Dr Amy Matthewson
Key information
- Roles
- Research Associate School of History, Religions and Philosophies Senior Teaching Fellow
- Qualifications
- PhD (SOAS), MA (University of Victoria), BA (British Columbia)
- Email address
- am134@soas.ac.uk
- Thesis title
- Cartooning China in the Victorian Era: 'Punch,' Power, and Persuasion
Biography
As an interdisciplinary researcher working at the intersection of history, cultural studies and art history, my research interest is on China and Globalisation. My research focuses specifically on China's relationship with the global community, with special interest on British and Chinese contact as well as the processes of ideology and epistemology.
My PhD research explored the representations of China and the the Chinese in the popular British satirical magazine 'Punch' in the Victorian era. Visual representations offer a textured understanding into how the magazine actively engaged with nationalist and imperialist discourse by positioning China as a convenient medium upon which an array of ideals or anxieties were projected.
These cartoons bring forth interesting questions relating to the broader relations between the circulation and dissemination of constructed 'knowledge' through popular media, the use of visual representation, and socially-inclusive (or exclusive) notions and attitudes.
Research interests
- China in the Late Nineteenth Century
- Sino-British relations Emipre and Imperialism
- Visual and Material Culture Representation
- Ideology, Epistemology Identity and Nationalism