Micro-narratives in Contemporary Chinese Art: A Case Study of Cao Fei's Pearl River Delta Anti-heroes

This paper investigates the representation of micro-narratives in contemporary Chinese art by examining the multi-layered narratives in Cao Fei's Pearl River Delta Anti-heroes performed at the opening of the 2^nd Guangzhou Triennial in 2005. I consider Cao's work as a hyper-realistic portrayal of the micro-narratives of the Pearl River Delta region in a mediated form highly influenced by the media, entertainment industry and popular culture of the region and Hong Kong. Theatricality, kitsch and the distinctive local essence of South China are revealed in the form of a TV soap opera and the use of colloquial Cantonese throughout the performance, along with occasional Putonghua or Mandarin. Language as a signifier of cultural politics has been deployed as an indispensable tool to empower the region within the broader body politic of the People's Republic of China.     

Securitising HIV/AIDS in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

For the People's Republic of China, the localised HIV/AIDS epidemics in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are emerging as threats to those persons affected by the disease, but also to the stability of Xinjiang. This article examines the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Xinjiang and considers the impacts it may have on human and political security. The authors argue that due to its remote location and the religious, cultural and ethnic diversity of its population, and current political situation, Xinjiang poses difficult obstacles to effective programs in tackling HIV/AIDS, and the pandemic has disproportionately affected the minority nationalities in the region compared to their Han counterparts. If the HIV/AIDS pandemic among minority nationalities in Xinjiang continues to grow, it has the potential to further weaken social cohesion there, as well as Uyghur human security. Therefore, a HIV/AIDS pandemic in Xinjiang could tip the balance in terms of ethnic and regional stability.     

从城市到乡村——中国特色革命道路的开辟及意义

中国共产党在成立28年后就夺取了全国政权,总结起来原因很多,但最根本的一条就是成功开辟了中国特色革命道路。时至今日,中国共产党在全国执政已60余年,经过较长时间的历史积淀,加之各种资料的陆续刊布,都为更清晰地认识中国特色革命道路的形成和发展提供了条件,而加强这方面的研究,于学术和现实皆有意义。     

中国绅士化研究的本土实践：特征、议题与展望

针对新世纪以来我国绅士化实证研究文献,系统回顾与整理其特征与议题,有以下发现：①我国绅士化实证研究逐渐被关注并重视,案例地区主要聚焦长三角和珠三角地区,并扩展到东北及西部重要省会城市和旅游景区等;研究机构则主要集中在南京、广州、上海、北京等主要中心城市;②研究内容涉及多类绅士化现象、绅士化与公共政策、绅士化群体与文化驱动、绅士化与多种城市现象、绅士化的公平正义与社会影响以及教育驱动的绅士化等六大议题;③在与国际接轨的同时,研究注重与中国语境和特殊制度及城市现象的结合,逐渐形成“本土化”特色,但仍存在“有广度,轻深度”的问题。随着我国学界对绅士化议题关注热度逐渐升温,期望中国绅士化研究能瞄准国际前沿与国内需求,构建属于中国语境的理论框架与话语体系。     

‘Confusion,Heaven and Honour’: Being Chinese in South Africa

Abstract

This review article investigates the state and development of overseas Chinese studies, in both its global and South African context. It points to the common difficulties related to research in this field and indicates how these have been addressed. It argues that only since the latter half of the twentieth century, both the reading population and publishers in South Africa, have become more receptive to the voice of the ‘other’. While comparatively little work has been published on the Chinese in South Africa, the three major works that have appeared reflect on a little known but integral part of our multicultural society. A brief outline of the range of work done on this topic provides the context for a closer assessment of the most recently published sociological study.     

National legitimacy and overseas Chinese mobilization

This paper examines the Chinese Nationalists’ overseas Chinese policies during the early War of Resistance and the early Cold War. The strategies, organizations and problems of huaqiao mobilization during the Anti-Japanese War set patterns for Cold War anti-Communist efforts. In both struggles, the Nationalists emphasized that they represented China's legitimate government and that support from overseas Chinese was part of a crusade dating back to Sun Yat-sen, the father of the nation. As mothers of the revolution, huaqiao were to remain loyal to Sun's legacy by backing Chiang. Southeast Asia, home to the majority of overseas Chinese, became the focus of Nationalist attention and is the most appropriate arena to examine the vicissitudes of huaqiao policies. Obstacles to huaqiao mobilization did not simply result from Japanese, then Communist, machinations. The Nationalists encountered difficulties due to overseas Chinese apathy and disunity. Further, the complex political environment of Southeast Asia, before and after decolonization, stymied mobilization. Nevertheless, after each military defeat, whether at the hands of the Japanese or the Communists, huaqiao support became more important, not for the material benefits they offered, but for the legitimacy they conferred.     

Studies of Chiang Kai‐shek by mainland scholars since the 1980s

Chiang Kai‐shek was one of the most influential leaders of twentieth‐century China. Since the 1980s, perceptions of Chiang in mainland academic circles have been continually sharpened. As an important subject of research for the history of modern China, Chiang has increasingly emerged from the shadows as a real figure. The extent to which scholars can make an in‐depth, objective and comprehensive study of Chiang will have a direct relationship to the progress made in the study of the history of the Republic of China, the Chinese revolution, and modern and contemporary China. It will also determine the depth of our understanding of many important issues both past and present. Armed with a broader knowledge of Chiang and modern Chinese history, scholars and historians now face the larger challenge of setting the new image of Chiang in the context of the development of modern China.     

Intellectual preparedness: Dr. Hu Shih,Lake Forest College,and Chinese diplomacy during World War II

The summer of 1941 was a critical juncture in WWII history. As the war intensified and threatened the security of the United States, the American people were sharply divided into two opposing political camps, one sympathetic to interventionism and the other in favor of isolationism. Frightened by the recent memory of WWI and the reality of a worldwide economic depression, many Americans believed that their country should separate itself from troubling events in the world, thereby refuting President Roosevelt’s call for America to intervene against Hitler’s aggression in Europe and Japan’s atrocities in Asia. Against this historical background, Dr. Hu Shih, Chinese ambassador to the United States, came to Lake Forest in Illinois, the center of the isolationist movement, in the summer of 1941 to deliver a speech at Lake Forest College’s Sixty-Third Annual Commencement. This article uses various archives to reveal an untold story about Dr. Hu’s speech-diplomacy during his ambassadorial career. Tied to this event was a drama conveyed via multiple layers of historical accounts and contextualized by a series of political discourses ranging from the rise of isolationism in America to China’s use of soft-power diplomacy in the international arena, in which Dr. Hu played a significant role.     

Expanding the discursive domain of research on the New Culture Movement: An incomplete review of studies on the New Culture Movement

ABSTRACT

The discussions revolving around the common subject of the New Culture Movement have experienced a complex and convoluted history, with a discursive domain ranging from the differentiation of new and old culture, to appeals for a scientific and democratic enlightenment, to the balancing of the cultural relationship between China and the West. The New Culture tends to be regarded as development in the direction of increasing rationality, liberality, and inclusiveness, in which the pursuit of an understanding between the Chinese and Western cultures is the only path by which Chinese civilization may gain future opportunities and development.