LUCC News, April 2024
The April 2024 edition of LUCC's newsletter is out.
You can receive our newsletter via the mailing list - just send an email to china.centre@lancaster.ac.uk
The year is in full swing as we race towards Dragon Boat Festival (10th June), which commemorates the Chu state minister Qu Yuan, who is celebrated by many in China as a patriot, and a loyal minister who spoke truth to power. See below for details of this year’s annual Confucius Institute dragon boat race, which is this Saturday, 27 April at Liverpool docks.
Summer term kicked off last week with Columbia University’s Paul Kreitman discussing the fascinating intersection of environmental conservation and the East China Sea dispute (above). The seminar series continues on May 28 with Dr. Yingnian Tao delving into the ubiquitous phenomenon of interruptions on BBC HARDtalk by comparing interruptions of two very different Chinese guests. Then on 4 June, LUCC Visiting Scholar Xiaodan Qiu will share her work on the role of Chinese literature in revolutionizing Confucianism. Both events have lunch provided, so please RSVP to china.centre@lancaster.ac.ukif you’re coming.
Read on for the latest from LUCC’s people, new research and public engagement.
Research Seminars
28 May 2024
"I have not finished!" Understanding perceived Western media's bias against China through interruption in BBC HARDtalk interviews
Dr Yingnian Tao
(Lancaster University)
Time: 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Place: COS-County South B59
Refreshments provided.
Please register to: china.centre@lancaster.ac.uk
4 June 2024
Literature revolutionizing Confucianism: the birth of modern Chinese literature
Dr. Xiaodan Qiu
(Zhejiang University of Technology)
Time: 1:00pm to 2:30pm
Place: COS-County South B89
Refreshments provided.
Please register to: china.centre@lancaster.ac.uk
Interdisciplinary Roundtable
Sino-Foreign Research Collaboration: Navigating the Security Minefield
Time: Summer 2024
Place: TBA - register interest at china.centre@lancaster.ac.uk
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People
LUCC is delighted to welcome Dr. Xiaodan QIU join us as a new LUCC visiting scholar, and to welcome back Dr. Peter SEWELL as a Fellow.
Xiaodan QIU
Dr Xiaodan Qiu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chinese Language & Literature at Zhejiang University of Technology, China. As a Visiting Scholar from 2024 to 2025, Xiaodan is examining Confucianism and the transformation of modern Chinese literature, with a focus on consanguinity.
Peter SEWELL
Dr Sewell is a Careers Coach (Consultancy) in the Lancaster University Management School. An expert on graduate Employability and Entrepreneurship education known for the CareerEDGE model of Graduate Employability, Peter has worked with individuals, organizations and businesses across China and elsewhere in the world.
Profiles of all LUCC’s fellows are available at our People page.
New Research
The digitalization of family life: A multilevel conceptual framework- Yang Hu
The internet and digital technologies have penetrated all domains of people’s lives, and family life is no exception. Despite being a characterizing feature of contemporary family change, the digitalization of family life has yet to be systematically theorized. Against this backdrop, this article develops a multilevel conceptual framework for understanding the digitalization of family life and illustrates the framework by synthesizing state-of-the-art research from multiple disciplines across global contexts. At a micro level, as individuals “do” family online, digitalization influences diverse aspects of family practices, including family formation, functioning, and contact. How individuals “do” family online is not free-floating but embedded in macro-level economic, sociocultural, and political systems underpinning processes of digitalization. Bridging the micro–macro divide, family-focused online communities serve as a pivotal intermediary at the meso level, where people display family life to, and exchange family-related support with, mostly nonfamily members. Meso-level online communities are key sites for forming and diffusing collective identities and shared family norms. Bringing together the three levels, the framework also considers cross-level interrelations to develop a holistic digital ecology of family life. The article concludes by discussing the contributions of the framework to understanding family change and advancing family scholarship in the digital age.
Regional partnerships and media policy in the age of China’s rise: the case of Singapore-China film co-productions
- Siao Yuong Feng (Rong)
Despite being the first Asian country (except for Hong Kong) to sign a film co-production agreement with China, Singapore’s film co-productions with China so far are few and far between, none of which have come under the official agreement. This raises wider questions about the policy making challenges of small nations when driving or facilitating regional collaborations with partners like China. Drawing on interviews with key interlocutors in the Singapore film industry, this article explores how Singapore’s filmmakers make sense of working with the Chinese film industry as collaborators and co-producers on joint film productions. Our main argument is that conventional models for understanding drivers of co-productions may not work for small partners collaborating with a dominant regional/global partner like China. Through exploring the political, economic, and cultural tensions in the Asia-Pacific region that emerge when Singapore engages in collaborative film work with China, we hope to contribute to the wider literature on ‘South-South’ collaborations between film industries (and nations) of vastly different sizes and power.
The geopolitics of queer archives:
Contested Chineseness and queer Sinophone affiliations between Hong Kong and Taiwan - Eva Li
Hong Kong and Taiwan, two Sinophone societies peripheral to continental China, have divergent colonial pasts and distinct cultures. Yet, their fates have been increasingly intertwined since the rise of China in the global economy. We propose the geopolitics of queer archives to trace minor–minor exchanges of queer knowledge and activism that are neither officially recognized by the state nor mapped into mainstream discussions of international relations. Through a conjunctural analysis of queer scholarship in Hong Kong and Taiwan since the 1980s, we contest the notion of Chineseness in shaping the knowledge of queer sexualities and argue that a wholesale recycling of postcolonial critique on these two societies’ resistance to China risk reproducing US-centrism.
Political healing in East Asian international relations:
what, why and how - Astrid Nordin
The opening article of this collection serves as an invitation to academics and practitioners of international relations to rethink and transform, not merely observe and contain, long-standing conflicts in East Asia and beyond. Traditionally such conflicts, and the violence that has emerged around them, have been understood through the lens of dichotomous frameworks associated with Westphalian modernity. We need alternative paradigms in East Asian political discourse to think and do differently. Here, we contribute to this effort by examining how East Asian medical thought and practice can facilitate political healing in the region. The use of medical analogies and metaphors is not uncommon in academic and policy discussions, and our approach underscores terminologies and thought processes that resonate with many in the region. East Asian medicine (EAM) is rooted in Daoist yin/yang dialectics and the concept of qi, both of which stress attention to balance, ontological parity and inter-connectedness. It offers inspiration for a creative analytical approach, metaphorical imagination and normative inspiration to diagnose ongoing confrontations. Despite apparent divisions, we propose that ongoing conflicts can be treated as ailments afflicting a shared political body.
Cognition, willingness, and behavior towards human papillomavirus vaccination in Chinese university students
- Aiqing Wang
This study assessed Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination knowledge, willingness, and status among University of Nottingham Ningbo undergraduate students, utilizing the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Health Belief Model (HBM). Self-administered questionnaires covered demographics, sexual behavior, and factors influencing vaccination intentions. Quantitative and qualitative analyses included t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, logistic regression, and linear regression. Of 373 surveyed students, the HPV vaccination rate was notably higher than in previous studies (45.84%). While participants demonstrated good HPV knowledge, male students were less aware. Intentions to vaccinate were high, influenced by gender, profession, parental education, family/friend cancer history, and health status. The study confirmed TPB and HBM’s efficacy in predicting vaccination intentions, enhancing media-related aspects and perceived barriers. Gender differences in HPV information exposure, media use, and representations were identified, offering insights for optimized health communication strategies.
From Ancient Zhiguai Tales to Contemporary Animation: A Study of Visual Rhetoric in ‘Yao-Chinese Folktales’
- Aiqing Wang
This study delves into the use of visual rhetorical strategies in 中国奇谭Zhongguo Qitan ‘Yao-Chinese Folktales’ (2023), particularly focusing on 鹅鹅鹅 E E E ‘Goose Mountain’ (henceforth ‘Goose’) directed by Hu Rui. We assert that ‘Goose’ transcodes and reinterprets the ancient Chinese zhiguai novella 阳羡书生 Yangxian Shusheng ‘The Scholar from Yangxian’ (henceforth ‘Scholar’) for a contemporary audience through the use of visual rhetoric, leading to a compelling contemporary rendition of this tale. As a silent animation, ‘Goose’ does so by adeptly incorporating visual depictions, especially animal-related imagery and ink painting aesthetics, drawn from the broader traditional zhiguaimyths, or tales of the strange and traditional Chinese culture. The core argument hinges on visual rhetoric’s transformative potential. In ‘Goose’, the connection between tradition and contemporaneity is established through metaphor and metonymy. Initially a literary figure of speech, metaphor and metonymy now encompasses ‘visual rhetoric’, widely applied in interpreting visual arts. Visual rhetoric often employs various elements such as colour, shape, size, objects, composition and texture to convey information. This study highlights the role played by the inseparable link between traditional zhiguai narratives, the minzu/national style, and the contemporary animation technology in ‘Goose’, a transformative role that revitalizes ancient traditions to resonate with today’s viewership.
Outreach & Engagement
Evidence on transnational repression from LUCC director
LUCC Director Andrew Chubb provided evidence to the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on National Security Strategy, arguing for a rights-focused response to issues of transnational repression – cross-border coercion – in the UK. Chubb’s submission built on his proposal for a Transnational Rights Protection Office, outlined in a Foreign Policy Centre article late last year: https://shorturl.at/cgGW0
Andrew Chubb also participated in the International Conference on China and the World at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, discussing the PRC’s overseas political activities and problems with Australia, the UK and US responses to the issues. A recording of the panel on “Measuring China's 'Influence' in International Affairs”, which also features Audrye Wong (University of Southern California), Injoo Sohn (Seoul National University), Enze Han (Hong Kong University) and Elizabeth Perry (Harvard University), can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNmzr1JF7vc
Culture & Community
The annual North-West Confucius Institutes' Dragon Boat Race
Saturday 27 April 2023
Liverpool Waster Sports Centre
If you would be interested in joining the Lancaster University Confucius Institute team as a paddler, please scan the QR code below.