On May 14, the final of the 3rd National Academic Innovation Contest for German-major Undergraduates was held. Teachers and students from all over the country gathered online and offline to attend this academic feast. The competition attracted 155 teams and 219 undergraduates majoring in German from 52 schools across China.
This year's contest has three tracks: literature, linguistics, and cross-cultural and area studies. The preliminary round involves quality-based thesis evaluation by experts. The winners (or teams) are invited to the final round in the form of an online academic forum, on which contestants present their academic reports and have academic dialogues with judges. The first, second, and third prizes of each track are decided by combining the scores of the preliminary and the final round. The final is held at Zhejiang University offline, and the first-prize winners of each track will compete for the grand prize. Ou Ling, a 2019 undergraduate of the German Department of Nankai University, wins the Second Prize in the literature track.
During the selection of the thesis topic, Ou Ling gave priority to her research interest and literary preference. She applied psychoanalyst Lacan's subjectivity theory, combined with Ranke's doppelganger motif and Freud's theory on dreams, to conduct a close reading of the text and imagery analysis of the works written by German writer Hermann Hesse. "Although I have some knowledge of psychological research, the path of applying psychoanalysis on literary criticism is still new and challenging to me. I often doubt whether my chosen topic is feasible. However, my supervisor’s encouragement and my heartfelt enthusiasm are like lights in the darkness, supporting me to explore continuously in this area and to keep thinking. Thus I can find reasonable and professional academic interpretations."
During the preparation process, the thesis supervisor, Dr Bo Yidi, provided detailed guidance on how to cut down the loose content in the thesis, transform the language of prose into academic language, and strengthen the elaboration of the core argumentation. She also inspired Ou Ling a lot in methodology, paradigm, and perspective by sharing cutting-edge ideas of literary research like the theory of "covert progression". Under the full guidance of her supervisor and her own unremitting efforts, Ou Ling obtained an outstanding score of 92.5 points in the blind review of the preliminary round, ranking in the top 20% of the literature track, and was invited to participate in the final round.
The final of this competition was held on May 7 in the form of an online academic forum. As the 5th contestant on the literature track, Ou Ling presented her academic report and had a dialogue with Professor Fan Jiepin and Professor Wei Yuqing, two renowned scholars of German language and literature. When asked about the research text and the applied theories, Ou Ling gave a supplementary answer from Hesse's living situation and the historical background of the novels. Through discussions with the two scholars, Ou Ling gained pertinent suggestions for the improvement of her thesis and many thinking paths for academic research. Finally, she won the Second Prize in the contest with 5th place in the literature track.
Talking about the experience of the competition, Ou Ling said that it is an academic feast for undergraduates. In this large-scale academic event, she was able to improve her ability for thesis writing and academic research. In addition, she met many German-major peers during this contest, all of whom received good academic training and were enthusiastic about the academy. They made progress together by competing on the same stage. Through the exchange of ideas, Ou Ling gained greater inspiration than pondering over literary works alone.
In this competition, Dr Bo Yidi from the German Department also won the Outstanding Instructor Award. When mentioning her instructor, Ou Ling gratefully said, "Ms. Bo accompanied me to revise my essay over and over again, and she gave me many valuable suggestions." Ou Ling was also grateful for the academic guidance from other teachers from the German Department by saying, "When I recall my four academic years in the university, I would not have achieved what I have today without the academic guidance of the teachers in the German Department. So I would like to thank all of them sincerely.” Meanwhile, may other German-major students take Ou Ling as an example and work hard to improve their academic competence, so as to shine in different fields.
