This dissertation seeks to determine whether the cycle of films produced after the fall of the 'Gang of Four' in the People's Republic of China in 1976, and representing events during the Cultural Revolution decade of 1966-1976, constitutes a major break with the classical mainland Chinese cinema that had been dominant in that country after 1949. It is widely acknowledged in scholarship about China that Chinese society and culture now is qualitatively different from the heyday of socialism, both in terms of a decline in central control and loss of faith in the socialist vision. This dissertation understands this new culture as postsocialist, and therefore asks if these films constitute the earliest sustained manifestations of postsocialist cinema.
By:
Chris Berry
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: annotated edition
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 19mm
Weight: 476g
ISBN: 9780415947862
ISBN 10: 0415947863
Series: East Asia: History, Politics, Sociology and Culture
Pages: 266
Publication Date: 29 June 2004
Audience:
College/higher education
,
General/trade
,
Professional & Vocational
,
Primary
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. Introduction: Toward a Postsocialist Cinema? Review of Literature Changing China Cinema and Society Film and History 2. Writing on Blank Paper: The Classical Cinema before 1976 as a Didactic Paradigm Industry and Social Institution Sample Texts Characters Narrative Spectator Positioning and Mise-en-Scene A. Relays B. Mirroring C. Heightened Engagement D. Epistemological Mastery 3. Entering Forbidden Zones and Exposing Wounds: Rewriting Socialist History The Initial Response: Continuity and Containment A. State and Party Politics B. Policy and Critcism in Literature and the Arts C. Film Production Deng Xiaoping's Power Struggle: Extending the Critique A. State and Party Politics B. Policy and Critcism in Literature and the Arts C. Film Production Deng Consolidates Power: Beyond the Cultural Revolution A. State and Party Politics B. Policy and Critcism in Literature and the Arts C. Film Production 4. Postsocialism and the Decline of the Hero Complexity Class Background and Party Affiliation Reversal or Transformation of Roles? 5. A Family Affiar: Separation and Subjectivity The Incidence of Romantic Love Literary Comparisons Romantic Love, the Family, and the Party Memory, Subjectivity and Community The Peer Group and Chinese Counterculture 6. Ending it All: Bitter Love ? The Importance of Endings Socialist Tragedies and Obligatory Happy Endings Let the Audience Decide Filmography Bibliography Appendices
Reviews for Postsocialist Cinema in Post-Mao China: The Cultural Revolution after the Cultural Revolution
'Berry is an international voice in Chinese cinema studies ... it is of great significance in understanding Chinese cinema today.' - The China Journal
