Human entanglement with information technologies not only involves the redistribution of the sensible but is also highly charged with socio-political tensions. Take the Internet in China as an example. Since the mid-1990s, its development has resonated with the unprecedented transformation of Chinese society. By providing a virtual space for entertainment, public engagement, and the cultivation of new social imaginaries, the Internet takes on special social and cultural significance. Nonetheless, little research attention has been paid to the not-so-distant past prior to China’s Internet age.

What do the histories of cybernetics and information technology before China’s internet age tell us about the country’s information present and future(s)? This workshop aims to shed light on this question by drawing upon recent academic work by two leading scholars in the field of Chinese media studies.

• “Lost and Found: Notes on Some Relics of Digital Future”: Dr. Guobin Yang (Annenberg School for Communication & Department of Sociology, UPenn) will discuss the significance of history and memory for thinking about digital futures. His examination of several specimens of digital culture will offer a glimpse into possible information futures.
• “Cybernetic Past(s) of the Future(s)”: Dr. Xiao Liu (Eastern Asian Studies, McGill University) will share the research and reflections around her recent book Information Fantasies: Precarious Mediation in Postsocialist China (University of Minnesota Press, 2019).

This event is hosted by the Behind and Beyond the Wall(s): Contemporary Media through China working group at the McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology, University of Toronto.

Please note the event can only be accessed by those who reserve a free ticket. Event link & information will be sent out 1 hour prior to the event to all registered ticketholders. Please contact mcluhancentre@gmail.com if you encounter any issues.