This dissertation revisits a piece of forgotten history of Chinese cinema from 1930s to 1950s when Chinese filmmakers formed a cross-border, Pacific Rim network of cinematic exchanges among various Chinese diasporic communities. Through a transnational and diasporic lens, it explores new relationships between Chinese filmmakers, traditional stage culture, language differences, Chinese ethnicity, and politics. It argues that Chinese cinema, from its early age, was the product of transnational movements of capital, people, and ideas among the Chinese diaspora. The global links among various Chinese communities initiated and sustained the development of Chinese cinema. / 博士(アメリカ研究) / Doctor of Philosophy in American Studies / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

Under the tensions of nationalization and globalization, mainland Chinese cinema has undergone tremendous changes in terms of industrial transformations, diversification of film language, style and genre, revenues, etc. in the new century. This is epitomized in a new surge of commercial entertainment cinema. This dissertation examines Lu Chuan and his films among this surge and as a representative of the new development of Chinese popular cinema. The study reveals a new political regime and a new popular imagination in China with its greater integration into the international system of global capitalism in in the first decade of the twenty-first century. I apply Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of the field of cultural production to explore structural transformations in the field of Chinese cinema, and trace these changes to the shaping forces in the larger fields of Chinese power and economy. This structural examination is related to the agency of individuals as cultural entrepreneurs maneuvering their way within the state system through alliance of power, capital and talent, and forming their own voices and a public space. Theories of popular cultural studies help me analyze Lu Chuan’s films as a site where different international and domestic social, political, and cultural forces contend and negotiate with each other. I also draw upon theories of film studies to illustrate Lu Chuan’s application of international film language and styles including classical Hollywood cinema and the art film in rendering Chinese socialist stories in the age of globalization. Instead of treating Lu Chuan as an auteur or artistic creator, I look into his authorship as a site of different discourses and a technique of the self, which helps him distinguish his films from others and establish his position in the field. Trauma studies provide a useful tool in discussing Chinese cinematic representations of the national trauma, the Nanjing Massacre, during different historical periods, and Chinese nation’s continuing effort in grappling with this trauma. This textual analysis is to illustrate the newest development in Chinese cinema. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the historical transformation of Chinese society and to identify the forces that shaped Chinese cinema, which took form in a new alliance amongst power, capital, and art, and contributed to a post-socialist popular imagination in China in the first decade of the new century. / text

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Thesis advisor: Christina Klein / The cultural face of modern China is constantly changing, whether through economic reforms, political campaigns, or social values. The ultimate inheritors and current carriers of this society in flux is the current post socialist, post 1989 youth generation. This paper examines the cultural changes that are occurring in China through six documentary films made in the 21st century that focus on youth and young adults as the representatives of the issues that the directors explore. In two films, the issue of the Single Child Policy will be examined in terms of the social repercussions the policy has created for modern youth, including gender, ethnic, and class inequalities. In the next two films, the economic conditions that have produced millions of migrant examined as it relates to the changing family values in much of China. The last two films explore the consumer culture of today’s modern youth, and how this culture impacts the expressive output of this generation. I conclude through these films that although the youth of today have been irrevocably shaped by these, and other, cultural changes that have occurred during their lifetime, they are still most fundamentally influenced by the traditional values of Chinese culture including relationships, family, and collective expression. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: International Studies Honors Program. / Discipline: International Studies.

One major question in the area of Feminist Media Studies is to analyze the stereotypical female role portrayals in media. Researchers in this area have examined diverse media including television, radio, films, textbooks, literature and so on. Empirical evidence provided by these studies shows that women in media are often underrepresented or stereotypically portrayed in traditional roles such as housewives or mothers associated with feminine values, such as dependent, submissive, and passive. Using content analysis and semiotic analysis, this study is designed to examine the portrayals of female roles in a sample of contemporary (1949-2010) Chinese films. Content analysis is employed to examine how women have been portrayed in films, with the primary focus on the frequency of three types of female roles including (1) traditional roles, (2) modern role, and (3) ideal role. Results suggest that during this long period of time, representations and constructions of women in films have shifted from promotion of gender equality, to diminishing and erasing gender difference, and finally regressed to confining them to traditional roles while emphasizing traditional feminine values and expectations. In using semiotic analysis, this research is able to outline the connotative meanings of the female characters as well as the implicit cultural values and messages of gender that are embedded in films. On this cultural analysis, the findings reveal that female role portrayals in films, which are influenced by political, cultural, and social changes, remained associated with traditional feminine stereotypes, values, and expectations.

One major question in the area of Feminist Media Studies is to analyze the stereotypical female role portrayals in media. Researchers in this area have examined diverse media including television, radio, films, textbooks, literature and so on. Empirical evidence provided by these studies shows that women in media are often underrepresented or stereotypically portrayed in traditional roles such as housewives or mothers associated with feminine values, such as dependent, submissive, and passive. Using content analysis and semiotic analysis, this study is designed to examine the portrayals of female roles in a sample of contemporary (1949-2010) Chinese films. Content analysis is employed to examine how women have been portrayed in films, with the primary focus on the frequency of three types of female roles including (1) traditional roles, (2) modern role, and (3) ideal role. Results suggest that during this long period of time, representations and constructions of women in films have shifted from promotion of gender equality, to diminishing and erasing gender difference, and finally regressed to confining them to traditional roles while emphasizing traditional feminine values and expectations. In using semiotic analysis, this research is able to outline the connotative meanings of the female characters as well as the implicit cultural values and messages of gender that are embedded in films. On this cultural analysis, the findings reveal that female role portrayals in films, which are influenced by political, cultural, and social changes, remained associated with traditional feminine stereotypes, values, and expectations.

In this thesis I study popular Hong Kong cinema through analysing specific films produced between 2001 and 2004. They are Shaolin Soccer (2001), The Infernal Affairs Trilogy (2002-2003), and Kung Fu Hustle (2004). My aim is to identify insights from these films in order both to interrogate and to inform the public expressions of faith by local Christians in the period after the reversion to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. In this thesis, these expressions of faith are represented by local Christian productions released in cinemas also between 2001 and 2004. Being the first detailed study of Chinese language film in the developing field of theology-religion and film, this thesis serves to extend the geo-cultural scope of this area of research. Throughout this study I adopt a tripolar approach to theology which is simultaneously practical, contextual, and cultural. It starts with practical concerns and aims at informing Christian praxis; it is concerned with local issues and reflects on local practices; it regards the cinema as a cultural text and as resource for local theology. My film analysis draws upon a cultural studies approach which combines textual and contextual studies, and is enriched by extensive references to writings by local critics and audience members. Using this multi-layered approach, I scrutinise the top grossing local film of each year from 2001 to 2004 within its original sociocultural context of production and reception. The same approach is also applied to examine the Christian films. At the heart of this thesis is my analysis of both Christian films and popular films. I demonstrate that the local Christian films exhibit a number of characteristics, which include: other-worldly spirituality; individualistic worldviews that focus on personal fulfilment; exclusive emphasis on marriage and the family; as well as disinterest from the social context and indifference towards the present. My contextual study on the development of Christianity in Hong Kong reveals that these characteristics mirror the popular theologies prevalent in many local Christian communities. In contrast, the popular films are often perceived locally to be implicit representations of circumstances after the reversion of sovereignty, and are thus regarded as stories of Hong Kong people and society. I discuss how these films address important issues which confront the people, take the local cultural-religious traditions seriously, assume the point of view of the marginal, and embrace rather than condemn human weaknesses. As cultural texts, they suggest that the people of Hong Kong are struggling with unresolved identities and anxiety over being marginalised, grappling with the tension of retention versus abandonment of collective memories, and longing for transformation from their perceived perpetual despair. These characteristics, I contend, are manifestations of a collective state of liminality experienced by many people in Hong Kong after 1997. In the conclusion, I propose a contextual approach to public expressions of Christian faith for Hong Kong under Chinese sovereignty. My proposed approach involves attentiveness and humility toward local cultural-religious traditions; relocation to the periphery for the assumption of a marginal perspective; identification with and embrace of the liminal condition of the people. Finally, I suggest that the challenge for public expressions of Christian faith in this context is two-fold. First, it is to be able to tell the stories of post-1997 Hong Kong; second, these stories need to be grounded on a sound theology of liminality which embodies and addresses the post-1997 experience in the city. This specific study on Hong Kong cinema also has wider implications for those seeking to express their Christian faith in the public realm, particularly through various popular audiovisual media.

Today's processes of cultural globalization involve three major trends: (I)the global expansion of transnational communications conglomerates; (2) the global implementation of market-oriented cultural policies; and (3) the global diffusion of new communication technologies. These processes have set in motion complicated consequencesa nd prompted a range of national responses.B oth China and Taiwan, the two locations which embody the Asian region's largest cultural formation, have experienced major shifis in their internal political and economic organisation and been significantly influenced by these interlinked global processes since the early 1980s. Taking the national film industries in both locations as a case study, this thesis examines the impact of globalisation on the organisation of national cultural production and distribution, and explores the uses of film in representing shifting conceptions of national culture and identity.

One major question in the area of Feminist Media Studies is to analyze the stereotypical female role portrayals in media. Researchers in this area have examined diverse media including television, radio, films, textbooks, literature and so on. Empirical evidence provided by these studies shows that women in media are often underrepresented or stereotypically portrayed in traditional roles such as housewives or mothers associated with feminine values, such as dependent, submissive, and passive. Using content analysis and semiotic analysis, this study is designed to examine the portrayals of female roles in a sample of contemporary (1949-2010) Chinese films. Content analysis is employed to examine how women have been portrayed in films, with the primary focus on the frequency of three types of female roles including (1) traditional roles, (2) modern role, and (3) ideal role. Results suggest that during this long period of time, representations and constructions of women in films have shifted from promotion of gender equality, to diminishing and erasing gender difference, and finally regressed to confining them to traditional roles while emphasizing traditional feminine values and expectations. In using semiotic analysis, this research is able to outline the connotative meanings of the female characters as well as the implicit cultural values and messages of gender that are embedded in films. On this cultural analysis, the findings reveal that female role portrayals in films, which are influenced by political, cultural, and social changes, remained associated with traditional feminine stereotypes, values, and expectations.

This thesis has two interrelated research objectives. First, to understand the circulation of Chinese cinema in Britain through the cultural authorities and gatekeepers responsible for the canonisation of international film. Second, to use Chinese-language films as case studies through which to deconstruct and better understand the mechanisms that make up British film cultures and their tastemaking practices. English-language Chinese film studies has long been preoccupied with the semantic issue of how to define such a loaded and diverse concept as “Chinese cinema”, with investigations generally focusing on film form and production contexts. This thesis extends these studies to include considerations of the role played by film circulation, to observe how the parameters of these analyses and the films of their focus are defined in the first instance. This thesis traces the lineage of Chinese cinema as it has appeared in Britain's film cultures from 1954 through to 2014 when this project began. Taking emblematic moments of this history as case studies to anchor the investigation, each chapter contextualises the cultures into which Chinese-language films arrived. Using the sociological theories of Pierre Bourdieu and others, these investigations note how, in addition to their negotiation of international trends, domestic skirmishes for cultural authority within Britain have had significant effects on the perceived value of Chinese cinema. This thesis considers the various social, cultural, and class contexts that support Britain's key tastemakers in the circulation of Chinese cinema. It shows not only the ways modes of evaluation and film availability are cultivated through these contexts, but that the activities therein result also from, and curate, assumptions toward Chinese as a cultural, political and ethnic signifier. Those commanding the discourse around Chinese cinema in Britain have done so with conceptions about Chineseness that result from and contribute to domestic conflicts of taste, class and social standing. The inevitable intersections between film tastes and cultural assumptions have worked to curate a parochial definition of Chinese cinema that prioritises certain kinds of films at the expense of others, dependent more on the idiosyncrasies of British film cultures than the activities of Chinese film industries.