Research on Chinese fantasy literature: ERC Starting Grant for Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jessica Imbach
Freiburg, 04/09/2025
The European Research Council (ERC) is funding the research project “SINOFANTASY – Studying Imaginative Otherworlds: Chinese Fantasy Fiction, Literary Politics, and Media Creativity” by junior professor Dr. Jessica Imbach from the Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Freiburg. The project examines Chinese fantasy and science fiction literature as a reflection of social transformation since the 1990s.
Sinologist and junior professor Dr. Jessica Imbach from the University of Freiburg has been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). With her funded project SINOFANTASY – Studying Imaginative Otherworlds: Chinese Fantasy Fiction, Literary Politics, and Media Creativity, Imbach is investigating the development and significance of Chinese fantasy and science fiction literature since the 1990s. The grant covers five years and amounts to approximately 1.4 million euros.
Fantasy literature as a mirror of social transformation
The project aims to develop a well-founded theory of Chinese fantasy as a mirror and medium of social transformation. “I am investigating, for example, how cultural identity, historical images and visions of the future are negotiated in Chinese fantasy literature. This genre has become one of the most popular forms of entertainment in China,” says Imbach. “Some texts are formally innovative and experimental, creating alternative views of history or speculative forms of society, while others follow conservative narrative patterns. My project therefore asks: What themes, conflicts and worldviews are negotiated in these texts? And what social negotiation processes are reflected in this literary form?”
“The ERC Starting Grant now gives me the opportunity to systematically explore the diverse media, social and political dimensions of Chinese fantasy with a larger team and a long-term perspective.”
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jessica Imbach
Junior Professor, Institute of Chinese Studies, University of Freiburg
Digital encyclopaedia on fantasy literature planned
In addition to literary texts, the project explores how speculative storytelling affects concepts such as authorship and digital participation in an authoritarian media system. “The ERC Starting Grant now gives me the opportunity to systematically explore the diverse media, social and political dimensions of Chinese fantasy with a larger team and a long-term perspective,” Imbach emphasises. In addition, a digital encyclopaedia of contemporary Chinese fantasy is to be developed. The project thus not only contributes to literary and Chinese studies, but also makes complex cultural processes accessible to a broad public.