A strong representation of our project is headed this week to Leicester, UK, for the 2025 Annual Conference of the British Association for Chinese Studies (BACS) – to be held on 3-5 September at the University of Leicester.

ChinaComx Postdoc Damian Mandzunowski and Nick Stember jointly co-organize and present papers at a two-parted panel tackling all things lianhuanhua: Panel 1, “The Politics of an Aesthetics of Medium: Intersections of History and Society in Chinese Comics”, investigates how history and politics crossed roads with lianhuanhua; Panel 2, “The Aesthetics of a Political Medium: Intersections of Visual Culture and Literature in Chinese Comics”, asks how this politicized medium retained its characteristics and uses.

ChinaComx PhD Candidate Jiu Song presents in Panel 1; Astrid Y. Xiao and Aijia Zhang are on Panel 2. In addition, the two back-to-back panels will feature contributions by Dr Chihho Lin, Dr Mariia Guleva, and Norbert Danysz; Dr Annabella Mei Massey (The Courtauld Institute of Art) and Dr Elizabeth Emrich-Rougé (University of Cambridge) will respectively act as Chair/Discussant for the two panels.

Both panels will take place on Thursday, 4 September 2025, in Room SBB 1.02: Panel 1 at 13:00-14:30 (Session E) and Panel 2 at 14:45-16:15 (Session F).

Do come by and say hi!

For the full conference program, click here, or read on for the two panel abstracts below:

Panel 1: The Politics of an Aesthetics of Medium: Intersections of History and Society in Chinese Comics: After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, lianhuanhua—Chinese comics or “picture stories”—mirrored the evolving landscapes of politics and law, satire and art, and of culture and society. As affective media that mobilized the masses, comics became powerful tools for political communication and the promotion of new socialist values. Simultaneously, these visual- textual narratives offered both subtle critiques and direct challenges to social-political norms. This panel will explore the multifaceted nature of lianhuanhua through novel sources ranging from archives to cartoonists’ collections. Chihho Lin examines Wang Shuhui, a prominent female lianhuanhua artist in the early PRC, demonstrating how her romantic narratives promoted the New Marriage Law of 1951 and served as unique expressions of propaganda, contrasting with epic comics of male artists. Jiu Song investigates the spatial dimension of fans’ collective memory of Chinese comics, focusing on two most popular lianhuanhua markets and reading zones of 1960s Shanghai. Mariia Guleva explores the devices used to dehumanize and re-humanize antagonists in Fang Cheng’s comic strips of the late 1950s. Damian Mandzunowski compares three different types of Chinese comics from 1951, 1981, and 2011, all linked to communist party anniversaries, to analyze changes and continuities in how history was visualized. Together, these papers aim to deepen our understanding of the relationship between comics and the PRC over six decades of change and continuity, exploring the historical significance, ideological dimensions, and enduring relevance of lianhuanhua.

Panel 2: The Aesthetics of a Political Medium: Intersections of Visual Culture and Literature in Chinese Comics: This panel investigates how the aesthetic qualities of lianhuanhua shape and are shaped by their content and context. By focusing on the artistic dimensions— stylistic choices, narrative techniques, visual symbolism, and text-image relationships—we will uncover how aesthetics serves not merely as a vessel for political messages but as an active force in shaping political perceptions and social consciousness: How do the artistic conventions of lianhuanhua influence their interpretation? In what ways do visual storytelling and graphic design elements contribute to or undermine official narratives? How did (alleged) historical watersheds impact on aesthetic conventions and their political and social implications? Addressing these questions, this panel proposes a chronological exploration of the aesthetics of lianhuanhua during the 20th century. First, Norbert Danysz takes Chen Guangyi’s works from before and after 1949 as examples of the shifting aesthetics that were introduced into lianhuanhua by the CCP and its propagandistic views on comics. Next, Astrid Xiao focuses on children’s lianhuanhua produced during the Cultural Revolution period, discussing how the CCP set exemplary figures visually in these comics to influence young readers’ perceptions. Nick Stember reveals visual quotes from early-1960s cartoons in a popular late-1970s science fiction comic, highlighting how nostalgia, politics, and satire coexist in lianhuanhua following the Mao era. Aijia Zhang uses computational approaches to explore the general depiction of females in lianhuanhua with a 20th-century setting represented by their voices and images. The panel’s four presentations thus offer deeper insights into the power of visual media in shaping ideologies and cultural narratives within China’s complex socio-political landscape.