Staging Talent in Urban Arenas
Staging Talent in Urban Arenas
“Staging Talent in Urban Arenas” focuses on examination lore in the latter half of the Tang, which shows that the urban space of Chang’an allows candidates to define themselves by vying for recognition outside the examination ground proper. For the precareer man of letters, an important aspect of establishing oneself was the successful demonstration of talent in the public eye. This necessitated a series of presentations of literary talent—both on paper and in person—to intervening parties, and to the even larger community of beholders whose consensus could become suasive. Narratives of urban spectacles and public competition intimate an invisible crowd of onlookers, whose presence helped to cement (or undermine) the reputation of the neophytes.
Keywords: literary talent, urban space, evaluation, spectacle, reputation, competition, civil service examination, performance, spectator
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