Queer Representations in Chinese-language Film and the Cultural Landscape (Asian Visual Cultures, 9)

Queer Representations in Chinese-language Film and the Cultural Landscape provides a cultural history of queer representations in Chinese-language film and media, negotiated by locally produced knowledge, local cultural agency, and lived histories. Incorporating a wide range of materials in both English and Chinese, this interdisciplinary project investigates the processes through which Chinese tongzhi/queer imaginaries are articulated, focusing on four main themes: the Chinese familial system, Chinese opera, camp aesthetic, and documentary impulse. Chao’s discursive analysis is rooted in and advances genealogical inquiries: a non-essentialist intervention into the "Chinese" idea of filial piety, a transcultural perspective on the contested genre of film melodrama, a historical investigation of the local articulations of mass camp and gay camp, and a transnational inquiry into the different formats of documentary. This book is a must for anyone exploring the cultural history of Chinese tongzhi/queer through the lens of transcultural media. Cover 1 Table of Contents 6 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction: Processing Tongzhi/Queer Imaginaries 14 Mapping the Research Field 19 Research Method 27 Book Structure 33 Note on Translation 36 Section I: Against Families, Against States 38 1. The Chinese Queer Diasporic Imaginary 40 Filiality as a Discourse, and the Cultural Policy of Martial-Law-Period Taiwan 49 a) Filiality as a Discourse: A Historical Perspective 49 b) The Cultural Policy of the Martial Law Period of Taiwan 52 The Modernist Literary Movement, the Nativist Literary Movement, and Taiwan New Cinema 55 a) From the Modernist Literary Movement to the Nativist Literary Movement 55 b) Taiwan New Cinema 59 The Chinese Queer Diasporic Imaginary in Outcasts 61 a) The “Queer Family-Dark Kingdom” Imaginary 61 b) The Local and the Postcolonial through the Chinese Queer Diasporic Imaginary 69 Other Tropes for the Chinese Queer Diasporic Imaginary 77 a) Tsai Ming-liang’s Taipei Trilogy 77 b) The Chinese Queer Diasporic Imaginary: From Outcasts (1986) to Fleeing By Night (2000), and Beyond 91 Concluding Remarks 95 2. Two Stage Sisters: Comrades, Almost a Love Story 100 Two Stage Sisters and Its Historical Connections 103 A Queer Feeling in a Socialist Political Melodrama 108 a) Two Stage Sisters as a Socialist Political Melodrama 108 b) A Queer Feeling in Two Stage Sisters 118 Transformation of Qing through Two Stage Sisters and Yueju 132 Concluding Remarks 139 Section II: Camp Aesthetics 142 3. Mass Camp in Contemporary Hong Kong Cinema 144 Mass Camp and Gay Camp, A Discursive Approach 147 The Discursive Formation of Mass Camp in Hong Kong 155 Mass Camp Impulse in Contemporary Hong Kong Cinema 170 a) Hui Brothers Comedy and Mass Camp Impulse 170 b) Gender Parody in Mass Camp 173 c) Mass Camp and Hong Kong New Wave 181 d) Mass Camp in Kung Fu Comedy 186 e) Mass Camp and Hong Kong Nostalgia Film 190 Concluding Remarks 195 4. Toward an Aesthetic of Tongzhi Camp 200 Queer Structures of Feeling: Gay Shame and Gay Melancholy, Chinese Style 208 a) Gay Shame 210 b) Gay Melancholy 214 c) A Temporal Dimension of the Queer Structure of Feeling 217 From the Queer Feeling to Tongzhi Camp: A Case Study of Zero Chou 220 Camping in The Hole 231 Concluding Remarks 243 Section III: Documentary Impulse 246 5. Coming Out of The Box, Lalas with DV Cameras 248 Identity Politics and Production Methods 251 Bringing out Lesbian Subjects in Contemporary China 256 Lalas with DV Cameras 263 Concluding Remarks 269 6. Performing Gender, Performing Documentary in Postsocialist China 274 Performing Documentary: “Xianchang” Aesthetic and Reflexivity 276 Performing Gender/Subjectivity through Reflexive Documentary 283 Mapping Out Gender-Crossing Performance across the Geopolitical Landscape 289 Situating Gender-Crossing Performance in Postsocialist China 293 Concluding Remarks 301 Conclusion 302 Chinese Glossary 308 Bilingual Filmography 324 Bibliography 334 Selected Bibliography in English 334 Selected Bibliography in Chinese 370 Newspaper Articles without Bylines 403 Index 404 List of Figures 8 Figures 1-3 Posters for the Institute for Tongzhi Studies Events 17 Figure 4 Poster for the INTERACT Event, Columbia University 17 Figure 1.1 A-Qing and Dragon Prince in bed right after a sexual encounter (a scene cut from the Taiwan version) 63 Figures 1.2.1-1.2.4 Stills from Outcasts 68 Figures 1.3.1-1.3.4 Stills from Outcasts 72 Figure 1.4 The Japanese-style Bell Tower of Donghe Temple 74 Figure 1.5 The Minnan architectural style of the Guanyin Edifice (epitomized by its roof) combined with the Japanese style of the Edifice’s entrance 74 Figure 1.6 A-Qing walks by the Japanese-style Bell Tower of Tonghe Temple (a scene cut from the Taiwan version) 75 Figure 2.1 Still from Two Stage Sisters 114 Figures 2.2.1-2.2.2 Stills from Two Stage Sisters 120 Figures 2.3.1-2.3.2 Stills from Two Stage Sisters 121 Figure 2.4 Still from Two Stage Sisters 123 Figure 2.5 Still from Two Stage Sisters 124 Figure 2.6 Still from Two Stage Sisters 127 Figure 2.7 Still from Two Stage Sisters 129 Figure 2.8 Still from Two Stage Sisters 130 Figures 2.9.1-2.9.2 Stills from Two Stage Sisters 131 Figure 4.1 Still from Corner’s 226 Figure 4.2 Still from Splendid Float 230 Figure 4.3 Still from Splendid Float 230 Figure 4.4 Still from Death of Montmartre 245 Figure 5.1 Still from Dyke March 254 Figure 5.2 Still from The Box 261 Figure 5.3 Still from Dyke March 266 Figure 6.1 Still from Tang Tang 277 Figure 6.2 Still from Tang Tang 279 Figure 6.3 Still from Tang Tang 280 Figure 6.4 Still from Mei Mei 290 Figure 6.5 Still from Mei Mei 293 This book provides a cultural history of queer representations in Chinese-language film and media, negotiated by locally produced knowledge, local cultural agency, and lived histories. Incorporating a wide range of materials in both English and Chinese, this interdisciplinary project investigates the processes through which Chinese tongzhi/queer imaginaries are articulated, focusing on four main themes: the Chinese familial system, Chinese opera, camp aesthetic, and documentary impulse. Chao's discursive analysis is rooted in and advances genealogical inquiries: a non-essentialist intervention into the "Chinese" idea of filial piety, a transcultural perspective on the contested genre of film melodrama, a historical investigation of the local articulations of mass camp and gay camp, and a transnational inquiry into the different formats of documentary. This book is a must for anyone exploring the cultural history of Chinese tongzhi/queer through the lens of transcultural media. Bron: Flaptekst, uitgeversinformatie "This book provides a cultural history of queer representations in Chinese-language film and media, negotiated by locally produced knowledge, local cultural agency, and lived histories. Incorporating a wide range of materials in both English and Chinese, this interdisciplinary project investigates the processes through which Chinese tongzhi/queer imaginaries are articulated, focusing on four main themes: the Chinese familial system, Chinese opera, camp aesthetic, and documentary impulse. Chao's discursive analysis is rooted in and advances genealogical inquiries: a non-essentialist intervention into the 'Chinese' idea of filial piety, a transcultural perspective on the contested genre of film melodrama, a historical investigation of the local articulations of mass camp and gay camp, and a transnational inquiry into the different formats of documentary."--Page 4 of cover Shi-yan Chao. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Electronic Reproduction. Baltimore, Md Available Via World Wide Web.