MCLC: Possible Sinophone Studies Forum at MLA

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Possible Sinophone Studies Forum at MLA
Colleagues:
I am gauging interest in the development of a Sinophone Studies Forum in the Modern Language Association (MLA). I would like to know from people, who may comment through the MCLC listserv or contact me through my email address below, as to whether there would be enthusiasm for developing such a Forum. I personally would like to steer clear of theoretical debates on (a) what is Sinophone Studies and (b) whether or not Sinophone Studies is a legitimate or sound category for Chinese literary and cultural studies. Rather, I would like to think pragmatically and in the simplest possible terms, seeing Sinophone Studies as cultural production done in any Chinese language and produced or performed anywhere in the world, in particular outside mainland China.
I am thinking of this for the following reasons: (1) We now have a LLC Modern and Contemporary Chinese Forum, but it is drastically insufficient to meet the demands of the number of scholars of modern and contemporary Chinese cultural studies who wish to present their work at the MLA annual conference; (2) the current menu of Forums does not specifically include anything pertaining to Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, or the Chinese diaspora, although work on these areas could be presented through the LLC Mod/Contem Chinese Forum (space permitting); (3) there are all sorts of Forums on highly specific areas of study including LLC Francophone, LLC 20th & 21st Century English and Anglophone, LLC Occitan, LLC Celtic, LLC Scottish, 13 LLCs dedicated to American literature of various kinds, and the list goes on.
So, the question is: Do we wish to have an LLC Sinophone Studies Forum that gives us more room and more opportunities in the MLA as well as providing a Forum specifically dedicated to this area for those who specialize in it? If so, I will need 3-4 people (must be current MLA members or willing to join) to form a planning group for developing a proposal for the Forum. We also will need at least 30, and ideally a lot more, colleagues who are current members willing to sign a petition to establish such a Forum. Here's the tricky part: you cannot already have five Forums as your "primary affiliation" (which is to say that you would need to have no more than four). The reason is that the MLA wants to know that this is supported intensely and will be populated by a group of under-served scholars, not simply supported by members of the MLA who are mildly sympathetic to the cause.
Christopher Lupke
lupke at ualberta.ca
by denton.2 at osu.edu on November 30, 2017
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