We are delighted to launch a new monograph, Queer Comrades: Gay Identity and Tongzhi Activism in Postsocialist China, by Dr Hongwei Bao (University of Nottingham), on Friday 18 May 2018.

To celebrate the launch Dr Bao will be joined by Dr Lukasz Szulc(London School of Economics) and Dr Jing Zhao (University of Warwick), who will discuss his book in the context of their own work on sexuality.

The event promises a fascinating look at a queer culture in China, and would be of particular interest to scholars of cultural translation, international and global sexualities, and queer media.

About the book:

This very timely, well-written and insightful exploration of gay identity and queer activism in the People’s Republic of China today is more than a study of ‘queer China’ through the lens of male homosexuality; it also examines identity, power and governmentality in contemporary China, as shaped by China’s historical conditions and contemporary situations. This book offers in-depth analysis of recent queer history and contemporary cultural texts, including the processes by which queer theory and activism was introduced and received in the PRC, the transformation of Shanghai’s queer spaces, leading queer filmmaker Cui Zi’en life and works, and personal diaries written by gay men receiving conversion therapies. It also presents rich ethnographic data gained from fieldwork conducted in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou’s urban gay communities and documents queer public cultural events such as the Shanghai LGBT Pride, the Beijing Queer Film Festival, the China Queer Film Festival Tour, as well as a clash between cruising gay men and the police over the use of public space in the People’s Park, Guangzhou.

This book offers a queer Marxist analysis of sexual identity and social movements in contemporary China, where ideological negotiations between socialism and neoliberalism are constantly played out in the formation of public cultures and intimate spheres. In doing so, it critically assesses the role of Marxism and China’s socialist legacies in shaping sexual identity, queer popular culture and political activism. Although the first of its kind from a cultural studies perspective, this interdisciplinary study speaks to scholars working in disparate fields including anthropology, sociology, media studies, film studies, political theory, and Asian Studies.

About the author:

Dr Hongwei Bao is Assistant Professor in Media Studies at the University of Nottingham. He is co-director of the Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies (CEACS) and member of the Institute for Screen Industries Research (ISIR) and Centre for Critical Theory (CCI) at Nottingham. Prior to Nottingham he has taught at Nottingham Trent University, University of Potsdam, University of Sydney, and the National Academy of Chinese Theatrical Arts, Beijing. He obtained his PhD in Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney in 2011. His research primarily focuses on gay identity and queer activism, independent documentaries and alternative media productions in contemporary China. He is the author of Queer Comrades: Gay Identity and Tongzhi Activism in Postsocialist China (2018) and co-editor of Queer/Tongzhi China: Perspectives into Research, Activism and Media Cultures (2015).

About the discussants:

Dr Lukasz Szulc (PhD, University of Antwerp) is Marie Curie Individual Fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and co-chair of LGBTQ Interest Group in International Communication Association. His interests include cultural and critical studies of media in relation to identity, sexuality, nationalism and transnationalism. He is author of the book Transnational Homosexuals in Communist Poland: Cross-Border Flows in Gay and Lesbian Magazines (2018, Palgrave) and co-editor of the collection LGBTQs, Media and Culture in Europe(2017, Routledge). He has published articles in journals such as New Media & Society, Social Media + Society and International Journal of Communication. He tweets from @LukaszSzulc.

Dr. Jamie J. ZHAO is a queer China scholar. Her work examines queer-natured Chinese entertainment media, grassroots public, and fan cultures. She holds a PhD in Gender Studies from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and is currently pursuing a second PhD in Film and TV Studies at the University of Warwick.