Call for Presenters: Panel on “Feminism, Technologies, and Transmediality in Postsocialist China”
54th Annual Conference of the SouthWest Conference on Asian Studies (SWCAS), 2025
We invite proposals for our panel titled “Feminism, Technologies, and Transmediality in Postsocialist China,” to be presented at the upcoming 54th Annual SWCAS Conference. The panel currently includes two presenters and is seeking two additional presenters and one discussant to join the conversation.
After the end of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese feminism experienced a revival as a new generation of female intellectuals, writers, artists, and digital media users emerged to reflect on their newly acquired identities during the transitional period from a state-established revolutionary era to a postsocialist, neoliberal-oriented one shaped by shifting political and economic conditions. Accompanying this new wave of female artistic production and social intervention were China’s rapid globalization, advances in science and technology, and the emergence of diverse media forms and practices.
By examining how female artists and intellectuals negotiate their social roles within this evolving ecology of productive relations, technological developments, and global media industries, this panel explores the dynamic intersections of feminist expression, technological influence and critique, and transmedial practices in Chinese media since the postsocialist transition. We welcome proposals that examine:
- Shifts in feminist discourse and representation across visual, literary, or digital texts
- The impact of technologies on gendered subjectivities, labor, and activism, or critical reflections on technological mediation
- The movement of feminist ideas across media forms and platforms—from poetry, film, television, and theater to social media, games, or fan fiction
- Transmedial storytelling, intertextuality, or platform-based transformations in Chinese cultural production
- Issues related to translation, migration, and transnational encounters among multiple cultures in the age of globalization
The panel aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue, drawing from media studies, feminist theory, cultural studies, and Chinese studies.
Please send a brief abstract (150–250 words) and a short bio (including affiliation and contact information) to Xiaohan Hou (x.hou@wustl.edu) and Chenfeng Wang (chw058@ucsd.edu) by May 30, 2025.
Feel free to reach out with any questions.
Conference Information:
The SWCAS 54th Annual Conference (Theme: Pasts and Futures: Rethinking Asian Studies in the New Global Landscape) will be held November 7–9, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas, USA. For more information, please visit:
https://www.swcas.net/
Posted by: Xiaohan Hou x.hou@wustl.edu