Cultural Studies Monthly Call for Papers
Thinking Queer in Asian Cinema
Deadline: Oct 1, 2006
Guest Editor: Chia-chi Wu
As Brokeback Mountain revamps the iconography of one of the oldest
American genres and scores box-office triumphs worldwide as an “art gay
cowboy film”, contemporary filmmakers in Asia have also seemed to explore
uncharted queer themes and redraw the art cinema/mainstream production
divide. To name just a few examples, The King and the Clown (Lee Jun-ik,
2005), an explicit gay-themed film set in pre-modern times, is said to be
one of the highest grossing films in South Korea. Beautiful Boxer
(Thailand, Ekachai Uekrongtham, 2003) and Splendid Afloat (Taiwan, Zero
Chou, 2004) feature male protagonists with transvestite tendencies but
engaging in professions of which macho-masculinity is considered as a
quintessential constituent. Moreover, Butterfly (Hong Kong, Yan Yan Mak,
2004) and The Intimates (Jacob Cheung, 1997) have exhibited, in strictly
and legitimately female homoerotic terms, visible female-female sexuality
that is probably unprecedented in Chinese language commercial productions.
For its November 2006 issue, Cultural Studies Monthly is inviting essays
or critical reviews on Asian films that evince various degrees and a wide
range of queer sensibilities. The issue welcomes contributions (in English
or Chinese) on related topics, but is not confined to the follows:
* new theoretical or conceptual frameworks in understanding queer
emotions or desire in Asian cinema; or questions raised by Asian cinema
for queer theory or practice
* queer subjectivities crisscrossed with other axes of identity
formation or in relation to other structures of oppression, such as
gender, class, race or ethnicity, age, etc..
* the figuring of nationality, transnationality or globality in
queer culture
* films that point to the ties between pre-modern queer traditions
to contemporary eroticism
* queer and space, or “queerscape” as molded by peculiar cinematic
visuality or stylistics
* survey of any local or international g/l/q film festival, either
located in Asia or boasting a strong showcase of Asian queer films
* camp aesthetics
* films resonating with activism, public opinion or other social
discourses on queer subjects
Cultural Studies Monthly
(http://www.cc.ncu.edu.tw/~csa/journal/56/park_56.htm) is an online
journal launched by CSA Taiwan (Cultural Studies Taiwan). It is a non-
referential, non-peer-reviewed publication. Both English and Chinese
submissions are welcome. Strong English submissions will also, upon the
author’s approval, be submitted to Film Appreciation (dianying xinshang
published by Taipei Film Archive, its peer-reviewed film paper section)
for its potential publication in Chinese translation.
Please send submissions to
Chia-chi Wu
[log in to unmask]
(Assistant Professor, Department of English
University of National Taiwan Normal University)
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