Research Interests

I love diving into the archives and finding out the hidden stories behind the historical records. I have researched various female labor in Chinese film history. I also worked as an archivist in the Chinese Contemporary Art Archives, where I wrote articles about ecological art and video art.

Female labor: Cinema usherettes (女领位员)

By looking into the archives in the 1930s, I studied the female presence off-screen and in cinema theaters, usherettes. In this research, I explored how usherettes engaged with the audiences, cinematic spaces, and the filmic experiences.

Labor, Technology and Sound: Yiyifeng (译意风)

Between 1939 and 1951, earphones (yiyifeng) were introduced to Chinese cinema theaters to provide live translation and sensory entertainment during foreign language films. The innovation also gave rise to a new profession, the “Misses Earphones” (yiyifeng xiaojie), for women and shaped a generation of Chinese patrons’ cinematic experience.