Recently, The Commercial Press has announced the list of selected works for the fifth volume of the “Rixin Academic Collection”. Dedicated to presenting insightful new academic results and works, this collection aims to identify and cultivate outstanding young scholars as well as to shape the orientation of academic publishing. Having released four volumes to date, it has earned widespread recognition from both the academic community and the general public. The selection process for the fifth volume began in February 2025. After rigorous procedures involving anonymous review and expert discussion, seven works were ultimately selected. It is noteworthy that two faculty members from the School of Foreign Languages, Peking University, are included in the list, with their monographs Multi-dimensional Journeys: Lusophone African Literatures from a Perspective of Global History by Wang Yuan, and The Historical Polyphony of Modernity in Indian Culture: A Study on Kabir’s Textual Tradition by Zhang Minyu.

Wang Yuan’s monograph, characterized by a global historical perspective, systematically explores the formation logic and writing of subjectivity of Lusophone African literature in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and other countries. It emphasizes interpreting literary texts within the contexts of cross-regional mobility and specific historical settings. Notably, this book is the first work in the “Rixin Academic Collection” that focuses on foreign literature studies.

Starting from the textual tradition originating from Kabir, a 15th-century Hindi poet, Zhang Minyu comprehensively adopts various methods, such as close textual analysis, historical criticism, fieldwork and political economy analysis, in his monograph. Through a micro-level lens, it provides a concise overview of the tortuous evolution of Indian cultural modernity, which emerged in the late Middle Ages and was subsequently reshaped by colonialism and nationalism.

Integrating literary studies with historical researches, these two monographs fully illustrate the School’s scholarly orientation of “cross-linguistic, cross-regional, and interdisciplinary research” and the academic accomplishments of young scholars. Meanwhile, they also demonstrate the School’s strategic emphasis on and solid advancement in Global South studies, with continuous breakthroughs made in both disciplinary development and talent cultivation.

List of the Fifth Volume of “Rixin Academic Collection”

By Wang Yuan

Translated by Chen Ying