CFP – Journal of Chinese Film Studies
A special issue on
Transborder Flows and Chinese Cinemas
Edited by Chris Berry and Haina Jin
Chinese cinemas have always been characterised by transborder flows, both of foreign films flowing in and Sinophone films flowing out. What foreign films have been popular in Chinese-language territories, with what audiences, when, and why? What Chinese-language films have found audiences overseas, in what places, when, and why? And what forces and practices have shaped those transborder flows and what are the impacts and results of those flows? This special issue of Journal of Chinese Film Studies seeks to spotlight these under-explored topics. We seek proposals for 6,000-8,000 word scholarly articles on aspects of transborder flows and Chinese cinemas.
The persistent dominance of the outdated understanding of both national cinema as films produced in a certain territory and cinema as simply film texts has left transborder flows long neglected. Work such as Andrew Higson’s redefinition of national cinema as films viewed within a certain territory back in 1989 is now combining with research on distribution and exhibition by scholars such as Li Daoxin, Li Jie, Liu Guangyu, and Zhou Chenshu, along with work on transborder flows by scholars such as Huang Xuelei, Su Tao and Fu Yongchun to break the logjam and stimulate greater interest in the character and role of transborder flows in Chinese cinemas.
Examples of potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Transborder flows of film theories and film technologies
- Exhibition of foreign films and the development of local film industries
- How early Sinophone cinema ended up in unexpected places, such as Cave of the Silken Web (Pansidong) in Norway and Love and Duty (Lian’ai yu yiwu) in Uruguay
- Popular reception of films from socialist and non-socialist countries in the People’s Republic of China during the command economy era
- The role of policy in determining Japanese and Hong Kong film imports to Taiwan during the martial law era
- The role of film weeks and film festivals in promoting knowledge of foreign films in Sinophone territories and vice versa
- The role of new media technologies from streaming platforms to Chinese-owned satellite television systems in circulating and promoting Chinese cinemas around the world
- Foreign films as soft power in Sinophone territories, and Sinophone films as soft power overseas
- Fandoms and the role of fansubbing in facilitating the circulation of foreign films in Chinese-language territories and vice versa
- Filmmakers in transborder flows
Important dates
- Deadline for abstracts (300-500 English words, excluding references) along with a short bionote (no more than 150 words): August 31st, 2024
- Abstract decisions: October 31st, 2024
- Submission of full manuscripts (6000-8000 English words): March 31st, 2025
- Resubmission of manuscripts with corrections: July 31st, 2025
- Publication: End of 2025
Contact
Abstracts of this special issue should be sent to the guest editors Chris Berry (chris.berry@kcl.ac.uk) and Haina Jin (jinhaina@cuc.edu.cn) no later than 31st August 2024. Any inquiries should be addressed to the guest editors as well.
About the Editors:
Chris Berry is Professor of Film Studies at King’s College London. In the 1980s, he worked for China Film Import and Export Corporation in Beijing, and his academic research is grounded in work on Chinese-language cinemas and other Chinese-language screen-based media, as well as work from neighbouring countries. Primary publications include China on Screen: Cinema and Nation (co-authored with Mary Farquhar, Columbia University Press, 2006), Chinese Films in Focus (BFI Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) and Chinese Film Festivals: Sites of Translation (co-edited with Luke Robinson, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).
Haina Jin is Professor of Translation, Cinematic and Transcultural Studies at the Communication University of China. She is the co-editor of Journal of Chinese Film Studies (De Gruyter) and the co-editor of Routledge Series in Chinese Cinema. Her representative publications include A History of Translating Chinese Silent Films (Peking University Press, 2013), Chinese Cinemas in Translation and Dissemination (Routledge, 2021), Chinese Film Abroad: Translation and Distribution (co-edited with Yves Gambier, Routledge, 2024).
About the Journal
Journal of Chinese Film Studies (JCFS) is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal which focuses on the history, theory, criticism, practice and industries of Chinese films and provides a platform for cutting-edge academic research and debate. It is committed to advancing interdisciplinary approaches to the analysis of Chinese films and cinematic practices across multiple genres and platforms. The journal seeks original research articles that pursue innovative research directions and methodologies or engage with significant historiographical or interpretive issues of films and cinematic practices from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese diaspora.
The journal is edited by Haizhou Wang and Haina Jin, published by De Gruyter and indexed in Scopus. For more information about the journal and submission issues, please visit its official website at https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/jcfs/jcfs-overview.xml