Poster Shilin-Rombouts Graduate Conference 2015On 2 and 3 September 2015 Shilin will host the second Rombouts-Shilin Graduate Conference titled “Image” at Leiden University, The Netherlands.

The Rombouts-Shilin Graduate Conference is organised by and for PhD and MA students in order to provide an accessible platform to present and discuss their work. The two-day conference consists of two panel discussions on day one, and the final panel discussion on day two. The conference’s introductory keynote lecture will be given by Dr. Florian Schneider. Shilin is  pleased to be able to award a prize to a promising young scholar, who will present his or her work during the conference. You can find a detailed programme here. Registration is not compulsory, but highly recommended as space is limited. Please send us an E-mail at romboutsconference[at]shilin.nl.

Panel abstracts

Histories on Display

This panel will focus on lesser-known histories that present a view that is different from official histories, which have shaped and continue to shape our perspectives of the Chinese world. Because traditional culture and cultural patterns are still relevant today, we need to review the histories that are usual on display by looking at unusual and untold histories that are often left out of the debate. It is the objective of this panel that these ‘unusual windows’ will reshape our ideas and broaden our view of Chinese history.

Image and Identity

This panel will focus on how image is formed through language and literature and how this image relates to identity. Images evoked by language and literature have always been used to mould, remould and to challenge identity. Even more so in the Chinese case where language and writing have occupied such an important place throughout Chinese history. This panel will explore the multiple relations between word, image, text and writing in China, addressing issues such as cultural identity, textuality and visuality.

Sound and Image

Whereas studies relating to Chinese culture usually tend to focus on visual aspects (texts, visual art, architecture etc.), the realm of sound is often neglected within Sinology and banished to the field of ethnomusicology. That this neglect is unjustified one can easily grasp by realizing the importance of sound in daily life. This panel will bring to the fore some ways in which sound, most prominently music, and image relate to each other and can be used together to get a message across. Just as music can be used to evoke certain images, in the same way images or texts can imply sound or musical activity. What is the value of musical activity, or merely the suggestion of it, for people’s status and identity? What is the meaning of musical instruments or activities when they are reduced to depictions or descriptions? Why are musical instruments collected as art objects to be admired by the eye rather than the ear? What is the importance of visual aspects within musical performance?

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