Dr Wayne Wong

School of East Asian Studies

Lecturer in East Asian Studies

Dr Wayne King Tung Wong
Profile picture of Dr Wayne King Tung Wong
k.wong@sheffield.ac.uk

Full contact details

Dr Wayne Wong
School of East Asian Studies
4.19
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
Sheffield
S3 7RA
Profile

Wayne Wong received his PhD in Film Studies and Comparative Literature from King’s College London and the University of Hong Kong.

His research specialises in global martial arts and action cinema. He published in peer-reviewed journals and anthologies, such as Global Media and China, Asian Cinema, Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, Martial Arts Studies, Afro-Futurism in Black Panther: Gender, Identity, and the Re-Making of Blackness, The Worlds of John Wick: The Year’s Work at the Continental Hotel, The Cinema of Stephen Chow, and Fighting Stars: Stardom and Reception in Hong Kong Martial Arts Cinema.

He is an editor of Martial Arts Studies, the flagship journal of the Martial Arts Studies Research Network.

Qualifications

PhD (King’s College London, University of Hong Kong)

Research interests
  • Global Martial Arts and Action Films
  • East Asian Cinemas
  • Film Aesthetics and Media Philosophy
  • Popular Culture, Identity Politics, and Gender Issues
  • Hong Kong–UK Diaspora
  • Game Studies and New Media
  • Digital Humanities
Teaching interests

I have taught a wide range of courses in the field of film, media and cultural studies at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, such as ‘Media, Culture, and Society in East Asia’, ‘Gender and Identities in East Asia’,‘ Mass Culture in East Asia’, ‘Asia on Global Screens’, ‘Chinese Cinemas’, ‘ Hong Kong Cinema through a Global Lens’, ‘ Authorship and Creativity in the Cinema’, ‘Discourses in Popular Culture’, and ‘Gender Issues’.

My previous academic appointments include King’s College London, the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong
Polytechnic University. Central to my pedagogical approach is the cultivation of students as autonomous learners, adept at pursuing, interrogating, and advancing
knowledge from both local and global perspectives. I am committed to foster inclusivity and interactivity within classroom, facilitated through face-to-face discussions and online platforms for student feedback. I endeavour to ensure a balanced and constructive learning environment that affords every student the opportunity to engage equitably and constructively.

Teaching activities

For the academic year 2024–25, I will be teaching the following module:

EAS6208 Media, Culture and Society in East Asia
EAS21007 Mass Culture in East Asia
EAS21008 Gender and Identities in East Asia

Publications

Journal articles

Wong, W. (2022).  A Tale of Two Dragons: Politics of the Comedic Kung Fu Body in Chinese Cinema. Archiv Orientální 90 (3), 503-530.

Wong, W. (2019). Beyond the Cinematic: Reinventing Chinese Martial Arts through New Media Art Practices. Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 6 (2), 367–91.

Wong, W. (2019). Nothingness in Motion: Theorizing Bruce Lee’s Action Aesthetics. Global Media and China 4 (3), 362–80.

Wong, W. (2018). Action in Tranquillity: Sketching Martial Ideation in The Grandmaster. Asian Cinema 29 (2), 201–23.

Wong, W. (2017). Synthesizing Zhenshi (Authenticity) and Shizhan (Combativity): Reinventing Chinese Kung Fu in Donnie Yen’s Ip Man Series (2008-2015). Martial Arts Studies 3, 71–88.

Chapters

Wong, W. (2024a). “Bruce Lee is My Idol”: Embodying Kung Fu in Nonsensical Humour. In G. Bettinson & V. P. Y. Lee (Eds.), The Cinema of Stephen Chow (pp. 180–202). Bloomsbury Academic.

Wong, W. (2024b). Kwan Tak Hing: Pioneer of Kung Fu Cinema. In K. Barrowman (Ed.), Fighting Stars: Stardom and Reception in Hong Kong Martial Arts Cinema (pp. 19–39). Bloomsbury Academic.

Wong, W. (2022). Killing in Equanimity: Theorizing John Wick’s Action Aesthetics. In Watt  S. M. & Watt C. G. (Ed.), The Worlds of John Wick: The Year's Work at the Continental Hotel, (pp. 84–120). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Wong, W. (2021). From Expressivity to Equanimity: New Black Action in Black Panther. In White R. & Ritzenhoff K. (Ed.), Afro-Futurism in Black Panther: Gender, Identity, and the Re-Making of Blackness, (pp. 53–72). London: Rowman and Littlefield.

Wong, W. (2016). Beyond’ Rivers and Lakes’: RoCH Fans and Legends’ Repositioning of Wuxia Fantasy. In Lok S. P. S. (Ed.), RoCH Fans & Legends. Derby: Derby QUAD & Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art.

Book review

Wong, W. (2015). Jet Li: Chinese Masculinity and Transnational Film Stardom. Martial Arts Studies 1, 86–96.