Asian Studies Seminar Series: Paul Kendall In brief Date - 1 November 2023 Venue - Project Room 1.06, 50 George Square Speaker - Dr Paul Kendall (University of Westminster) Title - 'Ordinary Life within an Extraordinary Project: Demystifying the Third Front' About the event Since its establishment in the 1960s and 70s, the Third Front has undergone a major discursive transformation, from military secret under Mao Zedong and economic anachronism under Deng Xiaoping to industrial heritage under Xi Jinping. In the early 21st century, commemorative discourse presents this military-industrial complex of China’s hinterlands as an extraordinary project within which workers led extraordinary lives. While not disputing the extraordinary ambition and scale of the project itself, Paul Kendall argues in this talk that many aspects of Third Front everyday life only seem extraordinary – and become heritage-worthy – when viewed through the lens of contemporary urban life. In contrast, when examined alongside the wider danwei system, the Third Front everyday appears extraordinary not as a radical departure from Maoist industrial practices but rather as the ambitious extension of these practices into inhospitable terrain. Approaching the Third Front from this perspective, Kendall argues, can help to demystify this project’s legacy and locate it within existing research on the danwei. About the speaker Paul Kendall is a Senior Lecturer in Chinese Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster. His research interests include urban space, everyday life, translation, ethnicity and soundscapes. His book, The Sounds of Social Space: Branding, Built Environment, and Leisure in Urban China (2019), examines the production of social space in Kaili, a small city in southwest China, through its branding as “the homeland of one hundred festivals”, ethnicised public spaces, high-decibel soundscapes, amateur music-making practices and inhabitants’ conceptualisations of music, ethnicity and the city. About the seminar series Each year, Asian Studies welcomes a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present a seminar on their research, spanning fields as diverse as film and media, literature, religion, society, politics and international relations. How to join Events are free and everyone is welcome. No booking is necessary. Are you interested in studying with us? We are the only university in Scotland to offer full undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in both Chinese and Japanese, as well as postgraduate programmes in Korean Studies and East Asian Relations. Find out more about Asian Studies at Edinburgh Nov 01 2023 16.00 - 18.00 Asian Studies Seminar Series: Paul Kendall Join us in-person for a seminar by Dr Paul Kendall (University of Westminster) entitled 'Ordinary Life within an Extraordinary Project: Demystifying the Third Front'. Project Room 1.06 50 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9LH Find the venue
Asian Studies Seminar Series: Paul Kendall In brief Date - 1 November 2023 Venue - Project Room 1.06, 50 George Square Speaker - Dr Paul Kendall (University of Westminster) Title - 'Ordinary Life within an Extraordinary Project: Demystifying the Third Front' About the event Since its establishment in the 1960s and 70s, the Third Front has undergone a major discursive transformation, from military secret under Mao Zedong and economic anachronism under Deng Xiaoping to industrial heritage under Xi Jinping. In the early 21st century, commemorative discourse presents this military-industrial complex of China’s hinterlands as an extraordinary project within which workers led extraordinary lives. While not disputing the extraordinary ambition and scale of the project itself, Paul Kendall argues in this talk that many aspects of Third Front everyday life only seem extraordinary – and become heritage-worthy – when viewed through the lens of contemporary urban life. In contrast, when examined alongside the wider danwei system, the Third Front everyday appears extraordinary not as a radical departure from Maoist industrial practices but rather as the ambitious extension of these practices into inhospitable terrain. Approaching the Third Front from this perspective, Kendall argues, can help to demystify this project’s legacy and locate it within existing research on the danwei. About the speaker Paul Kendall is a Senior Lecturer in Chinese Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster. His research interests include urban space, everyday life, translation, ethnicity and soundscapes. His book, The Sounds of Social Space: Branding, Built Environment, and Leisure in Urban China (2019), examines the production of social space in Kaili, a small city in southwest China, through its branding as “the homeland of one hundred festivals”, ethnicised public spaces, high-decibel soundscapes, amateur music-making practices and inhabitants’ conceptualisations of music, ethnicity and the city. About the seminar series Each year, Asian Studies welcomes a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present a seminar on their research, spanning fields as diverse as film and media, literature, religion, society, politics and international relations. How to join Events are free and everyone is welcome. No booking is necessary. Are you interested in studying with us? We are the only university in Scotland to offer full undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in both Chinese and Japanese, as well as postgraduate programmes in Korean Studies and East Asian Relations. Find out more about Asian Studies at Edinburgh Nov 01 2023 16.00 - 18.00 Asian Studies Seminar Series: Paul Kendall Join us in-person for a seminar by Dr Paul Kendall (University of Westminster) entitled 'Ordinary Life within an Extraordinary Project: Demystifying the Third Front'. Project Room 1.06 50 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9LH Find the venue
Nov 01 2023 16.00 - 18.00 Asian Studies Seminar Series: Paul Kendall Join us in-person for a seminar by Dr Paul Kendall (University of Westminster) entitled 'Ordinary Life within an Extraordinary Project: Demystifying the Third Front'.
