A Leading Scholar of Modern Chinese Cultural and Rural Studies
Dr. Yu Zhang serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Chinese Culture at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where she has established herself as a prominent voice in modern Chinese cultural studies. After earning her PhD from Stanford University's Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, she has made significant contributions through her interdisciplinary approach to Chinese literature, film, and cultural studies. Her acclaimed book "Going to the Countryside: The Rural in Modern Chinese Cultural Imagination, 1915-1965" published by The University of Michigan Press examines how cultural representations shaped modern understanding of rural China. Her research spans twentieth-century Chinese literature, film studies, and contemporary cultural dynamics, with her current book project "China at Work: Revolutionizing the Culture of Work in Contemporary China" exploring modern labor transformations. Her scholarship has been recognized and supported by prestigious grants from the Chiang Ching Kuo Foundation Junior Scholar Grant and the Research Grants Council in Hong Kong, while her publications have contributed significantly to understanding the cultural politics of rural China, labor relations, and modern Chinese cultural imagination. Through her transmedia approach, she continues to illuminate the complex intersections of literature, culture, and social transformation in modern China, making valuable contributions to both academic discourse and public understanding of Chinese cultural dynamics.