Interview with Faculty Fellow Jianqing Chen
Long gone are the days when smartphones were a novelty, when a finger tap on a touch-sensitive screen could thrill a user with immediate access to photos, videos and games. Such devices, now expanded to include everything from refrigerators to car consoles, are essential parts of our everyday lives. It’s easy to miss the cultural context that has transformed and been transformed by the technology, mediating our experience not only with our electronics but with our offline lives. Indeed, the subject has yet to receive deep scholarly analysis, says Jianqing Chen, assistant professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Film and Media Studies program. She aims to take stock of this blind spot in her groundbreaking new book project, “Touch Screen: Everyday Media in Contemporary China.” Read on for a preview of her book-in-progress.
Briefly, what is your book about?
My book invites readers to embark on a journey into the alternative dynamic world of contemporary China. In this world, touchscreen devices and digital platforms have been elevated to a ubiquitously central place in the media ecology, with everything — from instant messaging photo-sharing social networking to live streaming and online shopping — facilitated by touchscreen interfaces. This ubiquity and centrality of the touchscreen has radically transformed how a billion Chinese, accounting for one-fifth of global smartphone users, interact with their everyday lives optically, tactilely and affectively.
Now, Chinese smartphones, such as Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, and mobile apps, notably TikTok, extend their influence beyond the national borders; Chinese touchscreen media vie with Western counterparts in reshaping the global digital landscape. My book is a pioneering and timely investigation of the digital media culture in contemporary China. It illuminates the roots of Chinese touchscreen innovations that are now making waves globally. Think about TikTok — my examination of touchscreen media looks at where that came from and what it means, not just for China but potentially for our global digital future.