Freie Universität Berlin

My project examines Chinese masculine figures in international films and interrogates Western capitalist imperatives in the commodification of Chinese masculinity on world stage. This project is divided into three phases: “The Cultural Economy of Shakespeare in Chinese Cinema”, “Performing Chinese Masculinity on International Stage”, and “Negotiating Confucianism: Re-configuring Chinese Masculinity”. At the moment, I am exploring the intersection between traditional Confucian philosophy and the performance of modern forms of wen-wu 文武masculinity in Feng Xiaogang’s film, Ye Yan 夜宴 (The Banquet), and investigating the impact of Western cultural imports on the construction of Chinese masculine images.

I am Wendy, from Singapore. Having devoted a decade of my life to the study of sciences, I made a life-altering decision in 2009 to pursue a career in humanities. I graduated from University of London (Goldsmiths College) in 2013 with a B.A. (Hons) in English Literature. Instead of investigating processes of biological hybridization and engineering, I now examine cases of cultural hybridity. My MA project examines modern Chinese masculinity as an ensuing hybrid of East-meets-West cultural interaction, in the name of capitalism. I am supervised by Professor Sabine Schuelting of Freie Universität Berlin.