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&#160;CONFERENCE VISION · The coverage of ‘queer’ topics and their representatives in popular culture, media, and the general public is changing in many east asian regions. The transformation in the representation of the ‘queer’ in traditional channels has been accompanied by a surge within the ‘new media’. While visibility enables networking among persons who identify with a queer lifestyle it simultaneously establishes proscriptive standards and norms, producing a pressure to adapt.Local and foreign scholars in Gender Studies, Sexuality Studies, and Queer Theory have analyzed diverse aspects of ‘representation’ (cf. McLelland und Mackie 2014). Additionally, certain scholars have pointed out a perceived ‘western’ infl uence in form of activist practices (such as pride parades) or through the usage of the term ‘queer’ (cf. Shimizu 2007). With this conference we hope to encourage a critical examination of representations and self-representations of queer(s) in East Asia. We inquire after contemporary foreign depictions of queerpeople and queerness in East Asia and interrogate whether and how marginalized groups form, defi ne, and spread their own conceptions of ‘queerness’ using diff erent media and resources such as social media.Invitation to the conference “Representations and Self-representations of Queer(s) in East Asia” taking place on 20th and 21st of March 2015 at the University of Vienna, Austria.The conference is being organized by students of East Asian Studies in Vienna in cooperation with the LGBTI*Q* Department of the Austrian Students Union (ÖH) and supported by the Department of Japanese Studies and the Gender Research Office at the University of Vienna.Conference attendance: free.Speakers will receive an allowance to cover accommodation expenses and travel expenses (within Europe). A conference program including the contributions of conferences participants (activists and researchers) from Japan, (South) Korea, China, Taiwan or Hong Kong will be announced in the upcoming weeks.CONFERENCE VENUE AND IDEA · Over the course of this two-day-conference we wish not only for informative lectures, but also for an open exchange through discussion and networking, liberated from concerns of affi liation or pay-grade. Therefore we would like to stray from a classical conference framework and allocate time for alternative presentation formats, joint dinners and a theme-based city tour. Our aim is to bring together researchers, students and other interested parties, and to provide them with an opportunities for real discussion. We hope to bridge the assumed gaps in knowledge and background. The primary conference language will be English. In individual cases, translation from Chinese (Mandarin/Cantonese), Korean, Japanese or German can be organized if requested in advance.CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTIONS MAY INCLUDE:• The relationship between making or being made visible and making invisible• Queer and minorities, queer people in minorities• Queer self-representations and foreign depictions, e.g. representations of queers and queerness in literature, fi lm or television programs• Queer fandoms and reception of queer popular culture• etc.We are especially looking forward to contributions that focus on inter* sexuality, trans*gender, asexuality or neo-sexuality, and take race and class into account. Presentations concerning Queer Theory in East Asia that do not center on ‘representation’ will also be considered in the program planning.We ask for an abstract of approximately 250-300 words with information about the focus of the presentation and the preferred format (e.g. talk, workshop, poster presentation etc.). The deadline for contributions is the 15th Nov. 2014 and we would appreciate if you could send your submissions as soon as possible.The organizing team is looking forward to hearing from you.Please send your questions and submissions to: QEA.Conference.Vienna@gmail.com&#160;Appel à contributions_Queers in East Asia