CTIS Research Seminar 3: The Qipao in In the Mood for Love (2000) across intercultural contexts
| Dates: | 23 April 2026 |
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| Times: | 14:00 - 15:30 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Arts, Languages and Cultures |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, Adults, Current University students, General public |
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| Speaker: | Dr Leah Wang |
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This talk examines the use of the Qipao in In the Mood for Love (2000), a film widely recognised in international cinema, focusing on how the film constructs the garment through its repeated cinematic use in its handling of movement and space. In this context, the Qipao becomes closely associated with the female protagonist Su Li-Zhen in the film.
The talk also considers how this image is interpreted and reinterpreted across different cultural contexts beyond the film. As it appears in international settings, certain features of the Qipao remain identifiable, while the social and historical meanings associated with it are often reduced or detached. In fashion and popular culture, it frequently reappears with an emphasis on appearance over context.
These shifts draw attention to how the Qipao is recontextualised as it moves across contexts, and to how it may reappear in new contexts, and in some cases, become appropriated.
Speaker
Dr Leah Wang
Biography: Dr Leah Wang is an Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies and Film. Her research works across film and television studies and intercultural studies, with a focus on representation in intercultural screen media. Her work examines Chinese and Asian cinema across social and cultural contexts, with particular attention to representation and meaning.
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
Ellen Wilkinson Conference Room, C1.18
Ellen Wilkinson Building
Manchester
