Damian Mandzunowski, M.A.

ERC-Project “READCHINA: The Politics of Reading in the People's Republic of China”

Mailing Address:

Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg   
Institut für Sinologie
Werthmannstraße 12
79098 Freiburg, Germany

Office:
Belfortstr. 18 (VH), Room 03 004
79098 Freiburg, Germany

Phone: +49 761 203-97673
E-Mail: damian.mandzunowski@sinologie.uni-freiburg.de

Research Interests

Social and political history of China
Politics and practices of reading
Critical film and art studies
Microhistory and propaganda studies

Education

2018 —
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Freiburg
Thesis: “Collective Reading in Maoist China”

2015 — 2018
Master of Arts, Modern China Studies, University of Freiburg
2016 semester abroad at Nanjing University
Thesis: “Caricaturing the Gang of Four, 1976-1981”

2011 — 2015
Bachelor of Arts, Sinology and Language & Culture Studies, University of Munich
2013-2014 year abroad at Beijing Normal University
Thesis: “Flüchtige Moderne in der Fremdland-Trilogie von Jia Zhangke” [“Liquid Modernity in Jia Zhangke’s Outland Trilogy”]

Experience

Research Experience
2018 —
Project Member, ERC-Project “The Politics of Reading in the People’s Republic of China (READCHINA),” Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Freiburg

2018 —
Project Member, “Worlds of Reading in China’s long 1970s: Reading and Writing during the Cultural Revolution,” Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Freiburg

2018 —
Research Assistant, ERC-Project “The Maoist Legacy: Party Dictatorship, Transitional Justice and the Politics of Truth,” Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Freiburg

2016 — 2018
Student Research Assistant, Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Freiburg

Teaching Experience
2018
Lecturer, Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Freiburg

2016 — 2018
Teaching Assistant, Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Freiburg

2014 — 2015
Teaching Assistant, Institute of Sinology at the University of Munich

Publications (non-peer reviewed)

“Caricatures Criticizing the Gang of Four: Contributors and Publications.” The Maoist Legacy, 1 February 2019, https://maoistlegacy.de/db/exhibits/show/mh-contributors-publications. 

“Work, Workers, and the Heroization of Everyday Life in Global Perspective, 08.06.2018-09.06.2018 Freiburg,” H-Soz-Kult, 12 December 2018, https://www.hsozkult.de/conferencereport/id/tagungsberichte-7994.

“Wang, Zhang, Jiang, and Yao in Caricatures: A Close-Up View.” The Maoist Legacy, 1 November 2018, https://maoistlegacy.de/db/exhibits/show/manhua-closeup. 

“The Visual Language of the Caricatures Criticizing the Gang of Four.” The Maoist Legacy, 1 September 2018, https://maoistlegacy.de/db/exhibits/show/manhua-visuallanguage. 

“Caricatures Criticizing the Gang of Four.” The Maoist Legacy, 1 June 2018, https://www.maoistlegacy.de/db/caricatures-criticizing-the-gang-of-four.

Conferences and Presentations

2019

“Spaces of Reading Groups—Reading Groups as Spaces” — paper presented at the XXX. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Vereinigung für Chinastudien „Wissensorte in China“, Heidelberg, November 17, 2019.
 
“Communicating ‘Three Loves’ during Collective Reading Activities in Early-1980s PRC” — paper presented at the Contemporary China Graduate Workshop 2019, Freiburg, November 2, 2019.

“Reading Groups and the Pursuit of Civility in Early Reform Era Tianjin” — paper presented at the 11th International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) Conference in Leiden, July 18, 2019.

2018

“Caricaturing Jiang Qing: Manhua and the Anti-Gang of Four Campaign, 1976-1981”— paper presented at the annual Association of Asian Studies conference in Washington, D.C., March 23, 2018 (panel #168).

2017

“The Traitor, the Nazi, and the Empress: A First Look at 1970s Manhua Depictions of Jiang Qing”—paper presented at the conference “Reading Intellectual and Literary Change during China’s long 1970s,” Freiburg University, May 6, 2017.

2014

“A Journey to the World of Film in China”—two-parted lecture and workshop held during the International Dialogue Series at Beijing Normal University, March-April 2014.

Scholarships

2018
“Bavaria-Master-Stipendium” awarded by the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Freiburg