China's Cinema of Class

Audiences and Narratives
1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-1-138-35155-4
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 202 Seiten, Format (B × H): 233 mm x 156 mm, Gewicht: 314 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies on China in Transition

China’s commercial film industry can be used as a map to understand how class is interwoven into the imaginations that inform and influence social change in Chinese society. Film consumption is important in this process, particularly for young adult urbanites that are China’s primary commercial cinema patrons.

This book investigates the web between the representation of class themes in Chinese film narratives, local audience reception to these films, and the socialisation of China’s contemporary class society. Bringing together textual analyses of narratives from five commercially exhibited films: Let the Bullets Fly (Jiang: 2010), Lost on Journey (Yip: 2011), Go Lala Go! (Xu: 2011), House Mania (Sun: 2011) and The Piano in the Factory (Zheng: 2011); and the reception of 179 Chinese audiences from varying class positions, it investigates the extent to which fictional narratives inform and reflect current class identities in present-day China. Through group discussions in Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Lanzhou and Taiyuan, the author searches for audiences beyond major cities that are typically the focus of film consumption studies in China. As such, the book reveals not only how deeply and widespread the socialisation of China’s class society has become in the imaginations of Chinese audiences, but also what appears to be a preference of both audiences and filmmakers for the continuation of China’s new class society.

Revealing the extent to which cinema continues to play a key role in the socialisation of class structures in contemporary Chinese society, this book will be important for students and scholars of Chinese Studies, Film Studies, Communication Studies, as well as observers of China’s film industry.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Talmacs, Nicole (Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China)

Talmacs, Nicole

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Soziale Gruppen & Klassen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Wirtschaftssoziologie, Arbeitssoziologie, Organisationssoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Filmwissenschaft, Fernsehen, Radio
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1 China's audiences and the cinema of class

2 Class on screen and in reality: Pre-conditioning audiences

3 Let the Bullets Fly: The socialisation of assumptions

4 Lost on Journey: Prejudice in class relations

5 Go Lala Go!: Secretaries, shopping and spinsterhood

6 House Mania: Homeownership, marriageability and masculinity

7 The Piano in a Factory: Suzhi, industrial heroes, and the spectacle of poverty

8 Conclusion: Class, the film, and the filmmaker

Über Autor(innen)

Nicole Talmacs is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China.