Winter 2018 Colloquium

We will compare and contrast the use of travel and journeying as metaphors
for the search for the self in two classic novels: Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art
of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) and Gao Xingjian’s Lingshan/Soul Mountain
(1990/2000). Each work draws upon a rich treasury of Buddhist and Daoist
imagery, symbolism, and philosophical insights to take the reader on the path
of personal self-discovery. Both authors began writing their work following
life-changing, traumatic events which subsequently propelled them along their
individual journeys. While American and Chinese respectively, the two authors
share a common sense of purporse, humanity, and longing to come to terms
with life and their place in the world.