THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SOUND IMAGES, ACOUSTIC CULTURE, AND TRANSMEDIALITY IN 1920S-1940S CHINESE CINEMA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DEVISION OF THE HUMANITIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES BY LING ZHANG CHICAGO, ILLINOIS JUNE 2017 Table of Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………iii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………. x Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………… 1 Chapter One Sound in Transition and Transmission: The Evocation and Mediation of Acoustic Experience in Two Stars in the Milky Way (1931) ...................................................................................................................................................... 20 Chapter Two Metaphoric Sound, Rhythmic Movement, and Transcultural Transmediality: Liu Na’ou and The Man Who Has a Camera (1933) …………………………………………………. 66 Chapter Three When the Left Eye Meets the Right Ear: Cinematic Fantasia and Comic Soundscape in City Scenes (1935) and 1930s Chinese Film Sound… 114 Chapter Four An Operatic and Poetic Atmosphere (kongqi): Sound Aesthetic and Transmediality in Fei Mu’s Xiqu Films and Spring in a Small Town (1948) … 148 Filmography…………………………………………………………………………………………… 217 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………… 223 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Over the long process of bringing my dissertation project to fruition, I have accumulated a debt of gratitude to many gracious people who have made that journey enjoyable and inspiring through the contribution of their own intellectual vitality. First and foremost, I want to thank my dissertation committee for its unfailing support and encouragement at each stage of my project. Each member of this small group of accomplished scholars and generous mentors—with diverse personalities, academic backgrounds and critical perspectives—has nurtured me with great patience and expertise in her or his own way. I am very fortunate to have James Lastra as my dissertation co-chair. His comprehensive knowledge and keen insight on sound and cinema studies have significantly enriched my conceptual thinking, enabling me to remap the contours of early Chinese cinema with acute attention to the acoustic realms of film history and popular media. Jim taught me how to “listen” to, and not just “watch,” a film, thus expanding my experience of the sensory and theoretical potential of discussing cinema as an audiovisual medium. Jim has always been generous with his time and energy, and I thank him for our many intellectually stimulating conversations. I have learned from him how to write academically with passion and rigor. Jim not only guided me through a relatively new academic field, but also set a fine example of how one might be both a brilliant scholar and a caring person. My co-chair, Tom Gunning, likewise deserves my sincere appreciation and admiration. I have always been inspired by Tom’s profound intellectual curiosity and encyclopedic knowledge of cinema, art, culture, and history. With his enthusiasm, humor, warmth, and cheerfulness, Tom not only taught me how to appreciate and productively study early cinema and film history, but also modeled how a distinguished scholar can be an articulate, effective, and open-minded teacher able to convey a dedication to knowledge and a passionate humanistic vision to his students. The iii courses I have taken with Tom, our numerous illuminating conversations, and my careful reading of his insightful and beautifully written work, have all influenced my thinking tremendously and shaped both my dissertation project and academic path. Under his guidance, I have learned to consciously historicize and contextualize my research subjects with a global perspective, going beyond the fields of Chinese or East Asian cinema and media to construct a transcultural dialogue. Paola Iovene is another crucial member of my committee. She has been a rigorous mentor and sincere friend, kindly providing significant academic, moral, and emotional support whenever needed. With her keen insight, critical mind, and expertise in Chinese literature and literary theory, she has constantly pushed me to challenge disciplinary assumptions and generalizations in order to explore the historical and conceptual complexity of early Chinese film sound aesthetic and politics. She has worked with me closely at different stages of my dissertation project, meticulously reading my drafts and offering constructive commentary, and I have benefited greatly from her consistent encouragement and career advice. Together with Jacob Eyferth, Paola has hosted numerous gatherings and screenings, creating a warm, dynamic atmosphere full of wonderful food and illuminating discussion that constitutes my most beautiful memories of Hyde Park. I am deeply indebted to Paola for her devotion and generosity. I am also deeply grateful to two other members of my committee, Daniel Morgan and Xinyu Dong. Dan arrived during the later stage of my dissertation writing, yet he has always graciously offered his perceptive suggestions with precision and proficiency. My conceptualization of film sound theory and acoustic culture has benefited greatly from Dan’s solid theoretical insight and impeccable professionalism. He has been a responsive mentor and has provided me with valuable advices concerning both my academic and professional development. Xinyu Dong is equally significant to the development of my project, having encouraged me to pursue film sound studies iv in early Chinese cinema as the major focus of my dissertation. Her rigorous questions and meticulous attention to early Chinese film history have greatly enriched my work. Professors Judith Zeitlin and Wu Hung have also influenced my transmedial approach to early Chinese film sound aesthetic and aural culture with their extraordinary expertise in traditional Chinese theater and art history, respectively. I have taken courses with both of them, attended various stimulating conferences that they organized, and been motivated by many inspirational conversations with them. Regular Chinese opera film screenings and discussions at workshops with Professor Zeitlin and other University of Chicago scholars from different academic backgrounds have both deepened and broadened my interest in and capability for exploring the complex aesthetic interactions between traditional theater and cinema in Republican China. Professors Zeitlin and Wu’s open-mindedness, enthusiasm, intellectual curiosity, and genuine interest in cinema and other forms of audiovisual culture have inspired me to situate film and media studies in a broader cultural and artistic context with more comparative and interrelated perspectives. In addition to their instrumental roles in fostering a vital academic environment for China studies on campus, Zeitlin and Wu graciously organize a dumpling party every Chinese New Year with great hospitality, enlivening my long and austere academic journey in snowy Chicago winters with a sense of festivity. My sincere gratitude also goes to other great teachers at the University of Chicago who not only set fine examples with their diligent devotion to scholarship and teaching, but who also engage with students in the intellectually dynamic atmosphere to which they contribute. I have benefited tremendously from the teaching of and conversations with Miriam Hansen (1949-2011). Her untimely demise has been a great loss for the cinema and media studies community at the University of Chicago, but her acute academic rigor, persistence, and courage will forever inspire v me. Michael Raine has always offered himself as an engaging, insightful, and generous mentor, colleague, and friend, untiringly discussing sound theory and practice in early Japanese and Chinese cinema with me. Jennifer Wild’s expertise in French cinema and gender studies, together with her warm care and trust, have made my intellectual life at Chicago all the richer and more pleasant. I also studied and worked with Yuri Tsivian, whose expansive knowledge about and keen insight into Soviet cinema and 1920s avant-garde art movements have greatly informed my conceptualization of rhythm and musicality in relation to metaphoric sound in early Chinese silent and partial-sound films. I also want to thank Jacob Eyferth, Michael K. Bourdaghs, Kyeong-Hee Choi, Reginald Jackson, and Hoyt Long of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures for attending my workshop presentations of dissertation chapters and providing much needed constructive criticism and suggestions from the perspectives of East Asian studies scholars. I am very fortunate to have enjoyed the steadfast support, earnest friendship, and intellectual companionship of my colleagues and friends at the University of Chicago during my academic journey there. The interdisciplinary dissertation-writing group I took part in together with Anne Rebull and Stephanie Su not only pushed me to make progress in my writing, but also provided me with critical insights gleaned from reading other members’ work and discussing their suggestions for my project. Yuqian Yan has offered deep care and affection with her sincerity and tenderness, and generously shared opinions and insights relevant to my research. Her precious friendship has made my years in Hyde Park truly delightful and memorable. The enthusiasm, musical expertise, and mesmerizing original music of my cherished composer friends Chen Yao, Lu Wang, Anthony Cheung, and Alican Çamci have inspired me immensely in my analyses