IN SEARCH OF LAUGHTER IN MAOIST CHINA: CHINESE COMEDY FILM 1949-1966 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Ying Bao, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2008 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Kirk A. Denton, Adviser Professor Mark Bender Professor J. Ronald Green _____________________ Professor Patricia Sieber Adviser East Asian Languages and Literatures Graduate Program Copyright by Ying Bao 2008 ABSTRACT This dissertation is a revisionist study examining the production and consumption of comedy film—a genre that has suffered from relative critical and theoretical neglect in film studies—in a culturally understudied period from 1949 to 1966 in the People’s Republic of China. Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach, it scrutinizes the ideological, artistic, and industrial contexts as well as the distinctive textures of Chinese comedy films produced in the so-called “Seventeen Years” period (1949-1966). Taking comedy film as a contested site where different ideologies, traditions, and practices collide and negotiate, I go beyond the current canon of Chinese film studies and unearth forgotten films and talents to retrieve the heterogeneity of Chinese cinema. The varieties of comedy examined—mostly notably the contemporary social satires in the mid-1950s, the so- called “eulogistic comedies,” and comedian-centered comedies in dialect and period comedies, as well as lighthearted comedies of the late 1950s and the early 1960s— problematize issues of genre, modernity, nation, gender, class, sublimity, and everyday ii life in light of the “culture of laughter” (Bakhtin) within a heavily politicized national cinema. Situating my study in the current scholarship of comedy and Chinese cinema, Chapter 1 historicizes the genre of comedy and provides an overview of its definitions in both Western cinema and Chinese cultural criticism. Using Unfinished Comedy—a 1957 satire banned before its completion—as a starting point, Chapter 2 revisits the crisis of the genre in the early years of the PRC and examines the tensions between artistic autonomy and the control of the authorities through a case study of the director Lü Ban. Chapter 3 looks into the mechanism of how ideal social relations were imagined and articulated in eulogistic comedy. Chapter 4 focuses on dialect comedies and film adaptations of folk comedies across regional divisions, which engage a complex dialogue between the local and the national. Chapter 5 examines how filmmakers tried to fuse satire and eulogy in lighthearted comedies of family life and work life. The epilogue reflects on how comedy films transcend a binary opposition between propaganda and entertainment, and it seeks to prompt further studies on the resonance of films from the Mao era in contemporary China. iii Dedicated to Mom, Dad, Kang, and Keyu In love and appreciation iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS William Arthur Ward has a famous quote: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” I am truly privileged to have a group of great teachers who have inspired me in my pursuit of knowledge and self-realization. I would like to thank above all my dissertation committee members for their unfailing support, guidance, encouragement, and patience. I am immensely grateful to my adviser Professor Kirk A. Denton for his faith, insight, humor, generosity, integrity, critical feedback, and tolerance that have seen me through my graduate work. Being his advisee and research assistant was my most rewarding and enjoyable experience at the Ohio State University. I am deeply indebted to the many stimulating conversations with Professor Patricia Sieber, whose sharp intellectual insight, high expectations, moral support, and generous help were a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. Many thanks to Professor Mark Bender for prompting me to rethink Chinese national culture with his expertise in Chinese oral traditions and folk cultures and for offering much needed advice at many critical moments in my graduate life. And I greatly appreciate the inspiration and guidance from Professor J. Ronald Green, whose v genuine passion for alternative cinema and amazing knowledge of film history are instrumental to the entire project. I am also grateful to Professor Marjorie Chan for her affecting intellectual enthusiasm and professionalism; to my former Professor Xiaomei Chen, who now teaches at University of California, Davis, for her enthusiastic encouragement and intellectual stimulation that helped initiating this project six years ago; to Professor Weihong Bao at Columbia University for sharing her perspectives and expertise on film studies with me. I have also benefited from courses and conversations with Professors Julia Andrews, Cynthia Brokaw, Christopher Reed, Meow Hui Goh at OSU, Chen Ruilin from Tsinghua University, and Dai Jinhua from Peking University. I must also thank Hong Kong scholar King Cheng for generously sending me his new publication on the history of Chinese comedy film and encouraging me to take on this study; Nicolai Volland at Singapore National University for offering critical feedback and generously sharing research resource with me; Greg Lewis at Weber State University for his remarkable effort of introducing PRC films to the English-speaking classrooms; Hu Ying and Jeff Wasserstrom at University of California, Irvine, for their enthusiastic feedbacks on my research; Rao Shuguang at China Film Archive for kindly answering my questions about his book on Chinese comedy film. I am truly grateful to Debbie Knicely for her good sense of humor, care, and administrative expertise. An exceptional debt of gratitude is owed to Peace Lee and Brian Bare for years of friendship and generous help. Sai Bhatawadekar is deeply appreciated for being such a wonderful friend who shares with me her perspectives on academia and vi life. Thanks also go to Ping-Chuan Peng, Yan Jing, Pat McAloon, Li Minggang, Chunsheng Yang, Yunxin, Tim, and many others for their friendship and help. I also want to thank various funding bodies at OSU: Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures for years of graduate associateship; PEGS Grant, OIA International Travel Grant, and College of Humanities’ Small Grant for enabling me to conduct research in Shanghai in 2003 and 2006. No words can express enough my gratitude and appreciation for my entire family. Without their unconditional love, understanding and unfailing support at all emotional, intellectual, and practical levels, I would never have come this far. My husband Kang has made my academic pursuits possible with his love, care, faith, perception, encouragement, and most generous support. My father Bao Zhonghao and mother Lin Xiuqing have nurtured my intellectual curiosity and given me the freedom to follow my heart since I was a little girl. Cao Tingwu and Liu Yiping have always been there for me whenever I need help. Bao Jie helped me obtaining research materials and has taken upon a lot of my share of family duty. The last but not the least, my son Keyu, who once thought of me as the funniest mom in the world, has been constantly bringing pleasant surprises and wonders to my life. He has shown me the power of humor and curiosity and makes life more interesting and all worthwhile for me. It is to my family that this dissertation is dedicated. vii VITA October 1972…………………………... Born in Shangrao, P.R. China 1992……………………………………. B. A. Chinese Language and Literature Jiangxi University 1995……………………………………. M. A. Literary Criticism Nanjing Normal University 1995—2000……………………………. Lecturer, Jiangnan University 2002……………………………………. M. A. East Asian Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University 2001—2004……………………………. Graduate Teaching Associate The Ohio State University 2005—2008…………………………… Graduate Research Associate The Ohio State University Spring 2008……………………………. Visiting Instructor of Chinese Denison University PUBLICATIONS Bao, Ying. “Whose Voice to be Heard? Narrative Strategies and Self-Identity in Fifth Chinese Daughter, The Woman Warrior, and Typical American.” Comparative Literature: East & West Vol. 7, No. 1 (2005). 83–99. Bao, Ying. “Hu Mage.” In Edward L. Davis, ed., Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. London: Routledge, 2005, pp. 262–63. viii Bao, Ying. “Liu Suola.” Co-author: Lily Xiaohong Lee. In Edward L. Davis, ed., Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. London: Routledge, 2005, p. 346. Bao, Ying. “Yang Yi.” In Edward L. Davis, ed., Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. London: Routledge, 2005, p. 693. Bao, Ying. “Religion, Rebellion, and Revolution: Zhao Shuli and ‘Little Erhei’s Marriage’.” CUEAGA Conference 2004 Conference Proceedings CD, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2004. Bao, Ying. “New Interpretation of Meng Haoran’s ‘Spring Dawning’ (Chun xiao).” Co- author: Kang Cao. Academic Journal of Suzhou University 4 (2000). [In Chinese] Bao, Ying. “An Analysis of the Major Difficulties in Teaching Basic Writing.” Academic Journal of Jiangnan University 14:1 (1998). [In Chinese] Bao, Ying. “On Deng Xiaoping’s Conception of Writing.” Writing 160 (1997). [In Chinese] FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: East Asian Languages and Literatures Specialization: Modern Chinese Literature, Performance, and Media Studies (Advisor: Professor Kirk A. Denton) Minor Fields: Film Studies (Professor J. Ronald Green) Oral Tradition and Folk Culture (Professor Mark Bender)