CfP: Special Issue of Études Chinoises – „Humans and Nonhuman Animals in China“28.11.2025 {en}
Special Issue of Études Chinoises
„Humans and Nonhuman Animals in China“ (Ancient to Contemporary Times)
Guest Editors:
Joachim Boittout (Université Paris Cité)
and
Christopher K. Tong (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
While nonhuman animals have gained an increasingly noticeable place in the histories of the Western hemisphere and Asian countries over the past thirty years, China, in comparison, seems still underrepresented. This dynamic academic trend, following the already much-discussed „animal turn,“ focuses on the multifarious realities of animal life in human narratives. Acknowledging the importance of groundbreaking works that explore, for instance, the religious significance and evolving meanings of some animals in cosmological and political representations, this special issue seeks to encompass the diversity of the approaches and the disciplines involved in historical investigations of past animal lives, their interactions with humans, and how they effected changes in human societies.
This special issue of Études Chinoises welcomes contributions engaging with human–animal relations in the diversity of their historical dimensions, and encourages works that tackle the issues raised by the cohabitation of humans and non-humans in the Anthropocene. Both empirical approaches that focus on stand-alone cases, particular species, organizations, or individuals, and theoretical perspectives engaging with primary Chinese-language sources, empirical data, or ethnographic fieldwork are welcome.
We encourage submissions that address—but are by no means limited to—the following themes within the broad field of human–animal relations:
- State-building, ideology, and propaganda
- Animal ethics
- Animals and social practices
- Human–animal relations in a globalized world: health issues, animal factories, food production systems, breeding practices, and consumption
- Transformations of ecosystems
- Animals and the production of knowledge
- Animals as cultural artifacts and representations in the arts
Abstracts should be no longer than 400 words and must be submitted by January 15, 2026 to the following email address: animalhistoryinchina[at]gmail.com.
Accepted papers will be due September 1, 2026.
Contact Information
Joachim Boittout (Université Paris Cité) and Christopher K. Tong (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
Source: CFP: Special Issue of Études Chinoises – „Humans and Nonhuman Animals in China“, H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US.
