CCChina

Communication Culture China

Who has not come across the recent “China maxxing” trend on social media, where influencers praise the healing virtues of traditional Chinese medicine, showcase the latest Adidas tracksuits inspired by the Tang dynasty, all set to “Blueprint Supreme”, the viral track by Cantonese rapper SKAI ISYOURGOD? Add to this the global success of Labubu plush toys, the video game Black Myth: Wukong, and TikTok. Yet how much do we really know about contemporary Chinese popular culture beyond the imagery of “Cool China” or the static representations inherited from European Orientalism?

When a French television host asks a panel of guests to “name three living Chinese people”, no one is able to answer. This anecdote illustrates a striking paradox: Chinese cultural productions now circulate on a global scale, yet the contexts in which they are created, the meanings they convey, and the people behind them remain largely unknown. While the social sciences have devoted considerable attention to China’s political and economic transformations, they have long given a more marginal place to the study of its popular cultures, media, and cultural industries. This seminar seeks to address that gap by highlighting recent scholarship and innovative research on contemporary Chinese worlds.

The Communication, Culture, China (CCChina) research seminar was created out of a desire to deepen our understanding of contemporary China through the study of its cultural and media productions. Each session will feature a specialist of China who will present their research, followed by an in-depth discussion and a Q&A with the audience, conducted in English. The seminar is open to students and researchers in the social sciences, with no prior knowledge of China or Mandarin required.