Specialist in Chinese women's history adds to global perspective in History Department and brings new dimension to U of G's women's studies program
BY RACHELLE COOPER
Newly appointed history professor Norman Smith, the first faculty member at Guelph to have dedicated teaching responsibilities in the women's studies program, doesn't think it's unusual for a man to focus on women's studies.
“I think it's one of the most interesting fields of research today,” says Smith, who joined the Department of History Jan. 1 and will dedicate 40 per cent of his teaching time to women's studies. “It's fascinating to watch how the study of women's experiences changes the way history is perceived.”
A specialist in Chinese history, he admits that, when he travels to China to do research, he gets unusual reactions when people learn what his field is. “And when I reveal that I'm actually studying Chinese women's history, they think I'm really insane,” he laughs.
He first became interested in his area of research when he stumbled across a kind of writing from the south of China called “women's writing” or nüshu while working on his MA at the University of British Columbia.
“It's a form of writing invented by women for women to use to communicate with other women,” he says. “It's incredible that such a form of writing once existed, but hardly anybody knows about it today.”
Once he finished his MA, Smith remained at UBC to complete a PhD. His dissertation focused on female Chinese writers in Manchuria during the Japanese occupation.
“At first, I just wanted to know how Chinese women experienced the occupation, but eventually I was able to bring to light a whole world of women's literature and feminist criticism.”
Smith discovered a group of female Chinese writers who were able to critique colonial society during the occupation.
“Because colonial officials believed women were so useless that whatever they wrote was meaningless, these women were able to emerge as strong social critics.”
In the last year of the occupation, the colonial officials realized what was going on right under their noses, and all but one of the seven writers Smith studied were punished. It was after liberation that the women really suffered the most.
“During the Communist regime, it was thought that anyone who could have had a successful career under the Japanese was a total traitor, so these women who built their careers from the ages of 15 to 25 spent more than 20 years in jail or at hard labour or being denounced as traitors.”
Before arriving at Guelph, Smith spent two years at the University of Washington and Oxford University doing post-doctoral research on how feminist ideals played a role in the work of the seven Chinese writers he studied. He will publish his research later this year in a book to be called Wielding Pens as Swords.
Because he's spent the last few years writing articles and working on his book, Smith says he welcomes the renewed contact with students at U of G.
“They're so enthusiastic,” he says. “I encourage interaction in my classes. I think it's essential. It not only keeps me on my toes but also encourages an active learning environment in the classroom.”
This semester, Smith is teaching a third-year course called “Women's History in Asia” and a fourth-year seminar on “The Construct of Woman in Chinese Societies.” In the fall, he will take on the introductory women's studies course, which has an enrolment of 400.
Prof. Dawn Cornelio, Languages and Literatures, co-ordinator of the women's studies program, says she's happy to see the University's commitment to the program that Smith's appointment represents.
“Having a dedicated faculty member will help increase our visibility, our viability and our ability to provide students with a cohesive and coherent women's studies program,” she says.
And the appointment of Smith, in particular, bodes well for the future of the program, she adds. “He is a very charismatic instructor whose non-western focus will have a significant impact on the way women's studies is taught at Guelph.”
Prof. Terry Crowley, chair of the Department of History, says his department is “doubly delighted with Norman Smith's appointment because not only does he add to established strengths in social and women's history, but his East Asian specialty also forms an important part of the department's new global orientation and helps fulfil the University's international mission.”
Smith says he has travelled to China so many times for research and pleasure that he considers it his second home.
“I love it. If you have a good set of acquaintances in China, it's the best place in the world to live. And it has the best food in the world.”
Taking Mandarin classes at Simon Fraser University and UBC and immersing himself in the culture when he's in China have made him fluent in the language — so much so that he has written several articles in Mandarin for Chinese publications and is working on two more.
Here in Canada, when he's not teaching, researching or writing about China, Smith is watching Asian movies.
“I'm addicted to Chinese movies. So rarely do good new Chinese movies make it here that I've also become addicted to the movies from Hong Kong in the '50s and '60s that are now on DVD. They're amazing.”
Having lived in Vancouver for 20 years, Smith says he's been craving a move to a smaller city like Guelph. He arrived at the end of December and has since made it his mission to find good authentic Chinese food in the area.
