Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Adviser: Bruce A. Williams. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2004. / Chair: Chandra Mukerji. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, 2007. / Adviser: Drew McDaniel. Includes bibliographical references.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences / Department of Communication

電視模式（TV formats）在全球的跨文化旅行，及其如何本土化以適應在地社會政經情境，成為值得學界關注和研究的主題。作為對這一主題的回應，本文致力於研究《醜女無敵》電視劇--“醜女貝蒂“模式在中國的本土化。借由對該劇文本、生產和觀眾解讀的綜合分析，本研究從宏觀上探索符號形式與中國社會變遷的關係。具體而言，研究者聚焦於以下研究問題：在當前電視模式貿易、克隆和本土化的背景下，中國電視劇《醜女無敵》與美國電視劇《醜女貝蒂》有何異同？在中華人民共和國這一特定社會情境下，《醜女無敵》受到了怎樣的政治、經濟限制？中國觀眾如何解讀《醜女無敵》電視劇？《醜女無敵》受歡迎的原因所在，及該劇表徵了怎樣的中國現代性？ / 為回答以上問題，研究者採用了多種定質方法，即文本分析、民族志、焦點小組、檔案分析和深度訪談。其研究發現《醜女無敵》作為混雜性文本，兼有西方現代性元素和獨特的中國性。《醜女無敵》的生產受到了中國政經情境的極大限制。經濟力量有中心主導、系統地控制著生產過程。而政治力量的控制卻是散漫於整個生產者社群，并呈現去中心的狀態。中國觀眾在解讀《醜女無敵》時主要有两種模式：霸權式解讀与協商式解讀。而对抗式解读却在该剧的解读模式中呈现缺失状态。持有霸權式解讀的觀眾作為主流在諸多方面與權力中心一致，從而形成霸權效應。 / 《醜女無敵》可歸類為本研究所析霸權文本，并表徵和複製了一種中國現代（Chinese modernity）。轄制於党國，中國現代性在其三大結構性維度上都呈現高度的混雜性。就中國電視業發展趨勢而言，研究者認為全球電視模式在中國將愈加繁榮，因其有極大潛質成為霸權文本，繼而服務于權力中心。 / With the increasing transcultural flow of television formats, the localization of these formats to fit various socio-political contexts is worthy of academic scrutiny. This is a case study on the TV drama Ugly Wudi (Chounv Wudi), the Chinese version of the global Ugly Betty format. Exploring textuality, production, and reception simultaneously, my dissertation sheds light on the relationship between symbolic forms and social transition in China. Specifically speaking, the research questions initiating this study are as follows: Under current TV format cloning, trading, and borrowing, what are the similarities and differences between the Chinese Ugly Wudi and the American Ugly Betty? In the specific context of the People’s Republic of China, what are the political and economic forces that constrain the production of Ugly Wudi? What are the audience interpretations of Ugly Wudi? What accounts for Ugly Wudi’s popularity, and to what extent does it reflect a Chinese version of modernity? / Multiple qualitative methods have been applied by the researcher to explicate the research questions, including textual analysis, ethnography, focus groups, archival analysis, and in-depth interviews. It is found that Ugly Wudi is a hybridized text that combines elements of Western modernity with Chinese particularities. As for Wudi’s production, there are significant constraints arising from China’s political economy. While the economic systematically controls the production with a center, the political is a decentered control pervasively conditioning the production community. Two different readings of the Wudi show are found, namely, the hegemonic reading and the negotiated reading; while the resistant reading is absent in the show’s viewership. The hegemonic audience forms the majority, coinciding with the authorities in many respects, which shows a hegemonic effect. / Ugly Wudi is a hegemonic text that can best represent and reproduce Chinese modernity. Charted by the party-state for legitimization, Chinese modernity shows a high degree of hybridization in its three structural dimensions. The researcher contends that television formatting will be a trend in the Chinese TV industry, as it has great potential to create hegemonic texts that serve the power center. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Zhang, Xiaoxiao / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-203). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; some appendixes also in Chinese . / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Table of Content --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- TV Format: A New Television Phenomenon / Chapter 1.2 --- The Ugly Betty Format: A Global Culture / Chapter 1.3 --- Significance and Contribution / Chapter 1.4 --- Chapter Outline / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1 --- Localization of Global Television Formats / Chapter 2.2 --- Political Economy in Cultural Hybridization / Chapter 2.3 --- TV Formats and Social Transition / Chapter 2.4 --- Previous Studies on the Ugly Betty Format / Chapter 2.5 --- Research Questions / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- METHODOLOGY --- p.35 / Chapter 3.1 --- Textual Analysis / Chapter 3.2 --- Ethnographic Observation / Chapter 3.3 --- Focus Groups / Chapter 3.4 --- Archival Analysis / Chapter 3.5 --- In-depth Interviews / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND POLITICAL ECONOMY CONTEXT --- p.51 / Chapter 4.1 --- Media and Hegemony / Chapter 4.2 --- Market versus State / Chapter 4.3 --- Market, Politics, and Media Competition in China / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- THE CHINESE UGLY BETTY: TV CLONING AND LOCAL MODERNITY --- p.87 / Chapter 5.1 --- Contextualizing the Two Versions / Chapter 5.2 --- The Continuity of Modernity in the Ugly Betty Formula / Chapter 5.3 --- Ethnic Invisibility and Gender Normality / Chapter 5.4 --- When the Political and the Market Align / Chapter 5.5 --- Ugliness Is at Fault, Not the State / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- PRODUCING THE CHINESE UGLY BETTY: DECENTERED POLITICAL AND CENTERED ECONOMIC CONTROLS --- p.114 / Chapter 6.1 --- TV Production in China: Indicator of Dominance / Chapter 6.2 --- Decentered Political Control / Chapter 6.3 --- Centered Economic Control / Chapter 6.4 --- When the Political and the Economic Contradict / Chapter 6.5 --- Television Formats and Hegemony / Chapter CHAPTER 7 --- READING THE LOCALIZED UGLY BETTY: HEGEMONIC OR NEGOTIATED, BUT NOT RESISTANT --- p.140 / Chapter 7.1 --- A Patterned Spectatorship / Chapter 7.2 --- Values Creolization in Contemporary China / Chapter 7.3 --- The Hegemonic Reading / Chapter 7.4 --- The Negotiated Reading / Chapter 7.5 --- The Absence of the Resistant Reading / Chapter 7.6 --- Structured Polysemy in China / Chapter 7.7 --- Invitation from Television Formats / Chapter CHAPTER 8 --- TOWARD CHINESE MODERNITY? --- p.159 / Chapter 8.1 --- Four Texts in the Chinese Mediascape / Chapter 8.2 --- Ugly Wudi as a Hegemonic Text / Chapter 8.3 --- Structural Dimensions of Chinese Modernity / Chapter 8.4 --- Discursive Construction of Chinese Modernity / Chapter 8.5 --- TV Industries in China: Development and Future / REFERENCES --- p.178 / LISTS OF APPENDICES --- p.204 / Chapter Appendix 1 --- Methods Answering Research Questions / Chapter Appendix 2 --- Ethnographic Observation Schedule / Chapter Appendix 3 --- Focus Groups Schedule / Chapter Appendix 4 --- Focus Groups Participants / Chapter Appendix 5 --- Focus Groups Questionnaire / Chapter Appendix 6 --- Outline of Focus Groups Discussion (18 years old and above) / Chapter Appendix 7 --- Outline of Focus Groups Discussion (under 18 years old) / Chapter Appendix 8 --- Interviewees List

Peng Lin. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-147). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Figures --- p.vii / List of Tables --- p.vii / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction: --- p.1 / Theoretical Context of the Problem --- p.1 / The Case of Guangzhou --- p.4 / "Composition of “TV Generation"" in Guangzhou" --- p.6 / Chapter 1. --- Native Guangzhou youth: --- p.6 / Chapter 2. --- "Non-native Guangzhou youth (children of early immigrants, those who were born in or moved with their parents to Guangzhou before teenage):" --- p.7 / Cultural Proximity Between Guangzhou and Hong Kong --- p.8 / Organization of Chapters --- p.10 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Literature Review --- p.12 / Trans-border Television and Its Social Impact --- p.12 / Chapter 1. --- Media's Modernizing Influence --- p.13 / Chapter 2. --- Media's Impact on Cultural Identities --- p.14 / Chapter 3. --- Media Impact in Asian Cases --- p.17 / Audience in Trans-border TV Consumption --- p.20 / Chapter 1. --- Modes of Decoding & Audience Resistance --- p.20 / Chapter 2. --- Cultural Proximity and Reception of Local/Transnational Programs --- p.22 / Young Audience in Trans-Border TV Consumption --- p.27 / Chapter 1. --- Identification and TV Viewing --- p.28 / Chapter 2. --- Cultural Proximity and Television Viewing --- p.29 / Trans-border Media Consumption in Cross-generational Context --- p.32 / Chapter 1. --- Mass Media and Collective Memory --- p.34 / Chapter 2. --- Cultural Practices and Generation --- p.37 / Summary --- p.38 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Research Design --- p.42 / Research Questions --- p.42 / Rationale for Using a Qualitative Approach --- p.42 / Research Methods --- p.43 / Chapter 1. --- In-depth Interview: --- p.43 / Chapter 2. --- Generational Comparative Studies --- p.45 / Sampling Procedures --- p.46 / Data Analysis --- p.48 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Cultural Proximity in Young Audiences' Consumption of Hong Kong Drama --- p.50 / Guangzhou Young Audiences' Television Consumption --- p.52 / Watching Hong Kong dramas --- p.56 / Chapter 1. --- Dramas of excellent quality --- p.57 / Chapter 2. --- Viewing Preferences and Cultural Proximity --- p.58 / Chapter 3. --- Getting used to the “Hong Kong style´ح: --- p.62 / Pleasures and Media Uses --- p.64 / Chapter 1. --- Topics in Communication --- p.64 / Chapter 2. --- Linguistic Source --- p.65 / Chapter 3. --- Knowledge about Society --- p.66 / Chapter 4. --- Idol Worship --- p.68 / Chapter 5. --- Reference for Modern Lifestyle --- p.69 / Conclusion --- p.72 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Cultural Proximity in Young Audiences' Perception of Hong Kong from Hong Kong Drama --- p.74 / Cultural impact of trans-border media --- p.74 / The Image of Hong Kong: A Visualized Modern City --- p.76 / Audiences' Cultural Identification: Guangzhou versus Hong Kong --- p.79 / Chapter 1. --- A “Not So Different´ح Strategy --- p.82 / Chapter 2. --- Cultural Affiliation as a Basic Tenet --- p.84 / Chapter 3. --- Aligned with the Nation --- p.87 / Chapter 4. --- Identification with Modern Lifestyle --- p.90 / Chapter 5. --- Going to the More Modernized --- p.94 / Conclusion: the Factor of Cultural Proximity in Media Perception --- p.99 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Guangzhou Young Audiences in a Cross-Generational Context --- p.103 / Generational patterns in media consumption --- p.104 / Chapter 1. --- Watching TV in Daily Life --- p.106 / Chapter 2. --- Viewing Preferences： Hong Kong Drama versus Mainland Drama --- p.108 / Perception of Hong Kong from dramas --- p.117 / Perception of Hong Kong in relation to China --- p.120 / Conclusion --- p.122 / Chapter Chapter 7: --- Conclusions and Discussions --- p.125 / Summary --- p.125 / Implications and Limitations --- p.129 / Appendixes --- p.133 / Appendix I: INTERVIEW PROTOCAL (Translated from Chinese) --- p.133 / Appendix II: PROFILE OF RESEARCH RESPONDENTS --- p.136 / Appendix III: VIEWING PROFILES OF RESEARCH RESPONDENTS --- p.138 / Bibliography --- p.140