History in Images, History through Images

June 28-30, 2007 at the Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres & Sciences Humaines, Lyon.

The present workshop is is part of a series of meetings held over the years on the issue of history and the use of visual documents. The initiative was taken by Prof. Yeh Wen-hsin (History Department, UC Berkeley) and Prof. Christian Henriot (Institut d'Ase Orientale, Lyon 2 University) following their initial involvement in the creation of a databank of historical photographs of Shanghai (France-Berkeley Fund).

The series started in May 2003 with a workshop on "Visual Documents in the Study of Modern China" at the University of California at Berkeley. We explored a range of methodological, empirical, and theoretical issues with regard to the use of photographed images in historical research. This was followed by two more workshops, one in Tokyo in September 2004 entitled Representations of the Body in China and Japan and one in May 2005, which took place at Fudan University in Shanghai, May 9-12, 2005.

These workshops have paved the way toward a more systematic exploration and use of visual materials in the study of modern China. To build on these previous meetings, a new cycle of workshop attempts to address more thoroughly a few selected topics. The first workshop in this new cycle was held in Berkeley in August 2006. It dealt with the issue of “War and warfare”, especially the Chinese War of Resistance as documented in photographs and other pictorial images, but also other incidents of armed conflicts and sanctioned violence.

The present workshop is is part of a series of meetings held over the year on the issue of history and the use of visual documents. The initiative was taken by Prof. Yeh Wen-hsin (History Department, UC Berkeley) and Prof. Christian Henriot (Institut d'Ase Orientale, Lyon 2 University) following their initial involvement in the creation of a databank of historical photographs of Shanghai (France-Berkeley Fund).

The series started in May 2003 with a workshop on "Visual Documents in the Study of Modern China" at the University of California at Berkeley. We explored a range of methodological, empirical, and theoretical issues with regard to the use of photographed images in historical research. This was followed by two more workshops, one in Tokyo in September 2004 entitled Representations of the Body in China and Japan and one in May 2005, which took place at Fudan University in Shanghai, May 9-12, 2005.

The main theme of the present workshop is “Entertainment, Media and the Public Space” as documented in photographs and other pictorial images. As for previous meetings, participants are expected to work with photographic collections or others visual materials, and namely :

- to take visual materials as the core material source of the presentation
- to make an innovative use of a set of visual documents
- to explore how visual materials may bring/allow a new perspective or approach or questioning on a given topic
- to discuss the methodological implications/challenges in the use of visual materials.

The workshop is organized in two sessions.

The first session will be based on a collective project started a couple of years ago on “Common People and the Artists in Republican China.” The scholars involved in this collective enterprise try to take up the challenge of examining issues in popular culture (everyday life of groups of common people, actors and actresses in popular culture) through the use of specific sets of visual documents (see http://commonpeopleandartist.net/).

The second session includes a larger number of scholars with different contributions around the theme of "Entertainment, Media, and the Public" (in China).