Dr Luke White

Luke’s current research explores the visual cultures of the martial arts, and in particular the histories of Hong Kong’s kung fu and wuxia cinema. His Legacies of the Drunken Master was the first book-length study of the kung fu comedy genre, exploring its history from the 1970s to the present and discussing figures from Jackie Chan to Stephen Chow. It focused on the political, cultural and social significance of the kung fu comedian’s performing body. His more recent book, Fighting without Fighting was about the history and legacy of the "kung fu craze" of the 1970s, in which martial arts movies, imagery, and practices were brought to America and the West – and to global popular culture. The book examines the unfolding of the craze, its challenges to established identities of race, class and gender, and the anxieties it raised about on- and off-screen violence. The book argues that the craze was a significant moment in the global (re-)negotiation of ideas of “Asia” and “The West” that continues to have significance today.

Luke’s earlier doctoral project focused on eighteenth-century theories of the aesthetic of the sublime, and their usefulness in thinking about contemporary capitalist art and culture. It took Damien Hirst as its central case study to explore this question.

Luke’s broader interests and expertise include popular culture, film, contemporary fine art, postcolonial theory, aesthetics and theories of identity. He has a particular fondness for Walter Benjamin, deconstruction and queer theory.

Luke teaches visual culture and critical and contextual studies modules on the BA Fine Art and BA Illustration courses, as well as the MA programmes in Visual Arts. He also takes PhD students.