France/China, 60 years on (Queen’s University Belfast, 19-20 March 2024)
France/Chine, 60 ans et au-delà   (Queen’s University Belfast, 19-20 mars 2024) Appel à contributions

The conference aims to explore the cultural, social, historical and political exchanges and frictions between France and China as seen in 2024, the year that marks the 60^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and the People’s Republic of China. France was one of the first major Western powers to recognize the PRC and, for several decades, engaged enthusiastically with bilateral projects in the fields of trade, science, technology, culture and education. However, more recently, the relationship has become strained due to events and situations that have tested the relationship’s foundation of mutual trust and cooperation, whether to do with accusations of industrial, military and political spying, cyber-attacks, fraud and money laundering, or concerning the wielding of soft power through the Chinese ownership of French football clubs, the rights to televise matches and investment in tourism.^[1] Given these tensions, questions about what lies ahead for the relationship, beyond 2024, will also be addressed by the conference, including the role it may play in important global issues, such as the reform of global economic governance, climate change and the management of regional crises. Indeed, at a meeting in February 2023 with the French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna, Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, stated that China wishes ‘to add new momentum to China-Europe relations through China-France cooperation, and to play a constructive role in promoting world peace, stability and equity’.^[2]  

While these macro initiatives on the scale of national politics, economics and science have been controversial and much contested, the micro efforts of individual Chinese-born artists, writers, filmmakers, playwrights and other creators to promote intercultural understanding and dialogue in the French-speaking countries in which they have settled have been wholeheartedly accepted and even lauded. From the unofficial, second wave of immigration, following the political events of the late 1980’s, this continues to be a fruitful and positive means of exchange which has seen the emergence of a young generation of creators using technology and whose intermedial techniques are a variation on the verbal and visual interfaces of their predecessors, such as Gao Xingjian, Dai Sijie and Shan Sa. Alongside these developments, the Chinese language is increasingly being taught in French schools, colleges and universities; more Confucius Institutes and centres of research on Asian cultures have been set up (although not without controversy); additional courses on comparative literature and linguistics featuring France and China are apparent; and new university exchanges are happening. The conference intends to investigate such important cultural manifestations, as well as the geo-political and historical context of the Franco-Chinese relationship, through themes along the following lines:

• History, politics and future of Franco-Chinese relations (from the perspective of culture and knowledge)
• Franco-Chinese associations in a global context (as gateway to Europe/Africa/Asia, conflict, mediation, soft power, growth, human rights)
• Pedagogical and linguistic interfaces (university exchanges, research centres, language teaching, Confucius Institutes, Instituts chinois)
• Literary relationships (novels, essays, poetry, publishing, translation)
• Visual convergences (plastic arts, drama, cinema; reciprocal exhibitions, performances and viewings)
• Intermedial exchanges (bandes dessinées, graphic novels, calligraphy, recompositions, adaptations)
• Media and technology as expression and means of disseminating intercultural experiences (blogs, Tik Tok, social media)

Please send abstracts of 250-300 words for individual papers in English or French to France.China.2024@gmail.com by 5pm on Friday 13 October 2023. Submissions for panels comprising 3 or 4 papers are also welcome. As well as individual abstracts for each paper, these should also be accompanied by a short rationale for the panel.

Organising committee: Dr Jean-Baptiste Bernard (Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia), Dr Shuangyi Li (University of Bristol, UK), Dr Rosalind Silvester (Queen’s University Belfast, UK).

Conference email address: France.China.2024@gmail.com

[1] Antoine Izambard, France-Chine, les liaisons dangereuses (Paris: Stock, 2019).

[2] http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2023-02/16/content_85109936.htm