Ouyang, Wen-Chin 1960–

views updated

Ouyang, Wen-Chin 1960–

PERSONAL:

Born September 28, 1960; has children. Education: University of al-Fatih, B.A., B.Ed., 1982; Columbia University, M.A., 1986, M.Phil., 1987, Ph.D., 1992.

ADDRESSES:

Office— Department of the Near and Middle East, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Thornhaugh, St., Russell Sq., London WC1H 0XG, England; fax: 020-7-898-4399. E-mail— wo@soas.ac.uk.

CAREER:

Academician and writer. Columbia University, New York, NY, teaching assistant, 1983-87, instructor in Arabic, 1987-91; University of Virginia, Charlottesville, assistant professor, 1991-97, associate professor of Arabic language and literature, 1997; University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, lecturer, 1993; University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, England, lecturer in Arabic, 1997-2005, senior lecturer in Arabic Literature, 2005—. Visiting lecturer in Arabic at Cambridge University, 2000.

MEMBER:

American Association of Teachers of Arabic, American Oriental Society, Middle East Studies Association of North America, Association of Middle East Women's Studies, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, Association of Middle East Medievalists.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Recipient of various research grants.

WRITINGS:

Literary Criticism in Medieval Arabic-Islamic Culture: The Making of a Tradition, Edinburgh University Press (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1997.

(Editor, with Geert Jan van Gelder)New Perspectives on Arabian Nights: Ideological Variations and Narrative Horizons, Routledge (London, England), 2005.

(Editor, with Stephen M. Hart)A Companion to Magical Realism, Tamesis (Rochester, NY), 2005.

Contributor of chapters to scholarly books, including To Speak or Be Silent, edited by Lena Ross, Chiron (New York, NY), 1993;Great Literature of the Eastern World, edited by Ian P. McGreal, HarperCollins (London, England), 1996;Etel Adnan: Critical Essays on the Arab-American Writer and Artist, edited by Amal Amireh and Lisa Majaj, McFarland (London, England), 2002;Les Mille et Une Nuit en Partage, edited by Aboubkr Charïbi, Sindbad Actes Sud (Arles, France), 2004;Les Mille et Une Nuits: Due Texte au Mythe, Université Mohammed-V de Rabat (Rabat, Morocco), 2005;Intertextuality in Modern Arab Literature since 1967, edited by Luc Deheuvels, Barbara Michalak-Pikulska, and Paul Starkey, Durham University Press (Durham, NC), 2006;Oxford History of Literary Translation in English, Volume 4, edited by Peter France and Kenneth Haynes, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2006;Sensibilities of the Islamic Mediterranean: Self Expression in a Muslim Culture from Post-Classical Times to the Present Day, edited by Robin Ostle, I.B. Tauris (London, England), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals and academic journals, including Middle Eastern Literatures, Oriente Moderno, Comparative Critical Studies, Bulletin of SOAS, Edebiyat, Modern Arabic Literature: The Comparative Perspective, Modern Languages Quarterly, Arabic and Middle Eastern Literatures, Dictionary of Literary Biography: Arab Writers of Fiction and Philosophy, Wasafiri, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Middle East Journal, Banipal: Magazine of Modern Arab Literature, and Al-Arabiyya. Editorial board member,SOAS Bulletin and London Middle East Institute Magazine.

SIDELIGHTS:

Wen-Chin Ouyang is an academician and scholar of Arab and Middle Eastern literature. Ouyang graduated from the University of al-Fatih in Libya in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Education degree. She then relocated to the United States where she pursued graduate-level studies. At Columbia University, she earned a Master of Arts degree in 1986, a Master of Philosophy degree in 1987, and a Ph.D. in 1992. While studying at Columbia University, she concurrently worked as a teaching assistant until 1987. From that point she served as an instructor in Arabic until 1991. At that point she accepted a position at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, as an assistant professor of Arabic language and literature. In the summer of 1993 she lectured at the University of Chicago. By 1997 she was made an associate professor of Arabic language and literature with tenure at the University of Virginia. In 1997 she chose to accept a position at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) as a lecturer in Arabic. While there she served as a visiting lecturer at Cambridge University in 2000. By 2005 she was made senior lecturer in Arabic Literature at SOAS.

Ouyang has received a number of research grants during her career. She is fluent in English, Arabic, and Chinese, and carries a working knowledge in Persian and French. She is a member of a number of professional and scholarly organizations, including American Association of Teachers of Arabic, American Oriental Society, Middle East Studies Association of North America, Association of Middle East Women's Studies, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Association of Middle East Medievalists. Ouyang serves as a member of the editorial board of the SOAS Bulletin and the London Middle East Institute Magazine. She also contributes to a number of academic journals and periodicals, including Middle Eastern Literatures, Oriente Moderno, Comparative Critical Studies, Bulletin of SOAS, Edebiyat, Modern Arabic Literature: The Comparative Perspective, Modern Languages Quarterly, Arabic and Middle Eastern Literatures, Dictionary of Literary Biography: Arab Writers of Fiction and Philosophy, Wasafiri, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Middle East Journal, Banipal: Magazine of Modern Arab Literature, and Al-Arabiyya. Ouyang has also contributed chapters to a number of scholarly books on Arab and Middle Eastern Studies.

In 1997 Ouyang published her first book,Literary Criticism in Medieval Arabic-Islamic Culture: The Making of a Tradition. This was followed up in 2005 by two books she coedited. With Stephen M. Hart, she edited A Companion to Magical Realism. With Geert Jan van Gelder, she edited New Perspectives on Arabian Nights: Ideological Variations and Narrative Horizons. This book collects scholarly essays from nine contributors discussing the significance of the epic tale,One Thousand and One Nights. The essays diversely cover the workings of the tales and how storytelling as a concept ascends across cultural, political, and linguistic boundaries in this period. Bonnie D. Irwin, reviewing the work in Marvels & Tales, stated: "Perhaps only the most dedicated Nights scholars will find every essay in this issue of immediate interest, yet any scholar engrossed in the study of narrative and the ideologies of story will find something of consequence here." Irwin concluded that the contributors "provoke, inspire, and invite us to continue the pursuit."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, May, 2006, M.V. Ekstrom, review of A Companion to Magical Realism, p. 1604.

Marvels & Tales, October 1, 2005, Bonnie D. Irwin, review of New Perspectives on Arabian Nights: Ideological Variations and Narrative Horizons, p. 325.

Times Literary Supplement, January 23, 1998, Robert Irwin, review of Literary Criticism in Medieval Arabic-Islamic Culture: The Making of a Tradition, p. 26.