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Jackie Chan Fights Lei Feng? an Anthropological Consideration of the Televisual Representation of Heroes in Contemporary Urban China

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Jackie Chan Fights Lei Feng? an Anthropological Consideration of the Televisual Representation of Heroes in Contemporary Urban China Jackie Chan Fights Lei Feng? An anthropological consideration of the televisual representation of heroes in contemporary urban China Makiko T aniguchi A dissertation submitted to the University of London, in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Department of Anthropology and Sociology, School of Oriental and African Studies Word Count: 98,284 ProQuest Number: 10672977 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672977 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract of thesis This thesis examines the discourse of heroes, and, particularly, articulatory practices involved in the televisual representation of heroes, in the changing context of contemporary urban China. Historically, the Chinese Communist Party has - like earlier Chinese regimes - actively promoted ‘heroes’ as exemplars of sanctioned politico-moral action. Especially during the 60s, the CCP sought to define and generate heroes as ideal ‘socialist’ subjects (e.g. Lei Feng). In the post-Mao era, massive social changes have resulted from the economic reforms, China’s opening to the West, and the seemingly inexorable rise of commercialisation and consumerism. There is disenchantment with China’s utopian socialist vision. We might suppose that communist heroes promoted by the state have been withdrawn from the spotlight, and replaced by popular figures who “represent the will of the people”, sports or film stars (e.g. Jackie Chan). Television seems to have shifted from ‘mouthpiece of the party’ to competitor in the entertainment market, shaped by audience share and profitability. I problematise this narrative as overly simplistic in presupposing rupture between the pre- and post­ reform China. I also seek to provide an anthropologically-informed critique of approaches employed in media studies - how warranted are these approaches for a non-Western context like China? My thesis involves more than a mechanical application of media studies to what I observed in more than two years fieldwork. Anthropological attention to television is innovative and, perhaps, ‘trendy’. But television is an increasingly significant phenomenon in China. Watching television is the most popular leisure activity, and television continues to assume heightened importance in people’s everyday lives. My research does not just concern how people watch and discuss television, for I participated in a television production course at the Beijing Broadcasting Institute, and subsequently had direct experience of working in television production. Through positioning my research on television and heroes I have spoken to debates on the efficacy and partiality of ethnography. Thus, my apparently narrow focus has had as its ambition an anthropological (re-)consideration of: social changes 3 in contemporary PRC; some approaches prevalent in media studies; and the aspects of fieldwork endeavour itself. 4 Table of contents Author’s declaration page 2 Abstract page 3 Table of conents ............................................................................. .............. page 5 List of figures and images page 6 Ackowledgement .......................................................................................... page 8 Chapter O ne................................................................................................ page 10 Looking for Heroes: Introduction Chapter T w o page 60 Problems of Heroes: Defining the contested concept Chapter Three page 113 From Perfection to Ordinary: Changing representation of heroes Chapter Four page 156 Story of Laobaixing: Modem subjects and ordinary people Chapter Five ............. page 194 Engaging Heroes: Television audience and articulation of multiple subjects Chapter S ix................. page 267 Jackie Chan Fights Lei Feng?: Conclusion Bibliography page 288 5 List of figures and images Figure 1.01.....................................................................................................page 13 Poster image of Lei Feng in his army uniform (From the author’s personal collection) Figure 1.02.................................................................................................... page 13 Poster image of Lei Feng studying Mao’s writing (From the author’s personal collection) Figure 1.03..................... page 14 Image of Jackie Chan (Taken from a promotional material for the documentary film ‘Jackie Chan: My Story’, from the author’s personal collection) Figure 1.04.................................................................................................... page 19 Newspaper clipping of model worker (From Beijing Morning News, 1999/9/17. p. 9.) Figure 2.01.................................................................................................... page 81 Image of a model worker, Li Suli (From Beijing Qingnicin Bao, 1999/4/27. p. 1) Figure 3.01.....................................................................................................page 122 Screenshot: the image of Xia Xiaoxue, the main character of television drama series <Qian Shou> (From Beijing Qingnian Bao, 1999/5/5. p. 11) Figure 3.02.................................................................................................... page 126 Screenshot: the main character Zhang Damin from television drama series <Pinzui Zhang Damin deXinfn Shenghno> (From the web site sina.com, 2001) Figure 3.03................................................. page 126 Screenshot: the image of Damin and his wife, Yunfang from television drama series <Pinzui Zhang Damin deXinfu Shenghuo> (From the web site sina.com, 2001) Figure 5.01.................................................................................................... page 229 Screenshot: Mother and Son from <Renzi> (From Beijing Qingnian Bao, 1/12/1998. p. 1) Figure 5.02.................................................................................................... page 229 Screenshot: Three heroes - Xiao Feng (center), Duan Yu (on right) and Xu Zhu (on left), from <TianJong Babn> (From Beijing TV Weekly, 15-21/3/1999. p.25) Figure 5.03 page 230 6 Image of Wu Saijun, the original model for Wang Zili (From Beijing Qingnian Bao, 3/12/1998. p. 2) Figure 5.04................................................................... page 230 Screenshot: The final scene of <Renzi>i Wang Zili in front of the donation box (From Beijing Gnangbo Dianshi Bao , 7/7/1998. p. 8) 7 Acknowledgement It has taken a long journey to complete this thesis. Over the course of this journey, I have received so much support from so many people, who became the reason for me to complete this thesis. Sparked by a small personal curiosity, this research has grown to be much bigger project. Too many people in Beijing have contributed to this thesis for me to thank all of them, but I want to especially thank those friends, Cai Weifeng, Wang Cui, Lei Ming, Wang Qichao, Aline Rebis, and Tang Zhifang who often went beyond the call of friendship in supporting this research. I am particularly grateful to my wonderful friend Sun Lei who has been a source of endless inspiration and the best critic of this work. Alexander Pelayo also granted me his generous support during my fieldwork and I cannot thank him enough. My acknowledgement also goes to my colleagues at the Milky Way production house, who coped with a useless intern who kept asking questions dming their very busy schedule. In particular, I would like to thank Sui Xiaomei and Dong Yue. This thesis has benefited greatly from the staff of the department of Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, of the University of London, who have given me much inspiration and nurtured my interests that developed to take the form of this thesis. I would like to express my special gratitude to Lola Martinez who has given me the most constructive guidance to this end. I also want to thank Stuart Thompson and Mark Hobart for their supervision. Many thanks go to Richard Harrison and David Kaye for painstakingly helping me to polish my English. I owe special thanks to Jim Weldon, who has not only helped me by editing of this thesis, but has also given me consistent support throughout the painful writing up process. There is one more friend who shall remain nameless but to whom I would like to express my endless gratitude. Without this special person’s unconditional support throughout the whole journey, I would have given up this thesis long time ago. I owe my greatest thanks to my parents and to my grandmother, who have always supported me in times of difficulty during the long process of research and writing. Without their love, understanding and patience, this thesis would not exist. This thesis is dedicated to my grandmother, who gave me a curious mind and put me under the spell of a love for China. She keeps saying to me “I cannot die without seeing you finishing off your PhD thesis” - and that is probably why it took me so long. I hope she will live for many more years to come, even though
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