Gendered portrayals of the nation: Men and women in 21st century Chinese cinema

Description

The evolution of Chinese national cinema has closely paralleled the efforts to reshape
China as a modern nation, particularly since the establishment of the People’s
Republic of China. Throughout the twentieth century, mainland Chinese film history
has witnessed the creative construction of the cinematic representation of the nation
by successive generations of directors, who have employed diverse portrayals of
gender, encompassing women, men, and the complex dynamics of gender relations.
While scholars such as Shuqin Cui (2003) and Chris Berry and Mary Farquhar (2006)
have delved into the interplay between gender portrayals and the construction of the
national image in twentieth-century Chinese cinema, this intricate relationship
between gender and the nation in the twenty-first century, as depicted by newer
generations of directors, remains relatively unexplored.
This thesis aims to bridge this research gap by examining how two types of directors,
namely representative independent art house Sixth Generation directors and
politicised and commercially-oriented “directors within the system”, present
alternative/non-mainstream and mainstream visions of the nation through their
portrayals of gender. In doing so, it strives to provide a more comprehensive
understanding of the nation as depicted in twenty-first-century Chinese cinema.
Specifically, this study explores how gender portrayals and their relationship to the
nation (referred to as gender-as-nation), are constructed through two dimensions:
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the narrative roles of female and male protagonists and the three senses of the look
they embody, including the character’s appearance, the look of the camera upon the
character, and the character’s subjective look.
This research reveals that while newer generations of directors draw upon the
narrative and cinematic conventions established by their predecessors, they exhibit
more innovation than emulation in their portrayals of the nation through gender. This
innovation results in the presentation of distinct images of the Chinese nation in the
new century, deviating from those portrayed on screen in the twentieth century.
Although the focus of this research centres on Chinese national cinema, its
theoretical framework and methodology offer a potential model for exploring the
complex interplay between gender and the nation on screen in other national
cinemas worldwide.

Period	25 Oct 2023
Examinee
Examination held at
Degree of Recognition	International