The Suspended Thing 

Simon Wu

Harvard University, Massachusetts Hall, Cambridge, MA USA, 02138;

Abstract:The Suspended Thing follows Zhan, a university student in Tibet. As he becomes increasingly drawn to Professor Lin, the supervisor of his graduation script, Zhan is forced to confront unresolved feelings toward his absent mother, Sonam, as well as his own fractured sense of cultural and linguistic belonging. Set between Tibet and Beijing, the story explores how desire, shame, care, and suspicion become entangled within unequal relationships. Through the recurring image of the liquid hourglass, the story reflects on emotional aftermath, and the lingering force of feelings that cannot be fully resolved.

Keywords: Motherhood, Tibetan identity, Emotional suspension

References

[1]Haneke, Michael, dir. The Piano Teacher. Perf. Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Magimel, and Annie Girardot. Canal+, 2001.

[2]Weigel, Moira. “The Piano Teacher: Bad Romances.” The Criterion Collection, 26 Sept. 2017.

[3]Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. New Directions, 1945.