“[Chang’s] portrayal of women as fully realized individuals, with complexities, contradictions and emotional depth, continues to resonate with readers around the world,” says Jia Fei, interim chair and senior lecturer of SFU’s Department of World Languages and Literatures. “We are truly honoured to have this opportunity to engage in conversation with Ann Hui, one of the greatest storytellers in Asian film history.”

Fei notes that Chang – a bilingual writer and translator – played a pivotal role in introducing Chinese literature and culture to anglophone audiences.

Between tradition and desire

Chang’s novels, including Eighteen Springs (also known as Half a Lifelong Romance), capture the joy, doubt and emotional complexity of young people caught between tradition and personal desire.

“Chang’s work has a long-lasting impact on female writers after her time,” Fei shares of the author, who is regarded as the Jane Austen of China. “She is widely considered as one of the first modern writers who put women’s domestic life under spotlight and discovers beauty within the everyday details.”

Set in 1930s Shanghai, Eighteen Springs traces a love story shaped as much by family expectations and social pressures as by the couple’s own emotions. Its enduring resonance inspired Hui’s 1997 film adaptation, featuring Jacklyn Wu and Leon Lai as the two lovers. The film brought Chang’s tale of longing and restraint to a new generation of audiences.

“These themes continue to resonate because they reflect the universal experience of growing up and finding one’s identity in a world that is constantly changing,” the lecturer adds. “Many readers will see reflections of their own experiences in [Eighteen Springs].”

According to Fei, Hui’s cinematic adaptation of Eighteen Springs stands out for how closely the film captures Chang’s literary artistry. The lecturer sees Hui as preserving the depth of Chang’s exploration of female identity, mirroring her layered narrative structures through techniques like parallel narration and flashbacks, and translating the elegance of Chang’s prose into visual form.

“Hui didn’t just adapt Chang’s fiction,” Fei adds. “She visualized its emotional and psychological undertones on the big screen through her cinematic language.”

Subtle resistances

For Fei, the tension between traditions and modernity, family duty and personal desire in Chang’s work still speaks to audiences today. She adds that storytelling has a “transformative power,” be it on paper or on screens, that bridges geographical, cultural and generational barriers.

“Many of us face the same dilemma – shaped by the values and expectations we grew up with yet constantly challenged by a rapidly changing society that presents new norms, ideals and pressures,” the lecturer shares.

The event’s title, “Fractured Dreams and Silent Strength,” echoes the complexity of resistance in Chang’s characters, which is then reflected in Hui’s cinema. According to the lecturer, Chang’s narratives often begin with young women full of potential and hope.

They then encounter hardship and adversity yet continue to exhibit quiet strength and enduring grace. The lecturer sees these characters as resisting “in subtle ways.”

“Their resistance may not be overt or dramatic, but it is real– quiet and persistent,” Fei explains. “Their strength lies not in defiance, but in endurance, in the way they struggle to navigate hardship and still hold on to some part of themselves.”

For Fei, Hui’s adaptation balances these contrasts – love and family duty, tenderness and cruelty, joy and sorrow – effectively bringing the emotional and psychological subtleties of Chang’s novel to life on screen. The lecturer believes that Chang’s admirers will likewise appreciate Hui’s cinematic translations, allowing these stories to continue inspiring conversations about female subjectivity.

“For those unfamiliar with the film [Eighteen Springs] or Chang’s work, I hope they gain a glimpse into the Chinese society of the 1930s, in particular, women’s life under domestic and romantic pressures,” the lecturer shares. “I also hope they find some resonance with the tensions and struggles depicted in this work and its film adaptation.”

For more information on this event, see: https://events.sfu.ca/event/45221-fractured-dreams-and-silent-strength-female