SVEN AARNE SERRANO: Lunghwa Civil Assembly Centre as a Literary Monument

Lunghwa C.A.C. (1943-1945) was a single island in a long, world-wide archipelago of WWII era camps and detention centers for civilians and military prisoners.  It is best known to the English-speaking world as the wartime home for young Jim, the lead character of J.G.Ballard's Empire of the Sun, the novel and later Hollywood film produced by Steven Spielberg. Sven Serrano, a teacher at Shanghai High School Intl. Division, the working school which occupies the site of Lunghwa C.A.C. today will speak on the historical and literary legacy of the camp and present a narrative that separates fact from fiction.

Sven Aarne Serrano Faculty, History Dept at Shanghai High School International Division, b. 1958, San Diego, California. The perfect Shanghailander, dual national Sven is married to a local Xuhui girl, and works at SHSID, the former site of the WWII Lunghwa Civil Assembly Center. He moved to Shanghai in 2008 after working for 17 years in Osaka, Japan where he taught English at Kindai University.  Sven is now developing a phone app project that will meld old photographs of Shanghai Middle School and their current views so future visitors to the campus can easily access the past.

Betty was born in Shanghai in 1933.  She was interned with her family in Lunghwa Civil Assembly Centre 1943-1945 and attended the Shanghai American School 1946-1949.  She graduated from Wellesley College in 1954 and obtained her PhD from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow in 2008.  In between, she was a teacher in Scotland, Hong Kong and Shanghai.  In 2002 Shanghai Boy Shanghai Girl, a memoir co-authored with her husband, George Wang, was published by the Old China Hand Press.  Since then they have written three more books and a revised version of SBSG was published in November, 2011.

by George Wang and Betty Barr

This book includes chapters about the camp and also drawings and a sketch map.  The book can be purchased from: The Old China Hand Reading Room at 27 Shaoxing Lu, off Shaanxi Nan Lu.

RSVP: to RAS Bookings at: bookings@royalasiaticsociety.org.cn

ENTRANCE:  80 rmb (RAS members) and 130 rmb (non-members).   

Includes one drink: 150ml glass of red or white wine/draft beer/soft drink/ tea or coffee. Those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption. 

MEMBERSHIP applications and membership renewals will be available at this event.

RAS MONOGRAPHS - Series 1 & 2 will be available for sale at this event. 100 rmb each (cash sale only)

WEBSITE:  www.royalasiaticsociety.org.cn