*********CALL FOR PAPERS********* Comic Visions Special Issue of Modern Chinese Literature and Culture Guest Edited by Nicolai Volland and Christopher Rea

Deadline: February 1, 2008

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for a special issue on "Comic Visions." This special issue begins with the question: how might a history of modern Chinese cultural production be written using laughter as the unifying thread? While recent studies in the field have addressed important themes such as trauma, corruption, violence, and justice, the goal of this issue is to explore how the risible impulse might provide us with new perspectives on Chinese modernity, as well as on the generic boundaries of comedy itself. As such, we welcome papers that focus on various facets of the politics and aesthetics of humor, laughter, and comedy within the wider body of modern Chinese cultural production, including literature, film, performing arts, and the Internet. Is there a comical tradition in modern Chinese literature? If so, at what times has it been written out of the master narrative of Chinese literature, consciously or unconsciously? How have comic practices in film or on the web functioned as catalysts (or obstacles) in China's cultural transformation? And how do comic visions interact with the "obsession with China" and other master narratives of modern Chinese literature and culture? We are interested in historically-grounded papers covering any period(s) from the late Qing to the present that call attention to the need of different generations of Chinese writers, readers, and audiences to laugh at, laugh with, and laugh away the social and political circumstances in which they lived. Authors may wish to pursue, but are by no means limited to, topics such as:

•  Affective responses to Chinese history and modernity: What are the possibilities, limitations, or implications of laughter as a response to historical trauma or the pressures of modern life? How have modes such as farce or parody contributed to the affective spectrum of Chinese cultural modernity?  

•  Generic categories and the cultural status of literature: How do we reconcile the marginal literary status of comic literature (from an elitist, aestheticist perspective) with its often central commercial status? Does a comic tradition force us to redefine notions of high/middle/low-brow literature and art?

•  Translingual and trans-cultural flows of ideas: From Charlie Chaplin to Stephen Chow, how have different modes of humor crossed in and out of China, and what impacts have these exchanges had on language, artistic form, and cultural values?

•  The intellectual history of the comic idea: How have Chinese conceptions of what is funny or laughable changed during the past century? How have polemical debates about laughter shaped (or been shaped by) concerns about ethics, morality, national character, or the purpose of literature?

•  Entertainment and enlightenment: How have Chinese writers, readers, or audiences understood the relationship between comedy and knowledge?   How, when, and to what degree of success has comedy been appropriated for pedagogical or ideological purposes?

All submissions to this special issue will be put through the normal MCLC peer review process. Deadline for submissions is February 1, 2008. For information on format, interested authors should consult the MCLC Submissions Style Guide.

Submissions should be sent to the MCLC editor (one hard copy), at the address below, and either of the guest editors (as an email attachment in Word) at chsvnm@nus.edu.sg or cgr2001@columbia.edu

Nicolai Volland
Department of Chinese
National University of Singapore

Christopher Rea
Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
Columbia University

Kirk A. Denton
Editor, MCLC
398 Hagerty Hall
The Ohio State University
1775 College Rd.
Columbus, OH 43210
USA