Performing Chinatown: Hollywood Cinema, Tourism, and the Making of a Los Angeles Community, 1882-1943
Performing Chinatown: Hollywood Cinema, Tourism, and the Making of a Los Angeles Community, 1882-1943 By William Gow A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies and the Designated Emphasis in Film Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Catherine Ceniza Choy, Co-Chair Professor Shari Huhndorf, Co-Chair Associate Professor Weihong Bao Associate Professor Michael Omi Spring 2018 Copyright © 2018 by William Gow Abstract Performing Chinatown: Hollywood Cinema, Tourism, and the Making of a Los Angeles Community, 1882-1943 By William Gow Doctorate in Philosophy in Ethnic Studies with a designated emphasis in Film Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Catherine Ceniza Choy, Co-Chair Professor Shari Huhndorf, Co-Chair Examining a period of national debate over immigration and U.S. citizenship, this dissertation foregrounds the social, economic, and political contexts through which representations of Chinatown in Los Angeles were produced and consumed. My dissertation asks: how did Chinese Americans in Los Angeles create, negotiate, and critically engage changing representations of Chinatown? To what extent did popular representations and economic opportunities in Hollywood inform life in Los Angeles Chinatown? And in what ways were the rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship and national belonging related to popular representations of Chinatown? To answer these questions, this project examines four different “Chinatowns” in Los Angeles—Old Chinatown, New Chinatown, China City, and MGM’s set for The Good Earth—between the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and the law’s symbolic repeal in 1943 during World War II.
[Show full text]