AustLit

'For several reasons, not all related, the scholarly engagement of Australian studies within Australia and its disciplinary instrumentalities—biennial conferences, a journal, and so on—remains predominantly Eurocentric. Explanations for this Eurocentricity are deserving of a standalone article, but the following series of articles manifests one attempt to represent some of this extant diversity. Beyond the now scant formal institutional settings and apparatuses constituting Australian studies within Australia, a broad church continues to participate in this field. Outside of the International Australian Studies Association, much of this participation—including at the institutional level, locally and internationally—is conducted through various networks established and sustained by dedicated individuals, including some chancers. Student exchanges, visiting lectureships, collaborative research projects, guest speaking invitations, art exhibitions, theatrical productions, orchestral and other music performances, among many more informal and inchoate events, form part of this wider engagement of Australian studies overseas. Much of this engagement takes place throughout Asia, including Japan, India, Indonesia and China. The genesis for this themed section lies at least partly here: to bring scholarship—in this instance from mainland China—germane to the journal’s remit to its wide readership. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and its wide-reaching impacts for many scholars worldwide, this themed section is smaller than the special issue we originally envisaged; however, the contributions published here represent many of the continued commitments to, and the promising progress of, Australian studies in China.' (Introduction)