This dissertation advances a new interpretation on the national formation of modern China through the lens of Chinese cinema. Primarily, this project explores how cinema—a modern invention imported... Show moreThis dissertation advances a new interpretation on the national formation of modern China through the lens of Chinese cinema. Primarily, this project explores how cinema—a modern invention imported from the West—has shaped China’s sociopolitical transition from a dynastic empire to a nation-state. It is argued that, the concurrence of motion picture’s arrival and nation-state’s advent in China at the turn of the twentieth century, is not to be considered as isolated events, but rather as a dialectical dynamism in which the imagined community of modern China has largely relied on cinema for its symbolic construction, and yet encountered constant resistance from cinematic representation. Viewing the formation of the Chinese nation-state from a cinematic perspective, this study centers on the conflicts between marginal figures and central categories in Chinese films. In approaching this unresolved dilemma, Jiyu Zhang dedicates his study to mapping out a dialectical relationship between China’s internal and external tensions. Through an extensive investigation of cinematic embodiment, Zhang hones in on four groups of characters that he terms the “central frontiers” of modern China’s cultural imaginary: children, women, ethnic minorities, and diaspora. Show less
Mian Mian pouring beer on Wei Hui's head in a Shanghai bar; Wei Hui baring her breasts at a press conference; mutual threats on the internet - self-labelled Beauty Writers Mian Mian and Wei Hui... Show moreMian Mian pouring beer on Wei Hui's head in a Shanghai bar; Wei Hui baring her breasts at a press conference; mutual threats on the internet - self-labelled Beauty Writers Mian Mian and Wei Hui fear no accusations in their public catfight over alleged plagiarism in turn-of-the-century Shanghai. The rivalry began after publication of their semi-autobiographical 'shock novels' portraying hedonists searching for love and self in Shenzhen and Shanghai. Plagiarism or not, Wei Hui's Shanghai Baby and Mian Mian's Candy are products of their time. Show less