This book traces the cultural transformation of nostalgia on the Chinese screen over the past three decades. It explores how filmmakers from different generations have engaged politically with China’s rapidly changing post-socialist society as it has been formed through three mutually constitutive frameworks: political discourse, popular culture and state-led media commercialisation. The book offers a new, critical model for understanding relationships between filmmakers, industry and the State.
Author(s): Zhun Gu
Series: Contemporary East Asian Visual Cultures, Societies and Politics
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 245
City: Singapore
Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Author
1 Post-Socialism and Nostalgia
1 Post-Socialist China in the Context of Neoliberal Reform
1.1 Post-Socialist China
1.2 “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” and Neoliberalism
2 Chinese Screen Media Since the 1990s
2.1 Film Industry
2.2 Television Industry
2.3 Digital Industry
2.4 Ideological Control
3 The Construction of Nostalgia
4 Methodology and Chapter Structure
4.1 Methodology
4.2 Chapter Structure
References
2 Nostalgia and Guilt in the “Educated Youth” Films: A Mongolian Tale (1995) and Nuan (2003)
1 The Social Context of the “Educated Youth” Films
2 Guilt as Expressed in A Mongolian Tale and Nuan
2.1 Nostalgic and Regretful Male Protagonists
2.2 Tolerant Female Image
2.3 Guilt for Discarding Agrarian Society and Cultural Identity
3 Conclusion
References
3 Nostalgia for a Communal Lifestyle in Urban Films: Shower (1999) and 24 City (2008)
1 Historical Background of Urban Film
2 Demolition in Shower (1999) and 24 City (2008)
3 Documentary Aesthetics: History and Authenticity
4 Reflective/Restorative Nostalgia
5 Conclusion
References
4 Nostalgia in Youth Media So Young (2013) and With You (2016)
1 Nostalgia in Chinese Youth Media Since 2010
2 Nostalgia in the Youth Film So Young (2013)
3 Nostalgia in the Internet Drama With You (2016)
4 Uncritical Stance in Youth Media
5 Conclusion
References
5 The Rhetoric of Nostalgia from Harmonious Society to Community of Shared Future
1 The International Communication of the Chinese Mainstream Media
2 Nostalgia in A Bite of China (2012) and Maritime Silk Road (2016)
2.1 Nostalgia in A Bite of China
2.2 Nostalgia in Maritime Silk Road
3 Nostalgia as CCP Rhetoric
3.1 The Historical Nostalgia Acting as a Political Discourse
4 Transformation of China’s Political Rhetoric
5 Conclusion
References
6 Discourse Articulation—A Media Mechanism for International Communication
1 Introduction
2 Articulation: A Theory and Practice for the Chinese Screen Media
3 Nostalgia in Li Ziqi Food Video Series (2016–2022)
4 Discourse Articulation in the Context of Constructing Chinese Film School
4.1 National Attribute of Chinese Film School
4.2 The Internationalisation of Chinese Film School
5 Conclusion
References
7 Conclusion: The Transformation from Xiangchou to Huaijiu
Index
