John Erni is Professor of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong.

His research covers Chinese consumption of transnational culture, Asian pop, cultural tourism, sexualities in Asia, critical public health, and human rights policies. His books include Unstable Frontiers: Technomedicine and the Cultural Politics of "Curing" AIDS (Minnesota, 1994), Internationalizing Cultural Studies: An Anthology (with Ackbar Abbas; Blackwell, 2005), and Asian Media Studies: The Politics of Subjectivities (with Siew Keng Chua; Blackwell, 2005).

Professor Erni is appearing this weekend at the Shanghai Literary Festival (Saturday March 6, 5pm), on a panel discussing Framing Queer Asia: Cultural & Legal Perspectives.

In advance of that discussion, he talked to Chinatravel.net about queer culture in Asia and abroad. (For more on this topic, check out our gay travel forum posts and this recent article from the Guardian).

Chinatravel: What sparked your own interest in this field of study?
Professor John Erni: Queer studies has seen a great development in the West. It blends critical scholarship with gender theories. I have been researching gender and body cultures for over ten years now. I hope that my work has contributed to the development of more enlightened understanding of body cultures and non-normative identities in our society.

CT: What are some of the challenges you face researching queer culture on the mainland?
JE: I have not researched queer cultures in China, but have done so in other Asian contexts, e.g. Thailand and Taiwan. I would suppose the main challenges for doing this work in China are censorship and conservative cultural ideals.

CT: Aside from greater freedom of expression, what (if anything) distinguishes Chinese queer culture from elsewhere in Asia, and indeed the world?
JE: Chinese queer culture is a complex phenomenon: the differences are shaped by urban-rural difference, class difference, and gender difference. In modern China, various artistic and popular culture venues have allowed for more diversity of queer expression, e.g. cinema, music, fashion, even video games. There is no one assessment on a rapidly changing situation.

CT: How has contemporary Chinese queer culture been shaped by the past? Are there equivalent outlets for expression that might once have been filled by, say, gender-swapping roles in Chinese opera?
JE: The past traditions remain a powerful source of imagination. The new queer culture would tend to be shaped by Western and Japanese influences, e.g. gender identity experimentation in cosplay, in relationships, in negotiating with rigid family expectations, etc.

CT: To what extent is contemporary Chinese gay culture influenced from abroad? Do overseas Chinese play much of a role in this?
JE: Not really. Overseas queer Chinese tend to stay abroad. The sustaining source of foreign influence for domestic queer persons would be the internet.

CT: How does gay culture appear to differ around the country: is there, for example, a north-south divide? How is the culture different in Hong Kong?
JE: Hong Kong's queer culture is closer to Taiwan and Japan, with traces of influence from the US; Southern China in the Guangzhou area, and coastal cities in the north, e.g. Shanghai, would naturally be more developed in terms of queer culture.

CT: Has anything surprised you about the way gay culture has evolved in China over the last decade?
JE: Yes, the surprising acceptance of the idea of gay marriage, as reported [here and here] in China Daily.

CT: What do you think are the most important steps forward that have been taken of late?
JE: Pressure put on the legislative by gay activists.

CT: The most harmful problems that remain?
JE: The persistent conservative, family-based cultural ideals of heteronormativity.

For more of Chinatravel.net's coverage of this year's Literary Festivals in China, click the links below:

China Literary Festivals in March: Programs, ticket info, and travel-related highlights
Writing a guidebook to China: An interview with Rough Guide author David Leffman
New speaker at Shanghai Lit Fest: Paul French
Foreign memoirs of China: An interview with Amy Sommers
The History of Photography in China: An interview with Terry Bennett
Shanghai International Literary Festival Preview: Andrew Field