Keywords in Contemporary China” Collaborative Writing Workshop II

2026-10-08 - 2026-10-08

Event Title

“Keywords in Contemporary China” Collaborative Writing Workshop II

Date

August 28–29, 2026

Venue

L522, Museum of Literature, Tamkang University

Format

In-person

Organizers

Contemporary China Research Project, International Center for Cultural Studies, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University; Department of Chinese Literature, Tamkang University

Abstract

The “Keywords in Contemporary China” Collaborative Writing Workshop approaches “keywords” as a research method for understanding contemporary China. Rather than simply collecting popular expressions or cataloguing cultural phenomena, the workshop focuses on the two mutually constitutive concepts of “China” and “the contemporary.” Through a series of keywords, it seeks to trace the historical experiences, institutional characteristics, affective structures, and cultural imaginaries that shape contemporary China.

In terms of historical periodization, we take 1949 and the period from 1978 to 2000 as two important historical starting points for understanding contemporary China. At the same time, we treat “China” itself as a concept that calls for renewed reflection. The aim is not limited to examining the meanings of individual terms; rather, each keyword serves as an entry point into the historical, literary, social, and intellectual contexts through which contemporary China can be understood.

Through collaborative writing and collective discussion, we hope to gradually develop a shared conceptual vocabulary for understanding contemporary China, mapping its complex and multifaceted landscape while creating a body of documentary and research resources for future scholarship.

Moderators

Song Yu-Wen — Assistant Professor, Department of Chinese Literature, National Central University
Tsai Meng-Che — Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute of Gender Studies, National Kaohsiung Normal University
Huang Wen-Chien — Associate Professor, Department of Chinese Literature, Tamkang University
Wang Chih-Ming — Research Fellow, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica; Convener, Contemporary China Research Project

Keynote Speech

Luo Xiao-Ming — Associate Professor and Director, Department of Literary Studies, Shanghai University

 

Event photo

Presenters, listed in order of intervention and Keywords

(click Title to report)

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