The Little Emperors<U+0080>́<U+0099> New Toys A Critical Inquiry into Children and Television in China

Drawing on original research I conducted in the late 1980s, the book argues for a critical approach to the study of children and television. It begins with critical reappraisals of previous empiricist and interpretative studies to set the ground for a different theoretical inquiry which links biography with history. The situated activity of children’s television viewing therefore has to be related to the broader historical and cultural formations in post-Mao China. By way of a methodological pluralism of questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews and observation, the book provides the reader with a thorough critical analysis of the rise of the new commercial ethic in Chinese society in general, and in the sector of media and communications in particular, at the very historical turning point of the late 1980s. Soon after that, Deng Xiaoping made his significant tour to south China, reckoning a big step forward towards further liberalization and started to form a brave new world in China ever since. ​ Drawing on original research I conducted in the late 1980s, the book argues for a critical approach to the study of children and television. It begins with critical reappraisals of previous empiricist and interpretative studies to set the ground for a different theoretical inquiry which links biography with history. The situated activity of children ́ s television viewing therefore has to be related to the broader historical and cultural formations in post-Mao China.℗ By way of a methodological℗ pluralism of questionnaire survey,℗ in-depth interviews and observation, the book provides the reader with a thorough critical analysis of the rise of the new commercial ethic in Chinese society in general, and in the sector of media and communications in particular, at the very historical turning point of the late 1980s. Soon after that, Deng Xiaoping made his significant tour to south China, reckoning℗ a big step forward towards further liberalization and started to form a brave new world in China ever since Front Matter....Pages i-xix Children and Television: Public Concern and Scientific Research....Pages 1-16 Positivist Approaches and Interpretative Alternatives: Critical Reappraisals....Pages 17-32 For a Critical Approach to the Study of Children and Television....Pages 33-49 Children’s Television in China: From Education to Commercial Entertainment....Pages 51-61 Intellectual and Moral Education: Parental Control and Children’s Viewing Activity....Pages 63-89 The Craze for the Transformers: Children’s Television and the Rise of Consumerism in China....Pages 91-112 Back Matter....Pages 113-130 Blending questionnaire surveys, interviews and observation, this book offers a thorough critical analysis of the rise of the new commercial ethic in Chinese society and in the media and communications sector at the historic turning point of the late 1980s