Increasing Visibility of Lesbian Desire in Chinese Cinemas By
Shaping a New Identity: Increasing Visibility of Lesbian Desire in Chinese Cinemas by Virginia Mulky Bachelor of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, 2011 Submitted to the Undergraduate Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2011 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH UNIVERSITY HONORS COLLEGE This thesis was presented by Virginia Mulky It was defended on April 1, 2011 and approved by Alice Kuzniar, Professor, Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Waterloo Xinmin Liu, Assistant Professor, East Asian Languages and Literatures Neepa Majumdar, Associate Professor, English and Film Studies Thesis Director: Mark Lynn Anderson, Associate Professor, English and Film Studies ii Copyright © by Virginia Mulky 2011 iii Shaping a New Identity: Increasing Visibility of Lesbian Desire in Chinese Cinemas Virginia Mulky, B.Phil. University of Pittsburgh, 2011 In recent years there has been a noticeable increase in Chinese-language films about lesbian romances. Many of these films have found commercial and critical success in Chinese markets such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as honors at international film festivals.In order to analyzes how these films reflect and shape Chinese lesbian identity, this thesis considers how a range of contemporary Chinese-language films produced in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and abroad deploys the figure of the lesbian. In particular, this study examines the production of such films by Chinese cultures outside of Mainland China as a means of promoting an alternative, inclusive Chinese identity in opposition to Mainland censorship. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 8 LOVE’S LONE FLOWER: RE-IMAGINING THE PAST...................................................
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