An academic seminar on comparative poetics and dialogue between Chinese and Western civilizations was held in Jinan, Shandong, on Sept 5, bringing together more than 150 scholars from universities and research institutes across Shandong province.

The event was organized by Shandong University's (SDU) Research Center for Literary Theory and Aesthetics, a provincial comparative literature association, and the editorial office of an academic publication on literary theory and aesthetics.

Tan Haozhe, director of the SDU research center, said that comparative poetics is a great way to facilitate dialogue between civilizations and promote exchanges between Chinese and foreign literary traditions, contributing to the development of new approaches to Chinese literary theory.

SDU scholars presented research on aesthetics, the historical development of Western aesthetics of nature, and the relationship between theoretical discourse and artistic interpretation.

Three parallel sessions focused on comparative poetics and cross-cultural literary studies, translation and cross-cultural communication, and interdisciplinary research on literature and the arts. Participants also discussed the reception of Western literary theory in China, translations of Chinese literature, and the impact of artificial intelligence on aesthetic experience and literary criticism.

The seminar was held alongside the eighth general assembly of the provincial comparative literature association, which also elected a new council. Yang Jiangang, dean of SDU's School of Literature, was elected the new president of the association. He said the new council would work to strengthen academic exchanges and further promote the development of the association.