POPULAR FILM and TV DRAMA in POST-1989 CHINA by WING SHAN HO a DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Ea
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HOW FAR CAN WE GO: POPULAR FILM AND TV DRAMA IN POST-1989 CHINA by WING SHAN HO A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2012 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Wing Shan Ho Title: How Far Can We Go: Popular Film and TV Drama in Post-1989 China This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures by: Tze-lan Sang Chairperson Maram Epstein Member Alison Groppe Member David Leiwei Li Outside Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research & Innovation/Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded September 2012 ii © 2012 Wing Shan Ho iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Wing Shan Ho Doctor of Philosophy Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures September 2012 Title: How Far Can We Go: Popular Film and TV Drama in Post-1989 China My dissertation addresses two major issues in Chinese contemporary film and TV studies: the first is the proliferations of new forms of subjectivities and the state’s attempt to regulate them via the construction of an ideal citizenship on the film and TV screen; the second is to develop an approach to understand the political economy of screen culture (yingshi wenhua), as well as freedom and control in post-1989 China. My project investigates key contemporary state-sponsored (zhuxuanlü) and state-criticized/banned screen products as a way to explore socialist values advanced by the Chinese Communist Party, as well as the ways in which and the extent to which individuals are able to challenge them. The ways in which my project contributes to the fields of film and TV studies in China are fourfold. First, close readings of selected films and TV dramas inform us of three emergent forms of subjectivity that were previously theorized as a synthesized sublime subject. Second, I conceptualize qualities of the on-screen socialist spirit that the state uses to counteract the three new forms of subjectivity and maintain its superiority. Third, by discussing the state’s intervention and control on production and consumption of screen products, I reveal the state’s vested interests and individuals’ execution of agency in popular culture. This emphasis on state-individual interactions challenges the iv current focus on TV and film as merely a profit-oriented industry; it also unravels conflicted ideologies in screen products and questions the understanding of popular culture as mainstream culture. Fourth, by achieving the above tasks, my research exposes that the state’s tolerance of its citizens’ partial freedom is for the purpose of political stability. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Wing Shan Ho GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Chinese University of Hong Kong DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, East Asian Languages and Literatures, 2012, University of Oregon Master of Philosophy, Intercultural Studies, 2006, Chinese University of Hong Kong Bachelor of Arts, Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies, 2004, Chinese University of Hong Kong AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Chinese Film and Television Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature Cultural Studies Gender Studies PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Oregon, Eugene, 2007-2012 Teaching Assistant, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004-2006 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are too many to thank. I first wish to thank my advisor, Tze-lan Sang, for her guidance in the initial stage of my project—selecting the right topic for my dissertation—and her advice and support during the course of my graduate studies, research, and dissertation writing. Her rigorous research and academic writing have made her one of my most important role models. My gratitude also goes to Maram Epstein, Alison Groppe, and David L. Li, who have inspired me and contributed to my dissertation greatly on various occasions. Maram Epstein possesses many virtues, particularly filial piety. More importantly, she is open and generous with her wisdom. After observing her introduce the concept of karma in an undergraduate course, I was inspired to adopt her teaching philosophy, which emphasizes the cultivation of each student’s intellect and morality. Her sincere dedication to education is sure to earn her good karma. I was also fortunate to take a seminar with Stephen Durrant, whose humor and broad knowledge interested me in learning early Chinese literature. My dream of becoming a Ph.D. would not have come true without the generous five-year support of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures. I am also thankful to the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies and the Center for the Study of Women in Society, which offered me travel grants to attend conferences. I have been lucky to have many friendly and encouraging classmates in Eugene, who have fought with me, shared my joys and frustrations, brightened up my life, and even taught me how to cook; Wang Li, Ye Qing, Zhang Yu, Bryna Tuft, Kyle Shernuck, and Shen Yipeng particularly deserve recognition. I already miss them, and I hope our friendships continue and “transgress” all kinds of boundaries! vii I must also thank my family and friends back in Hong Kong and mainland China for their help with the purchase/collection of books, DVDs, and other materials. I would also like to express my appreciation to Laikwan Pang, Wai-ching Wong, and Ming-yan Lai at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for being my cheerleaders. I am most indebted to all who love me and support my academic pursuits; my mother is the greatest of all. viii For my mother ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................... 1 Contesting the Chinese “Popular” ......................................................................... 4 Looking at the Political Economy of Film & TV to Understand Post-1989 China...................................................................................................................... 8 The June Fourth Event and the Spiritual Turn................................................. 12 Zhuxuanlü, Censorship, and the Socialist Spirit.............................................. 14 How Far Can We Go: Cultural Policy as Reproductive Power & Screen Products as a Site of Institutional and Ideological Contestation............................ 30 Structure of the Dissertation .................................................................................. 36 II. SELF-SACRIFICING PARTY OFFICIALS VS. RUTHLESS PROFITEERS..... 43 Ren Changxia as a National Model: Local Heroine for the State’s Appropriation......................................................................................................... 48 Screening a Sacrificing Economic Subject in Ren Changxia .......................... 53 Screening Discourses of Socialist Party-Patriotism............................................... 61 Homogeneous Gender at Work.............................................................................. 68 Ruthless Profiteers and Lost in Beijing as Critical Realism .................................. 77 Disposable Body and (Re-)Productive Body as Commodities.............................. 100 Conclusion: The State as Savior to Evils of Capitalism ........................................ 111 III. SOCIALIST MARRIAGE FIDELITY AND SEXUAL BOUNDARIES VS. TRANSGRESSIVE LICENTIOUS DESIRE....................................................... 116 Golden Marriage: Zhuxuanlü TV Drama Representing Model Sexual Subjects.................................................................................................................. 118 Narrow Dwelling: Excessive Sexual Desire on the Market................................... 144 x Chapter Page Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 169 IV. PARTY PATRIOTISM VS. POLITICAL DISSENT AND TRANSGRESSIVE SEXUAL DESIRE................................................................................................ 174 Hero: A Zhuxuanlü Blockbuster............................................................................ 177 Staging Political Subjectivity........................................................................... 182 Confucian Ideas and the Socialist Spirit .......................................................... 191 From a Local Hero to a Global Hero ............................................................... 199 Reactions to a Sacrificing Political Subjectivity.............................................. 201 East Palace West Palace: The Awakening of Political Desire.............................. 207 Allegorical Reading of Power Relations.......................................................... 210 Lan Yu: Integration of Dissenting Sexual and Political Subjectivity..................... 217 Integration of Political and Sexual Taboos...................................................... 219 Homosexual Subjects and the June Fourth Tragedy........................................ 221 Memory: I Will Always Remember ...............................................................