China’s Propaganda System–cfp

Call for Papers: China’s Propaganda System: Legacies and Enduring Themes
Conference date: 30th June – 1st of July 2016.
Location: University of Kent, United Kingdom

Purpose of the conference:

Propaganda has always been integral to the post-1949 Chinese state. Following the success of the Revolution, the Communist Party of China rapidly took control of all forms of media with the aim of utilising them to further its ambition of creating a new society. The aim of this conference is to investigate both the rationale and implementation of the various forms of propaganda in the Chinese state. We are keen to explore the historical development of propaganda within the People’s Republic. To this end we wish to investigate the way in which media and institutions were used to further ideological objectives and convince the populous of the benefits of the new society that the Party were determined to construct. We are particularly keen to encourage a multidisciplinary approach. Therefore, we would welcome a diversity of perspectives from different areas of historical research that share a link with the development of propaganda; for example, art history, photography or film studies. Consequently, topics may include, but are not limited, to the following:

  • The influence of pre-1949 Chinese society on the development of Communist propaganda.
  • The development of propaganda systems and institutions within the state following the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.
  • Media representations of the early stages of the Mao era, 1949-1965.
  • Media representations of the later stages of the Mao era, 1965-1976.
  • The nature of propaganda and its ability to articulate the requirements of the state to its citizenry.
  • Theories of nationalism and social development and their translation into propaganda.
  • International responses to Chinese communist propaganda.
  • Post-Mao era developments in propaganda.

Keynote speakers include Professor Chris Berry, specialist in Chinese cinema, and Yang Pei Ming, curator of the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre.

Doctoral students as well as established scholars are invited to submit an abstract of a maximum 300 words as well as a short CV by the 29th of February 2016. Papers are expected to be maximum 20 minutes in length.

Please address proposals and questions to James Farley, jf312@kent.ac.uk. Please include your name, contact details and institutional affiliation.

This is a repost from Ohio State's MCLC.  Click here to see the original post.

Call for proposalsEric Couillard