A Critical View on the Name-of-the-Grandfather with Dr. Fu Wai

Asian Provocation

Life rarely turns out the way I plan, but rather its negation. If I could trace back how this interview came about, it would be because I was part of a small reading group on Julia Kristeva’s abjection. During this time, funny enough, I brought up the artist formerly known as Kanye West concerning abjection. This was before October 7, but I was schooled relentlessly by my three white colleagues about my ignorance. This, however, led me to study psychoanalysis and the taboo topic of Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West. Through this fortunate event, I met scholar, psychoanalyst, and artist Dr. Robert K. Beshara, who wrote “A Psychoanalytic Biography of Ye: The Legacy of Unconditional Love.”

Dr. Beshara is the editor of the book *Critical Psychology Praxis - Psychosocial Non-alignment to Modernity / Coloniality.* In this book, Dr. Beshara brought together a range of authors from around the world into dialogue, introducing scholars to the ideas of post-coloniality and the conceptual and historical issues in psychology, as well as anthropology and sociology courses that engage with action research.

Thanks to Dr. Beshara’s introduction, I am excited to share my conversation with Dr. Fu Wai, an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. He is working on establishing courses, curriculum, and materials related to critical psychology in Hong Kong. His research interests include the history of psychology, ancient Chinese philosophy (including the school of names and diplomats), the history of the hypnosis movement in Republican China, and Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis as applied in critical psychology. He founded the Signifier, a hub for young Hong Kong scholars who share ideas in psychoanalysis, contemporary philosophy, and literature. Dr. Fu’s publications are mainly in Chinese and include *City in Oral Stage* (2010), *Taipei/Lotus* (2011), and *300.9 (F99)*—a novel illustrating Lacanian concepts. Dr. Fu Wai is also a committee member of the Hong Kong General Union of School Counseling Professionals, promoting the labor rights of oppressed frontline workers in Hong Kong.

In this discussion, we discuss Lacanian psychoanalysis in Hong Kong, Pepe the Frog and E-Sports.

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