Call for Papers: JEACS 8.1 (2027) special issue: "Contested Cultural Flows: Narrating Chinese Culture in Europe"

2026-05-25

Call for Contributions

Journal of the European Association for Chinese Studies 8.1 (2027)

Special Issue: Contested Cultural Flows: Narrating Chinese Culture in Europe

Guest Editors: Nicoletta Pesaro, Marco Fumian

Since the early 2000s, Chinese cultural enterprises have been encouraged by the authorities to “go global”, not only to boost the economic growth of the budding Chinese “cultural industries”, but also increase the “cultural soft power” of the country turning China into a “cultural powerhouse”.

Xi Jinping, in particular, soon after his appointment as CCP General Secretary, warned about the need to “expand the capacity of the international communication”, so as to “tell China’s stories well, convey China’s voice effectively, and enhance our discourse power internationally”. In this context, Chinese writers and artists were deemed “irreplaceable” in their role of charming foreign audiences by presenting to them the unique views of the Chinese people.

Given these circumstances, this special issue aims to explore what kind of cultural representations, and which specific dynamics of cultural international dissemination, have been promoted within this framework over the last fifteen years (ca. 2011­–2026), focusing on the domains of literature, cinema and the arts. Concentrating on a number of important case studies drawn from European cultural markets, we invite research articles which place emphasis on the interaction between the Chinese official institutions and cultural industries, and/or between Chinese cultural producers and foreign cultural agents operating locally. These interactions will not be treated as monolithic unidirectional movements but as case-specific relations of co-production which may confirm or challenge the official narratives promoted at the central level.

Contributions are welcome to focus on (but not restricted to) the following topics:

  • Conflicting narratives of China: how Chinese/Sinophone writers navigate, resist, adapt or conform with state-sponsored narratives in literature translated into European languages.
  • Cultural heritage as instrument of national identity construction and international diplomacy: the image of the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan through exhibitions of traditional Chinese art in Europe, highlighting the different approach between European and Chinese organizing institutions.
  • Discursive ambiguity in contemporary Chinese cinema: how filmmakers use aesthetic and/or narrative strategies construct narratives that remain intentionally open, fragmented or ambiguous in order to evade direct political confrontation while still preserving spaces for authorial expression and social critique.

Contributors are required to submit an abstract (max. 250 words) for discussion with the guest editors Nicoletta Pesaro (xiaopei@unive.it) and Marco Fumian (mfumian@unior.it) prior to preparing the full article. Further detail on house style and how to submit will be provided to accepted abstracts.

Deadline for abstracts:  June 30, 2026

Notification of abstract acceptance: July 31, 2026

Submission of full articles: November 15, 2026