The main ambition of this call is to examine the strategies mobilized by Chinese cultural actors and to question the role of digital platforms in the attempt to create a cultural contraflow that could gain worldwide recognition. What are the specificities of the Chinese cultural industries and to what extent can they provide an alternative to the contemporary globalized cultural landscape? How do musicians, directors, content producers or game developers navigate their commodified and supervised environment domestically and strengthen their chances of success abroad? To what extent do Chinese cultural platforms take part in the broadcast and the recognition of Chinese popular culture(s) beyond the country’s borders, be it in the West or in other nations of the Global South?

Argument

From the beginning of the 21st century, China has gradually integrated the foreground of the world stage through several symbolic milestones: joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, hosting the Olympic Games in 2008 and the Winter Olympics in 2022, and becoming the world’s second largest economy after the United States. However, the fast-paced development of the Chinese society and its economy hasn’t yet coincided with the recognition of and a strong enthusiasm for its popular culture(s) beyond the country’s borders. Although Chinese cultural industries (music, cinema, animation, video games, etc.) rank among the most developed today and Chinese digital platforms (Douyin 抖音, Douban 豆瓣, Bilibili 哔哩哔哩, Xiaohongshu 小红书, etc.) are attracting users all around the world, the international outreach of Chinese popular culture(s) is still facing shortcomings and contrasts with the massive success of cultural exports by its neighbors: South Korea and Japan.

Many hypotheses may explain such tardiness in the recognition of Chinese popular culture(s) abroad and, given the global impact of the technological, economical and social evolutions happening in 21st century China, cultural productions and their dissemination appear as an original and meaningful window to analyze the increasingly important role played by the country on the international stage. Thus, borrowing from the “going global strategy” (走出去战略) promoted in China during the 2000’s, this call for paper invites to focus on the potential for Chinese popular culture(s) to expand abroad, seduce an international audience and propose innovative contents.

The main ambition of this call is to examine the strategies mobilized by Chinese cultural actors and to question the role of digital platforms in the attempt to create a cultural contraflow that could gain worldwide recognition. What are the specificities of the Chinese cultural industries and to what extent can they provide an alternative to the contemporary globalized cultural landscape? How do musicians, directors, content producers or game developers navigate their commodified and supervised environment domestically and strengthen their chances of success abroad? To what extent do Chinese cultural platforms take part in the broadcast and the recognition of Chinese popular culture(s) beyond the country’s borders, be it in the West or in other nations of the Global South?

We call for papers that engage in qualitative or quantitative analyses examining Chinese cultural industries and the export of Chinese popular culture(s), whether focusing on their successes, shortcomings or failures. Papers might address this topic from a range of methodological and theoretical perspectives, including (but not limited to) content analyses, comparative studies, public opinion survey, social media analyses and ethnography. To narrow the scope of our analysis and provide a concrete contribution to the existing literature, this call focuses exclusively on the past decade (2014 – 2024) and on three cultural domains: popular music, audiovisual productions and video games. Developed in partnership with the International Research Network “South Stream” (CNRS, France), the call will grant a specific attention to proposals that integrate a reflection on the role played by Chinese cultural platforms in the export of Chinese popular culture(s).

Topics

Contributions for the workshop and the following special issue can revolve around (but are not limited to) these topics:

• Successes and failures of Chinese popular culture(s) exports in the 21st century
• Chinese popular artists’ expectations and limitations to “make it abroad”
• Chinese cultural platforms’ activities outside of China
• The export of Chinese popular culture(s) in non-western countries
• Identity, nationalism and alternative narratives in Chinese cultural exports
• Chinese government’s support for culture and exportation strategies
• Uses and perspectives for AI in the export of Chinese cultural productions
• Chinese musicians, music streaming platforms and labels’ activities abroad
• Chinese music industry’s collaborations with foreign music actors
• Chinese cinema and its reception abroad: discourses, audience and award ceremonies
• Chinese TV series and their (non-)reception in the West
• The innovations of the Chinese gaming industry: identity, narratives and gameplays
• The role of “transnational conveyers”: bicultural artists and the Chinese diaspora

After an anonymous peer-reviewed process, authors of the selected contributions will be invited to propose a full-length article that will be published in a 2025 special issue of the journal Global Media And China (GMAC). We welcome contributions from young researchers and confirmed scholars based in China and around the world. This international publication project is supported by the Communication University of China (Beijing), the IRN SOUTH-STREAM (CNRS, France) and the LabEx ICCA (Paris 13 University, France).

Guest editor

Dr. Grégoire Bienvenu (Sorbonne Nouvelle University)

Submission guidelines

Abstracts shouldn’t be more than 1,000 words in length, detailing the purpose, methods, and main points of research. The author must also propose up to six keywords and a short bibliography is very welcomed. The abstracts should be submitted to Dr Grégoire Bienvenu by email at gregoire.bienvenu@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr.

The deadline for submitting abstracts is September 15, 2024.

• Submission of extended abstracts: September 15, 2024
• Notification of abstracts acceptance: October 25, 2024
• Submission of full papers: December 15, 2024
• Journal special issue: summer 2025

Language : English

Review process

The journal’s policy is to have manuscripts reviewed by two expert reviewers. Global Media and China utilizes a double-anonymize peer review process in which the reviewer and author’s names and information are withheld from the other. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, while maintaining rigor. Reviewers make comments to the author and recommendations to the Executive Editors who then makes the final decision

Following peer-review, a selection of authors will be invited to submit a full paper in accordance with the journal’s ‘Instructions for Authors.’ Please note acceptance of the abstract does not guarantee publication, given that all papers will be put through the journal’s peer review process. Please refer to the full submission guidelines available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/GCH