Keulemans’ research interests are focused on the interaction between oral and written literature. His book, Sound Rising from the Paper: 19th-century Martial Arts Fiction and the Chinese Acoustic Imagination (Harvard University Asia Center Press, 2015), pursues this topic from an acoustic angle, investigating the way a plethora of sound effects (onomatopoeia, dialect accents, vendor calls, etc.) turn the silent pages of printed novels into a lively acoustic spectacle. His second research project, tentatively entitled, Idle Chatter: The Productive Uses of Gossip and Rumor in 17th-century Chinese Literature, explores the relationship between oral and written literature from a different point of view, the seemingly endless production of printed hearsay, rumor, and gossip in late-Ming and early-Qing novels, short-stories, and opera. Keulemans specializes in late-imperial novels and opera, but his interests also include modern Chinese literature, contemporary Chinese film, Dutch-Chinese interactions from the 17th-century onwards, and the adaptation of China’s great novels such as The Three Kingdoms into video games, the subject of his latest project, Old Novels, New Games: The Concept of Play in Late-Ming and Late-Twentieth Century Culture.
Keulemans’ will be co-teaching HUM 233, East Asian Humanities I: The Classical Foundations with Brian Steininger in the Fall of 2022 and previously co-taught HUM 233, East Asian Humanities I: The Classical Foundations with Brian Steininger in the Fall of 2019.
For full bio please visit the East Asian Studies Department website.
