Call for Papers: Chinese Television and English-Speaking Audiences
We are seeking proposals for essays about English-speaking audiences for Chinese television, to contribute to a journal special issue, in English, edited by Charlotte Stevens (Birmingham City University, UK), Yingzi Wang (Nanjing Normal University, China) and Kirstie Blair (University of Stirling, UK). We choose to focus on English-speaking audiences in acknowledgement of the use of English as a common tongue across international fandom spaces.
In a pair of workshops, one at Nanjing Normal University (China) and one at University of Stirling (Scotland), scholars will participate in work-in-progress presentations and discussions for potential writing collaborations. The structure and shape of the journal special issue will be formed in these workshops.
- Purpose of the workshops
Along with China’s ‘going out’ strategy implemented since the 2000s, China has been using its media (popular television included) to promote its vision and image to the wider world. With the recent expansion of transnational streaming platforms and infrastructures, a growing number of global audiences have gained access to Chinese TV programs. The hugely popular Chen Qing Ling (The Untamed, 2019; see Wang and Alberto, 2024) is one of many Chinese dramas which have attracted audiences worldwide.
Existing literature has primarily focused on the driving forces of the transnational circulation of Chinese TV dramas (e.g. Zhu, 2008; Zhang, 2022). Seldom do they consider the issue from the perspective of audience reception. These transnational and transcultural (Morimoto, 2018; Ju, 2020) engagements of audiences raise certain questions, such as: how do Chinese serial dramas communicate a sense of Chinese life and culture to foreign audiences? How do fans outside of China understand and adapt aspects of Chinese popular television in their fan practice? What is the entry point for English-speaking fans, both for access and motivation to start watching Chinese TV?
The workshops will therefore focus on furthering our understanding of how Chinese television is consumed by audiences outside of China.
- Examples of research themes for the workshops
We invite papers that investigate the dynamics in the making and shaping of Chinese TV fandom outside of China, particularly among anglophone audiences; we also invite proposals that offer new empirical insights, theorize fan studies and transnational television reception in this context. Potential topics include:
- Audience responses to Chinese television, and/or motivations for watching
- Fandom communities relating to a specific drama and/or actor
- Broader c-drama/c-entertainment fandoms and fan practices
- Genres: fantasy/romance, wuxia, crime, regional development
- Industry analysis of transnational distribution
- Platforms (iQIYI, WeTV, YouTube, Viki, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.)
- Translation practices: fan-subbing practices, machine translation
- Methodological successes and/or challenges in studying transnational/transcultural television and its reception
- Submission Instructions
Please send a 500-word abstract to the emails below by 16 December 2024. To facilitate discussion at the first workshop, we will ask for provisional article drafts (3000 words) two weeks in advance of the meeting for circulation amongst participants. The timeline is as follows:
Early Jan 2025: Acceptances to participants
Jul 2025: First workshop in China, speakers participating in presentations
Feb 2026: Second workshop in Scotland, discussing and developing the essays
Scholars at all levels and based in any part of the world are welcome to submit. We will offer a limited option for online presentations.
- Contact details
Please direct submissions and any questions regarding the workshops to both:
- Charlotte Stevens: Charlotte.Stevens@bcu.ac.uk and
- Yingzi Wang: y.wang2@nnu.edu.cn
References
Ju, H. (2020) Korean TV drama viewership on Netflix: Transcultural affection, romance, and identities. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 13(1), pp. 32-48.
Morimoto, L. (2018) Transnational Media Fan Studies. In: M. A. Click and S. Scott, eds. The Routledge Companion to Media Fandom. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 280-288.
Wang, Y. (C)., and Alberto, M. K. eds. (2024) Catching Chen Qing Ling: The Untamed and Adaptation, Production, and Reception in Transcultural Contexts. United States: Peter Lang.
Zhang, S. (2022). Exploring How Chinese TV Dramas Reach Global Audiences via Viki in the Transnational Flow of TV Content. Journal of Transcultural Communication, 2(1), 69-89.
Zhu, Y. (2008). Transnational circulation of Chinese language television dramas. Global Media and Communication, 4(1), 59-80.