The Australian Studies Institute is delighted to be hosting Jianjun Li as a Visiting Fellow this month. Jianjun is here in Canberra conducting research at the National Library of Australia for his research project Australian Writers in China in 1950-1965.

About Jianjun’s research:

"This research focuses on the translation, publication and reception of Australian literature in P. R. China in 1950-1965 and explores the social, cultural and political factors that affect these activities. Australian writers who made their names known in China then include James Aldridge, Frank Hardy, Jack Lindsay, Dymphna Cusack, Ralph de Boissière, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Judah Waten, Mona Brand, Wilfred G. Burchett, Leslie Rees, Henry Lawson and other social realist “progressive” writers. By investigating the archive documents in relation to these writers, their translators and publishing houses in China as well as in Australia, the research will demonstrate why and how Australian literature was introduced into China and offer new perspectives on Australian literature in China before the establishment of diplomatic relationship between the two countries in 1972."

Jianjun Li is the Director of the Australian Studies Centre at Beijing Foreign Studies University (2013- present). The Australian Studies Centre at BFSU was founded in 1983, one of the earliest of its kind in China. The Centre has 8 full time faculty members and 23 MA students. The Centre also edits the Blue Book of Australia: annual report on development of Australia and the Chinese Journal of Australian Studies.

Jianjun is also Secretary-General of the Chinese Association for Australian Studies (2014-present). The Chinese Assoc. for Australian Studies (CAAS) was founded in 1988 at the 1st Conference of Australian Studies in China held at Beijing Foreign Languages Institute, now Beijing Foreign Studies University.

One of the Association’s main missions is to host the biennial International Conference of Australian Studies in China. The CAAS currently has 36 registered Australian Studies Centres across China and has now set up concrete collaborative links with the International Australian Studies Association (InASA) and Australian Studies Association in Japan (ASAJ).

Jianjun is also the Managing Editor of the Chinese Journal of Australian Studies. The Chinese Journal of Australian Studies (CJAS) is the journal of the Chinese Association for Australian Studies. CJAS, founded in 2017 and published twice annually, is a refereed, interdisciplinary journal publishing high-quality research in all aspects of Australian studies—politics, economy, society, education, culture, literature, history, and art.

Jianjun was a Visiting Scholar at Griffith University in 2002, a Visiting Research Fellow at Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King’s College London in May 2016, and a Visiting Academic at La Trobe University in August 2019. He teaches Australian literature at Beijing Foreign Studies University. His current research is Australian literature in China in the 1950s and 1960s.