Screen Media and the Construction of Nostalgia in Post-Socialist China

This series brings together diverse perspectives on present-day relationships between East Asian visual cultures, societies and politics. Its scope extends to visual cultures produced, disseminated and received/consumed in East Asia -comprising North and South Korea, Mongolia, Japan, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan -as well as related diasporas world-wide, and to all aspects of culture expressed through visual images, including across perceived boundaries between high and popular culture and the use of traditional and contemporary media. Taken into critical account are cultural, social and political ecologies currently shaped by geopolitical borders across the East Asia region in addition to their varied intersections with an increasingly trans-cultural world. The series emphasizes the importance of visual cultures in the critical investigation of contemporary socio-political issues relating to, for example, identity, social inequality, decoloniality and the environment. The editors welcome contributions from early career and established researchers. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 About the Author 10 1 Post-Socialism and Nostalgia 11 1 Post-Socialist China in the Context of Neoliberal Reform 19 1.1 Post-Socialist China 19 1.2 “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” and Neoliberalism 24 2 Chinese Screen Media Since the 1990s 25 2.1 Film Industry 26 2.2 Television Industry 30 2.3 Digital Industry 40 2.4 Ideological Control 44 3 The Construction of Nostalgia 49 4 Methodology and Chapter Structure 57 4.1 Methodology 57 4.2 Chapter Structure 60 References 63 2 Nostalgia and Guilt in the “Educated Youth” Films: A Mongolian Tale (1995) and Nuan (2003) 67 1 The Social Context of the “Educated Youth” Films 68 2 Guilt as Expressed in A Mongolian Tale and Nuan 77 2.1 Nostalgic and Regretful Male Protagonists 77 2.2 Tolerant Female Image 81 2.3 Guilt for Discarding Agrarian Society and Cultural Identity 88 3 Conclusion 96 References 97 3 Nostalgia for a Communal Lifestyle in Urban Films: Shower (1999) and 24 City (2008) 100 1 Historical Background of Urban Film 100 2 Demolition in Shower (1999) and 24 City (2008) 108 3 Documentary Aesthetics: History and Authenticity 118 4 Reflective/Restorative Nostalgia 126 5 Conclusion 133 References 135 4 Nostalgia in Youth Media So Young (2013) and With You (2016) 138 1 Nostalgia in Chinese Youth Media Since 2010 139 2 Nostalgia in the Youth Film So Young (2013) 144 3 Nostalgia in the Internet Drama With You (2016) 155 4 Uncritical Stance in Youth Media 164 5 Conclusion 171 References 173 5 The Rhetoric of Nostalgia from Harmonious Society to Community of Shared Future 176 1 The International Communication of the Chinese Mainstream Media 177 2 Nostalgia in A Bite of China (2012) and Maritime Silk Road (2016) 182 2.1 Nostalgia in A Bite of China 182 2.2 Nostalgia in Maritime Silk Road 185 3 Nostalgia as CCP Rhetoric 191 3.1 The Historical Nostalgia Acting as a Political Discourse 195 4 Transformation of China’s Political Rhetoric 200 5 Conclusion 204 References 205 6 Discourse Articulation—A Media Mechanism for International Communication 209 1 Introduction 210 2 Articulation: A Theory and Practice for the Chinese Screen Media 212 3 Nostalgia in Li Ziqi Food Video Series (2016–2022) 216 4 Discourse Articulation in the Context of Constructing Chinese Film School 221 4.1 National Attribute of Chinese Film School 221 4.2 The Internationalisation of Chinese Film School 226 5 Conclusion 230 References 232 7 Conclusion: The Transformation from Xiangchou to Huaijiu 234 Index 243 This book traces the cultural transformation of nostalgia on the Chinese screen over the past three decades. It explores how filmmakers from different generations have engaged politically with China's rapidly changing post-socialist society as it has been formed through three mutually constitutive frameworks: political discourse, popular culture and state-led media commercialisation. The book offers a new, critical model for understanding relationships between filmmakers, industry and the State. Zhun Gu was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Nottingham in December 2019 and is now a research assistant working at Fudan University. His research focuses on memory studies and intercultural communication in Chinese screen media