Feminist Sinologies Interdisciplinary Conference October 5-7

This conference invites papers that think about the production of knowledge made possible by the synergies between feminist theory and sinology. “Feminist Sinologies” should be taken to be more conceptually and topically expansive than the study of Chinese women, past and present.

It is our aim to bring together theoretically rich and well- historicized papers across many disciplines in the humanities that develop meaningful linkages between theories in feminism today (such as intersectionality, recessive action theory, female masculinity, ecofeminism, reflexivity/positionality, queer theory, queer assemblage queer temporality, disability studies, postcolonialism, lyric theory, Marxist historicism, and affect theory, just to name a few) and oft-explored topics in sinological studies (such as Chinese modernism/modernity, translingual and translation praxis, (Neo)Confucianism, (Neo)Buddhism and the West, nationalism and visual culture, Chinese-Jesuit print culture, Chinese diaspora and coolie culture, human rights discourse, performative Chineseness, socialism and democracy, positivism and international law, financescapes, ecoscapes, and the global economy—-also just to compile a short list.

The panel seeks papers working with all historical periods. Papers might situate the conjunction of feminism and sinology in the context of contemporary geopolitical issues; compare and contrast a “feminism-studies” approach and a sinological studies approach to a certain text or work of art; or close-read a particular event that (it will be argued) can no longer be understood without a feminist-sinological framework.
An interdisciplinary committee will be formed to select the papers. Announcements for the selection will be posted June 31, 2012 by email. Participants must be prepared to submit un-committed work.

Those interested are invited to send a 250-word proposal describing the nature of the project and its relevance to the central concept of “Feminist Sinologies” to Nan Z. Da (nda@umich.edu) by June 1, 2012. The conference will be held October 5-7, 2012 at the University of Michigan.

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• ethnicity_and_national_identity
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• postcolonial
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Jacqueline Nivard

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