Damian Mandzunowski
|
|
 |
Short Bio:
Damian Mandzunowski is working on the intersections of politics, daily life, propaganda, and visual culture in China after 1949. He studied at LMU Munich (BA), Beijing Normal University, the University of Freiburg (MA), and Nanjing University. At CATS, part of ERC-ChinaComx, he is researching the politics of lianhuanhua in their national and international dimension by approaching lianhuanhua as comics, that is, a hot and affective medium that found use in political communication efforts and enjoyed a mass readership alike. He thus explores their close relation to comics and their functioning as political manuals, but also the ways enemies of the state and other villains were depicted in the panels of lianhuanhua.
Previous to joining Heidelberg University, Damian Mandzunowski worked in two research projects at the University of Freiburg: in 2018-2019 at “The Maoist Legacy” (https://www.maoistlegacy.de/) and in 2019-2023 at “READCHINA” (https://readchina.github.io/). Since 2021, he is also a collaborator in the international project “Revisiting the Revolution: Engaging Chinese Scholarship through Collaborative Translation” (http://prchistory.org/revisiting-the-revolution-landing-page/).
Research interests:
- PRC history
- propaganda & political communication
- visual culture
- state socialism
- photography, film & politics
Current projects:
- Postdoctoral Researcher in ERC-ChinaComx: https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/fakultaeten/philosophie/zo/sinologie/research/project-comics.html
- Book project: “Political Study and other Collective Reading Practices in the People’s Republic of China”
Publications:
Articles and Book Chapters:
- with Laura Pozzi. “Jiang Qing, the Iconic Anti-Icon: Visual Dissection of Female Political Power in Post-Mao People’s Republic of China.” 2024. Positions 32 (3): 539–72
- “Factory State of Mind: Spreading ‘Three Ardent Loves’ via Collective Reading Activities in Tianjin, 1983–1985.” 2023. In Wissensorte in China, edited by Martin Hofmann and Joachim Kurtz, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz: 165–92.
- “News Photography and Visual Political Communication in the People’s Republic of China, 1960s–1980s.” 2022. ERCCS – Research Notes 4
- with Lena Henningsen. “Why Poach When You Can Wander? Michel de Certeau’s Concept of Reading-as-Poaching Revisited.” 2021. READCHINA Interventions 2
- “Caricatures Criticizing the Gang of Four: Contributors and Publications.” 2019 The Maoist Legacy
- “Wang, Zhang, Jiang, and Yao in Caricatures: A Close-Up View.” 2018. The Maoist Legacy
- “The Visual Language of the Caricatures Criticizing the Gang of Four.” 2018 The Maoist Legacy
- “Caricatures Criticizing the Gang of Four.” 2018. The Maoist Legacy
Edited Volumes:
- Henningsen, Lena, Daniel Leese, and Damian Mandzunowski, eds. Wissensasymmetrien: China als Akteur und Objekt (globaler) Debatten. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, forthcoming 2025.
- Henningsen, Lena, Eve Y. Lin, Damian Mandzunowski, Duncan Paterson, and Lara Y. Yang, eds. Practices of Reading in the People’s Republic of China. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, forthcoming 2025.
Translations:
- with Liu Chang. 2023. Translation of: Liu Yajuan 刘亚娟, “Zhang Shunyou shijian: Yi ge dianxing de ‘shu dianxing’ ge’an” 张顺有事件：一个典型的「树典型」个案 [The ‘Zhang Shunyou Incident’: A Typical Case for the ‘Practice of Cultivating Models’]. Revisiting the Revolution 3: 1–60
Editorship:
- with Lena Henningsen and Daniel Leese, eds. 2025 (forthcoming). Wissensasymmetrien: China als Akteur und Objekt (globaler) Debatten. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
- with Lena Henningsen, Eve Y. Lin, Duncan Paterson, and Lara Y. Yang, eds. 2025 (forthcoming). Practices of Reading in the People’s Republic of China. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
