Screening Tibet: Approaching New Tibetan Cinema from a Postcolonial Perspective and the Field of Subaltern Studies
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Screening Tibet: Approaching New Tibetan Cinema from a Postcolonial Perspective and the Field of Subaltern Studies Yang Li A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Geography, Politics and Sociology Newcastle University September 2017 Abstract This research will identify and explore the intersections of social space and film space in new cinematic representations/aesthetics of Tibet. It will explore questions of postcolonialism, subaltern status, and the power of elite groups/domination, as captured by the different social/cultural discourses and relations that characterise Tibetan social, cultural and historical issues. This will be done through a sociological analysis of the screening of Tibet in the New Tibetan Cinema. The research will also draw on the field of subaltern studies to provide an innovative and critical perspective on, and an empirical and theoretical understanding of, postcolonial power in the context of Tibet. Two key concepts underpin this thesis. Firstly, the research will move beyond the conception of colonialism commonly applied to the cultural and representational issues of Tibet. More specifically, these issues will be explored using postcolonial theory in conjunction with subaltern studies, which can be considered to be of great significance in discussing Tibetan issues. Secondly, the research will ask: “Who are the subaltern subjects within the New Tibetan Cinema?” It will examine this from different socio-political and cultural perspectives: Western, Han Chinese and Tibetan. In this respect, the research will discuss the central question of subaltern studies – that is, “Can the Subaltern Speak?” (Spivak, 1988) – through the analysis of New Tibetan Cinema. If the subaltern can speak, who is speaking and from where do they speak? This research will concentrate on a subaltern studies approach to the positioning of the cinematic representations of Tibet/Tibetan issues in the interdisciplinary space. In so doing, sociology and film studies will speak to each other within the broad context of postcolonial studies. The research will be developed using a series of methodological approaches. These are cinematic approaches; they include discourse, textual/contextual analysis (semiotics analysis, narrative analysis and the auteurist approach), and a variety of sociological perspectives, including postcolonial and subaltern analysis. i Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge and express my appreciation to Professor Elaine Campbell and Dr Sabrina Yu, my supervisory team, for their outstanding support, encouragement and feedback to improve and enrich my work throughout the preparation, data collection and writing of this thesis over these four years. Importantly, I would also like to offer a big thank you and hug to my parents for giving me financial and emotional support and for their strong, unconditional, and thoughtful love, without which I could not have completed this research. I extend my appreciation to my friends, my colleagues, and the staff at Newcastle University, who have been so kind and helpful. Especially many thanks for the company of Ursula Balderson, Diana Kopbayeva and Pardis Asadi Zeidabadi over these four years. I have grown up as a person in the sociology department of Newcastle University. And I love sociology, which has not only trained my academic skills but also provided an alternative perspective to guide my life course. I am so proud to be a sociologist! Thanks, sociology. I am especially grateful for the friendship of James Cummings across the four years of PhD life; he has also enriched my academic experience through our many conversations about cultural diversity, difference and communication both in English and in Chinese. Finally, many thanks to the three Tibetan directors, Pema Tseden, Sonthar Gyal, and Agang Yargyi; the organisers of Lhasa Film Festival; and my Tibetan friends for their support for this research. ii Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………i Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………….ii Contents ……………………………………………………………………………………. iii Lists of Figures …………………………………………………………………………….. vi Chapter One Introduction: The “Lost Horizon” ………………………………………… 1 1.1 Background of the Thesis: Where is Tibet? ................................................................ 2 1.2 Introduction to the New Tibetan Cinema and Tibetan Directors …………………….. 7 1.2.1 The New Tibetan Cinema ………………………………………………………9 1.2.2 Tibetan Directors and Their Filmmaking ……………………………………..13 1.3 The Key Theoretical Understandings and Research Questions ………………………19 1.3.1 Postcolonialism and Subaltern Studies ………………………………………..19 1.3.2 Research Questions …………………………………………………………... 21 1.4 The Structure of the Thesis ………………………………………………………….. 22 Chapter Two Literature Review: The Practice of Postcolonialism within Film Criticism……………………………………………………………………………………..26 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………..26 2.1 Third Cinema.................................................................................................................27 2.2 The PRC’s Ethnic Minority Film Studies …………………………………………….36 2.2.1 Minority Discourse in the PRC ………………………………………………..36 2.2.2 Chinese Ethnic Minority Film Studies ………………………………………...39 2.3 Fourth Cinema ………………………………………………………………………..45 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………54 Chapter Three: Framing the Research Methodology …………………………………....55 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………….55 3.1 Epistemologically Sociological Approaches.................................................................56 3.1.1 The Postcolonial Approach ……………………………………………………56 3.1.2 The Postcolonial Feminist Approach ………………………………………….59 3.1.2.1 Why Feminism? ……………………………………………………………60 3.1.2.2 Postcolonial Feminism ……………………………………………………..61 3.2 Reading New Tibetan Cinema ………………………………………………………..63 3.2.1 Textual/Contextual Analysis …………………………………………………..64 3.2.1.1 Semiotics Analysis …………………………………………………………65 3.2.1.2 Narrative Analysis ………………………………………………………….67 3.2.1.3 The Auteurist Approach ….………………………………………………...70 iii 3.2.2 Discourse Analysis ……………………………………………………………72 3.3 Empirical Research Methods …………………………………………………………75 3.3.1 Understanding Data Collection ………………………………………………..75 3.3.2 Observational Fieldwork ………………………………………………………78 3.4 Positionality and Possible Ethical Issues ……………………………………………..85 3.4.1 Ethnicity ……………………………………………………………………….85 3.4.2 Gender …………………………………………………………………………88 3.4.3 Social Classification …………………………………………………………..90 3.4.4 Ethics ………………………………………………………………………….91 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………93 Chapter Four: “Tibetan” Film Festivals and the Cultural Identities of New Tibetan Cinema ………………………………………………………………………………………94 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………..94 4.1 A Diasporic Film Festival within the Multicultural Metropolis – The Tibet Film Festival…………….…………………………………………………………………. 96 4.1.1 The Tibet Film Festival in Zurich ……………………………………………..96 4.1.2 The Tibetan Diaspora and New Tibetan Cinema as “Imagined Communities” 98 4.2 The Film Festival as Tool of Cultural Policy – the Beijing International Film Festival Ethnic Film Festival …………………………………………………………………102 4.2.1 The Beijing International Film Festival Ethnic Film Festival ……………….103 4.2.2 The Internal Diaspora and New Tibetan Cinema in Chinese “Ethnic Minorities” Discourse …………………………………………………………………...104 4.3 A Film Festival Involving an “Independent” Discourse – The Lhasa Film Festival .108 4.3.1 Chinese Independent Films …………………………………………………..109 4.3.2 The Lhasa Film Festival within Chinese Independent Film Festivals………..113 4.3.3 Independent Discourse and New Tibetan Cinema …………………………...116 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………..121 Chapter Five: Self-Representations of Tibetan Ethnicity and Culture within New Tibetan Cinema …………………………………………………………………………...123 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………123 5.1 Tibetan Films Made by Pema Tseden.........................................................................125 5.2 The “Tibetan Trilogy” ………………………………………………………………126 5.2.1 The Silent Holy Stones – Struggle …………………………………………...128 5.2.2 The Search – Search …………………………………………………………130 5.2.3 Old Dog – Spiritual Suicide ……………………………………………….133 5.3 Beyond the “Tibetan Trilogy” ………………………………………………………136 5.3.1 The Sacred Arrow – Return ………………………………………………….137 5.3.2 “Return” through Tibetan Manhood …………………………………………139 5.4 Tibetan Films Made by Sonthar Gyal ………………………………………………143 iv 5.4.1 Spiritual Salvation through Tibetan Buddhism ……………………………...144 5.4.2 Spiritual Salvation through Familial Relationships ………………………….146 5.4.3 Spiritual Salvation through Tibetan Manhood ……………………………….148 5.5 Tibetan Films Made by Agang Yargyi ……………………………………………...151 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………..153 Chapter Six: The Silent Tibetan Women and Their Representations in New Tibetan Cinema ……………………………………………………………………………………..158 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………158 6.1 The Silent Tibetan Women in Social Context.............................................................160 6.2 The Silent Tibetan Women in the Role of Family Member ………………………...163 6.2.1 The Family Member as Mother …………………………………………….163 6.2.2 The Family Member as wife ………………………………………………..168 6.2.3 Other Women Family Members ……………………………………………175 6.3 The Silent Tibetan Women in the Role of Cultural Member ……………………….178 6.4 Can the Silent Tibetan Women Speak? …………………………………………….181 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………..189 Chapter Seven Conclusion: Seeing Tibet ………………………………………………..191 7.1 Critical