione dopo il dottorato: bandi, progetti, fondi, posizioni e pubblicazioni organizzata dal Direttivo AISC.

27/03/2022 Discussant per i paper: Jack Chen, A Funny Ghost Story, a Not-So-Funny Ghost Story, and a Funny Ghost Story e Alexei Ditter, Making Fun of Others: Humor and Representation of the 'Other' in the Qiyan lu, all’interno del panel online Humor in Middle Period Chinese Literature (altri memebri del panel Xiaojing Miao, Xiao Rao, discussant: Ronald Egan), Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, Honolulu, Hawai’i.

7/11/2019 East in Translation: Tradurre arabo, cinese e giapponese oggi. Presentation: “Translating Ancient Chinese Jokes: on the Problem of Translating Culture and Language”. Università di Bergamo.

15-16 /11/ 2018 Early Medieval China Workshop at the Autonomous University of Madrid, (finanziato dalla CCK). Presentation: “Collecting Stories to Entertain: A Perspective on the Xiaolin 笑林 (Forest of Laughs)”.

25-27 /07/ 2017  (Collaboratory 2): “Humour, History and Methodology: A Multidisciplinary and Trans-Professional Enquiry”, Durham University, UK. Organizzato da The Humours of the Past (HOP) Network. Presentation: “A Forest of Laughter - Collections of Humorous Anecdotes in Early Medieval China”.

19/05/2017 Session of the Shiji group organized by W.H. Nienhauser, for the translation of The Grand Scribe’s Records. Institute of Sinology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich.

24/04/ 2017 Cicle of Seminars: “Tradición y contemporaneidad chinas: Los textos de la China clásica y su relevancia en el mundo contemporáneo”. Presentation: “Collections of jokes in pre-modern China - A Forest of Laughter”, at the Facultad de Traducción e Interpretación (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona), Spain.

13/01/2017 Session of the Shiji group organized by W.H. Nienhauser, for the translation of The Grand Scribe’s Records. Institute of Sinology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich.

04/11/2016 Presentation: “Tradurre e interpretare i testi del primo periodo medievale: Una panoramica sul periodo Wei-Jin e i Sette Savi del Bosco di Bambù,” Department of Philosophy, Social and Human Sciences & Education University of Perugia.

14-15 /10/ 2016 Conference: “Humanities, different traditions and Methodologies: Multicultural Perspectives in Chinese Language and Literature”, Peking, Beijing University. Presentation: “Collecting stories to amuse readers: Humour in Early China 收集诙谐的故事--古代中国的幽默”.

14-15 /07/ 2016 Collaboratory 1, of the International Interdisciplinary Network Humours of the Past, Aberdeen University.

03/06/2016 Session of the Shiji group organized by W.H. Nienhauser, for the translation of The Grand Scribe’s Records. Institute of Sinology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich.

08  /05/ 2016 Conference: “Tra Poesia e Poetica: Pratiche di lettura e trasmissione del testo poetico in Cina e Giappone”. Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca. Presentation: “Le antologie poetiche sotto la dinastia Liang (502–587): Canonizzazione e innovazione della cultura letteraria”.

11/04/2016 Presentation: “A Forest of Laughter - Humor in Early China”, Confucius Institute, Leipzig University.

08/04/ 2016 Conference: “International Workshop: – New Approaches to the Study of Biographical Writing in Early Medieval China”. Presentation: “Dongfang Shuo, the Buffoon and the Hermit: Two Different Biographical Traditions of a Western Han Courtier.” Leipzig University, Germania.

01/11/2016 Session of the Shiji group organized by W.H. Nienhauser, for the translation of The Grand Scribe’s Records. Institute of Sinology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich.

24 /09/ 2015 XV Conference of AISC (Associazione Italiana Studi Cinesi), Macerata. Presentation: “I fu dei poeti rapsodi sono belli ma conducono all’eccesso: utilizzo e rilettura del giudizio critico di Yang Xiong nei confronti della poesia rapsodica durante il primo medioevo cinese (220-598)”.

24/07/ 2015 HOP (Humours of the Past) Steering Group Inaugural Meeting, Aberdeen University, UK.

11/05/ 2015 Conference: “History and Culture of Early Medieval China”, Organizzata da: EU project CHINET, reg. no.: CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0152, Department of Asian Studies, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic & The Oriental Institute of the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic. Presentation: “The flourishing of anecdotal literature during the Six Dynasties period: taking the Xiaolin and the Yin Yun xiaoshuo as a reference”.

25 /03/ 2015 International conference: “De (Virtue) and Mei (Beauty) in Chinese Philosophy”, organizzata da Robin R. Wang e Attilio Andreini presso l’Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia. Presentation: “The Beauty that Leads to Excess: Yin li 淫麗 in Literary Theory and Criticism”.

5/12/ 2014 Conference: “Early Medieval China Workshop”, Organizzato da: EU project CHINET, reg. no.: CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0152, Department of Asian Studies, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic & The Oriental Institute of the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic.

4/12/ 2014 Lecture: “Reshaping stories: Anecdotal narratives in Early and Early Medieval China”, Palacky University, Olomouc, CZ.

22-26 /07/ 2014 20th Conference of the European Association of Chinese Studies, Braga/Coimbra, Portogallo. Presentation: “The collections of humorous anecdotes: diachronic investigation at the margins of the xiaoshuo category”; panel: “Dynamics and function of genre: assimilation and resistance in Chinese literary experience”.

19-21 /09/ 2013 XIV Conference of AISC (Associazione Italiana Studi Cinesi, Procida. Presentation: “Le collezioni di aneddoti umoristici: panoramica diacronica e illustrazione delle caratteristiche di ‘genere’”, panel: “Assimilazione e resistenza: spazi e contesti di definizione delle categorie letterarie cinesi in rapporto ai modelli, alle forme e ai generi della teoria occidentale”.

21-22 /03/ 2013 “Linking Ancient and Contemporary: Continuities and Discontinuities in the Chinese History of Literature and Thought”, organized by the Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari Venice University, and the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Peking University. Presentation: “Traditional Chinese Jestbooks and Ming Revival”.

02-04 /12/ 2012 Conference: “Shiji and Beyond – Second International Conference on the Shiji”, at the Charles University, Praga. Presentation: “The Shiji’s Guji liezhuan: a source to understand rhetorical strategies in early China”. 3/12/ 2011.

04/06/ 2010 Conference: “The 1st International Conference on Specific Topics in Chinese Studies (STCS), organized by the Department of Asian and African Studies, University of Ljubljana (Slovenia): WEI JIN NANBEI PERIOD – LITERATURE, ART AND PHILOSOPHY魏晉南北朝 文學、藝術、哲學”. Presentation: “The Xiaolin (Forest of Laughs): Mapping the Offspring of Self-aware Literature in Ancient China”.

MEMBERSHIP

EARLY MEDIEVAL CHINA GROUP (EMCG),

ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA di STUDI CINESI (AISC)

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF CHINESE STUDIES (EACS)

T’ang Studies Society