PhD position in Asian Studies “Bearing Witness to Traumatic Experiences: Cultural Productions of Uyghurs in Exile”, Université libre de Bruxelles — LIMITE : 01/03/2021

EASt, centre for East Asian Studies, is a research unit within the Maison des sciences humaines of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium. The key role of EASt is to be a central hub of the ULB to foster Asia related activities and research across the university. EASt offers high-quality research on current developments in the East Asian region, and established research projects and networks focusing on Asian studies.

This Ph.D. position is funded by a MIS (Mandat d’Impulsion Scientifique/ Incentive Grant for Scientific Research) project: “Bearing Witness to Traumatic Experiences: Cultural Productions of Uyghurs in Exile”. Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking people based at the border of Central Asia and the north-western part of China. Massive internments and arrests of hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs have taken place in the region since 2016, including the Uyghur elite. In these conditions, centers of the cultural production of the Uyghurs have shifted from their native land to the diaspora spread across the world. This project looks at Uyghur diasporic cultural production that aims at drawing the world’s attention and bearing witness to the various abuses perpetrated at home by the Chinese government. The whole project analyses selected poems, short films, video clips, and dance and music performances to tackle new transmedial forms of testimonies in the Uyghur case.