Small Screen China: an Exploration of Contemporary Social
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by University of Oregon Scholars' Bank SMALL SCREEN CHINA: AN EXPLORATION OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL ISSUES AS DEPICTED IN CHINESE TV DRAMAS by JULIE ELIZABETH HACKENBRACHT A THESIS Presented to the Department ofEast Asian Languages and Literatures and the Graduate School ofthe University of Oregon in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Master ofArts June 2009 ii "Small Screen China: An Exploration ofContemporary Social Issues as Depicted in Chinese TV Dramas," a thesis prepared by Julie Elizabeth Hackenbracht in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the Master ofArts degree in the Department ofEast Asian Languages and Literatures. This thesis has been approved and accepted by: Tze-Ian Sang, Chair ofthe Examining Committee Date Committee in Charge: Tze-Ian Sang, Chair Alison Groppe Eileen Otis Accepted by: Dean ofthe Graduate School -------------------- 111 © 2009 Julie Elizabeth Hackenbracht IV An Abstract ofthe Thesis of Julie Elizabeth Hackenbracht for the degree of Master ofArts in the Department ofEast Asian Languages and Literatures to be taken June 2009 Title: SMALL SCREEN CHIJ"lA: AN EXPLORATION OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL ISSUES AS DEPICTED W CHWESE TV DRAMAS Approved: _ Tze-Lan Sang As Mainland China transitions from a planned socialist economy to one more market-focused, its economic successes have garnered attention worldwide. However, this astounding economic growth brought with it a number ofnegative side effects, including corruption and a resurgence ofprostitution. Gender relations have also undergone major shifts from state mandated gender equality in the Mao era to a call for the refeminization ofwomen in the Reform era. How is the Chinese population navigating this transition? In this thesis, I utilize existing melodrama theory and relevant sociological studies to explore how three Chinese TV dramas-I'm Not a Hero (2004), Close to You, Make Me Warm (2006), and Give Me a Cigarette (2006), later renamed Evening Rain--expose and explore some ofthese existing social problems, providing a platform for their viewers to reflect on and explore these issues on their own. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Julie Elizabeth Hackenbracht GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts DEGREES AWARDED: Master ofArts, Modern Chinese Literature, 2009, University of Oregon Bachelor ofArts, East Asian Studies, 2004, Harvard College AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Contemporary Chinese Television Drama PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Consultant, APCO Worldwide, 2004-2006 Sales manager, 798 Photo Gallery, 2007 Teaching assistant, Department ofEast Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Oregon, Eugene, 2007-2009 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Magna cum Laude, Harvard College, 2004 VI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank the chair ofmy committee, Professor Tze Ian Sang and my other committee members, Professors Alison Groppe and Eileen Otis, for their encouragement and expertise. I would also like to thank Professor Kathleen Karlyn for introducing me to melodrama theory, which forms the theoretical basis for this work. For their direction, I would like to express gratitude to Professors Alisa Freedman and Maram Epstein. My fellow graduate students in the department ofEast Asian Languages and Literatures, and in particular Wingshan Ho, Zhang Yu, Mei Yang, and Bryna Tuft, deserve attention for their support and willingness to brainstorm with me about Chinese television dramas as well. I would also like to thank attendees ofthe 2008 Western Conference ofthe Association for Asian Studies at the University ofColorado, Boulder for their helpful feedback regarding this project, and in particular my work on Close to You, Make Me Warm. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and friends for their constant support. Always willing to offer advice and constructive criticism, they are an incredible resource that I am lucky to have. Vll TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 A BriefHistory ofChinese TV Dramas 2 The Regulatory Process................................................................................. 4 Audience Construction.................................................................................. 6 Melodrama as a Theoretical Framework....................................................... 7 Melodrama in the Post-Mao Context 12 II. THE THREAT OF WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE AND THE RISE OF A NEW BAIGUJING IN CLOSE TO YOU, MAKE ME WARM 15 Theoretical Framework................................................................................. 17 The Post-Mao Ideal ofFemininity and Career Women 20 A Close Look at the Series Itself 24 Reading Against the Grain 39 III. GIVE ME A CIGARETTE AND ITS PORTRAYAL OF SANPEI AND THE RICE BOWL OF YOUTH 43 A Close Look at the Internet Novel.............................................................. 44 The Transformation into a TV Drama 46 Sanpei Xiaojie and the KTV Industry in China 48 Violence and Lack ofLegal Protection 51 The Rice Bowl of Youth 54 A Close Look at the Series Itself 55 Societal Attitudes Towards Workers in the Entertainment Industry....... 59 The Rice Bowl of Youth as Depicted in Give Me a Cigarette 61 Reading Give Me a Cigarette as Melodrama 63 viii Chapter Page IV. BUSINESS CORRUPTION AND CHINA'S UNDERWORLD AS DEPICTED IN I'MNOTA HERO 70 Theoretical Framework................................................................................. 71 Corruption and Criminal Gangs in Post-Reform China 73 Anti-Corruption Dramas and the Chinese New Left 75 Anti-Corruption Heroes and the Role ofWomen within the Genre 78 A Shift in the Focus ofAnti-Corruption Efforts 80 A Close Look at the Series Itself 82 The Corruption of"Tiger" Wang Zhong 86 The Battle Between New Left and Neo-Liberal Ideals in I'm Not a Hero 90 Reading I'm Not a Hero as Melodrama 95 V. TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WHITE BONE DEMONS AND FOX FAIRIES 99 The White Bone Demon and the Fox Fairy.................................................. 100 A Reexamination ofthe Three Dramas 104 BIBLIOGRAPHY 110 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION At the start of China's market reforms in 1978, "there was less than one television receiver per hundred people, and only 10 million had access to television."l By 2002, just over twenty years later, "there were a total of 448 million televisions in use in China, averaging 107 per 100 households.,,2 This astounding growth led to China's becoming, by 2008, "the world's largest TV market by audience and [to] fast becoming one ofthe world's most prodigious producers ofTV content." 3 The growth of Chinese TV serial drama mirrors this more general trend. While only a total of200 television dramas were broadcast between 1958 and 1966, and the first Chinese serial drama, Eighteen Years in the Enemy Camp (Diying shiba nian) did not air until 1981,4 by 2005, China had become the world's largest producer ofTV dramas, with a total of 12,000 episodes being 1 Ying Zhu and Chris Berry, introduction, TV China, ed. Ying Zhu and Chris Berry (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009) 3. 2 Tongdao Zhang, "Chinese Television Audience Research," TV China, ed. Ying Zhu and Chris Berry (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009) 172. 3 Kristian Kender, Anke Redl, and Rowan Simons, ed., 2008 China Media Yearbook and Directory (Beijing: China Media Monitor Intelligence, 2008) 18. 4 Ying Zhu, Michael Keane, and Ruoyun Bai, introduction, TV Drama in China, TransAsia: Screen Cultures, ed. Ying Zhu, Michael Keane, and Ruoyun Bai (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008) 4. 2 produced that year. 5 These dramas are immensely popular with Chinese audiences, and according to Michael Keane, "the 'Chinese viewer' watches an average offifty-two minutes oftelevision drama per day-a diet constituting thirty per cent ofoverall television consumption.,,6 Statistics reveal that in 2002, "ninety per cent ofall revenue from television advertising came from television drama.,,7 In recent years, Chinese television drama has garnered increased scholarly attention; since 2005, numerous articles, essay collections, and books focusing on Chinese television drama have been published. The thesis that follows will build on this recent scholarship to closely examine three popular Chinese TV dramas, illustrating how they expose and explore existing social issues in contemporary China. It will also consider recent developments in melodrama theory to investigate the complex social issues they embody. To set the stage for this exploration, I will examine recent developments in China's TV industry, followed by an overview ofrelevant theories ofmelodrama. A BriefHistory ofChinese TVDramas A number ofseparate genres ofTV drama have emerged since China's first serial appeared on screen in 1981. In the 1980s, most dramas explored issues related to social 5 Kristian Kender, Anke Redl, and Rowan Simons, ed., 2007 China Media Yearbook and Directory (Beijing: China Media Monitor Intelligence, 2007) 15. 6 Michael A. Keane, "Television Drama in China: Remaking the Market," Media International Australia (Culture andPolicy) 115 (2005): 82,21 May 2008 <http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00002430/01/2430.pdf>. Note: This information is based on statistics from China Television Drama Report, 2002-2003 (Beijing: CSM Publishing, 2003), a report I have not been able to access. 7Keane,82. Note: This information is based on statistics from China Television Drama Report, 2002-2003