Stereotypes in the Television Drama
From Chinwiki
Female Stereotypes in Close to You, Make Me Warm (2006), Feels Like I'm Falling in Love(2004) and Pink Ladies (2003).
Bibliography
Curtin, Michael. Playing to the World’s Biggest Audience: The Globalization of Chinese Film and TV. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Accessed via Summit from the Evergreen State College (PN 1993.5.C4 C87 2007)
The "Introduction" and "Conclusion" of this work are the most relevant to my study. In the conclusion, Curtin tries to bring film and TV studies “within the broader framework of media capital” (Curtin, 269). His look at co- and cross-strait productions will be helpful in setting a framework for my examination of Mainland shows which include Taiwanese actors and staff.
Evans, Harriet. The Subject of Gender: Daughters and Mothers in Urban China. Lanham, MA: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008. (HQ1767.E83 2008)
This is a fascinating study of women and how they view themselves as gendered subjects in contemporary Chinese society. The book is a combination of narratives about specific women, and a discussion of existing sociological studies about Chinese women. In addition to the importance of this work itself, it also contains an extensive bibliography of Chinese and Western sources which will undoubtedly be helpful as well.
Jie, Tao, Zheng Bijun and Shirley L. Mow. Holding Up Half the Sky: Chinese Women Past, Present, and Future. New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2004. Obtained via Summit from Eastern Washington University (HQ1767.H643 2004)
As the title indicates, this work examines female issues from the Song Dyansty through to the present. Although a number of chapters would be important for background knowledge, one essay in particular, “Chinese Women and the Mass Media: Status Quo, Interventions, and Challenges”(written by Bu Wei, p 274-288) is likely the most relevant for this study. The essay examines, among other things, mass media content that benefits and detracts from women’s development, and places special attention on media aimed at women and the concept of women as audience. The notes section of the chapter also includes some helpful references to other sources (all of which are Chinese).
Keane, Michael A. “Television Drama in China: Remaking the Market.” Media International Australia (Culture and Policy), 115 (2005): 82-93. 21 May 2008 [1]
Keane’s essay examines the evolution of Chinese TV drama. It highlights three periods: industrial (1958-1989), market (1990-2002), and interpersonal (2003-present). It is this final stage which is most important for my purposes. The article explores the idea that in this new era, the focus is more on “contemporary popular reality,” rather than the social reality of previous eras. He also briefly discusses two of the shows I want to work with – Pink Ladies and Feels Like I’m Falling in Love. Although he does not provide much information about them, he does site a few Chinese sources which might prove helpful.
Latham, Kevin. Pop Culture China! Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. 2007. Obtained via Summit from Reed College (DS727.L358 2007)
This book is a part of a global series (they have published books on Germany, India, Russia, Latin America, and the Arab world). It provides an historical overview, and then has chapters on mass media, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, film, the internet, etc. While it doesn't necessarily go into great depth with these various topics, it nonetheless provides a good overall introduction to the topic. I've found the parts about television to be somewhat helpful for my purposes. In addition to talking a bit about the history of TV dramas, the chapter also discusses television audiences – how it has changed, and ways of watching TV in China.
Lu, Hongwei. “The Dynamics of Desire and Cultural Transformation in Post-Reform Urban China.” Diss. U of Oregon, 2005. (HM621.L82 2005)
This dissertation, which focuses on romance and desire, has a chapter entitled “The Chi Li Phenomenon: TV Romance and Popular Cultural Mood.” Most relevant for my purposes is the way she outlines her rationale for turning to TV dramas in her study. In addition, her discussion of how TV dramas “provide the best mirrors for examining and analyzing the nature of today’s China” will also be helpful.
Lu, Sheldon H. China, Transnational Visuality, Global Postmodernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. Accessed via Summit from Portland State University (DS 779.23. L82 2001)
This book, which is “a study of Chinese postmodern culture in a global context at the fin de siècle – the last decade of the twentieth century and the end of the second Christian millennium” (Lu, 1), includes a number of relevant chapters for my study, the most important of which is entitled: “Soap Opera: The Transnational Politics of Visuality, Sexuality, and Masculinity.” Although the bulk of the chapter focuses on two Mainland TV dramas which involve the fascination of the “other” (the Russian or Western foreigner), the beginning sections are nonetheless relevant for my study. Lu provides both an historical overview of the genre, and a discussion entitled “imagining national identity in the age of transnationalism and globalization.”
Mi, Jaiyan. “The Visual Imagined Communities: Media State, Virtual Citizenship and Television in Heshang (River Elegy).” Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 22 (2005): 327–340. Ingentaconnect 28 May 2008 [2]
In this essay, Mi Jaiyan examines He Shang to explore the relationship between national identity and visual/media culture. He also explores changes in the way the series explores how China views itself and the West. While not exceptionally relevant to my study, his discussion does put forward a framework which may prove useful for me.
Montgomery, Lucy and Michael Keane. “Learning to Love the Market: Copyright, Culture, and China.” Proceedings: Intellectual Property Rights, Communication and the Public Domain in the Asia Pacific-Region, University of Queensland, 2004. 6 June 2008 [3]
This article focuses primarily on IPR issues within the film and TV markets in China. However, they do mention an interesting trial related to two of the TV dramas I am looking at – Pink Ladies and Feels Like I’m Falling in Love (here translated as City of Desire). Interestingly enough, the IPR case involved specific writers of Feels Like I’m Falling in Love, and did not focus on its relation to Pink Ladies or, indeed, HBO’s Sex and the City.
Sang, Ye. China Candid: The People on the People’s Republic. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006. (HN 733.5 Y415 2006)
This book consists of various interviews Sang Ye has conducted with Chinese individuals. Most relevant for me is the interview entitled “Little Sweetie: A Thoroughly Modern Mistress,” which is an interview with a di san zhe. Since Close to You, Make Me Warm explores the stereotype of the di san zhe, I think this interview will be very helpful for my discussion of this particular stereotype.
Schrøder, Kim, Kristin Drotner, Stephen Kline, and Catherine Murray, eds. Researching Audiences. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. (P96.A83 R47 2003)
In this work, the editors put forward a new methodology for audience research. Their concept of media ethnography is particularly intriguing. They provide an example of how Thomas Tufte looks at a Brazilian telenovela ethnographically. Contained within this research project are a number of various research techniques, such as observation, structured interviews, surveys, a genre analysis, and a look at the production history. Since the book also seeks to provide a methodology, I think it will be a worthwhile guide for my research of Chinese audiences, should I be able to obtain relevant information from Chinese sources.
Shu-Mei Shih. “Towards an Ethics of Transnational Encounter, or “When” Does a “Chinese” Woman Become a ‘Feminist’?” Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 13.2 (2002): 90-126. Project Muse 24 May 2008 [4]
This essay explores the Chinese concept of “feminism” and the challenges the post-socialist framework poses for existing post-colonial theories. Also provides a relatively in-depth summary of the history of State sponsored feminism and other relatively recent developments. Shih also provides an analysis of Li Xiaojiang’s views, which will be helpful as an addition to my reading of Li’s essay in Mayfair Mei-hui Yang’s Spaces of Their Own.
Straubhaar, Joseph. “The Multiple Proximities of Telenovelas and Audiences” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, New Orleans Sheraton, New Orleans, LA, May 27, 2004. 2008 April 22 [5]
This work explores trends in the international television market. It examines issues such as genre proximity and thematic proximity, as well as the concept of hybridization of TV genres. The discussion contained within is particularly relevant for my examination of the “Sex and the City” copycat TV dramas.
Yang, Mayfair Mei-hui, ed. Spaces of their Own: Women’s Public Sphere in Transnational China. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999. Obtained via Summit from Reed College (HQ1767.s6 1999)
Although this work is slightly dated, there are a number of key essays that serve as helpful background knowledge for the existence of a gendered discourse in China. Particularly relevant chapters include: “From Gender Erasure to Gender Difference: State Feminism, Consumer Sexuality, and Women’s Public Sphere in China”, and “With What Discourse Do We Reflect on Chinese Women? Thoughts on Transnational Feminism in China.” As the editor notes in her introduction, “This book chronicles the struggles surrounding the coming-into-being of a collective body of women-identified subjects, voices, and visions in different sites of ‘public sphere’ and ‘public space’ across ‘transnational China’ at the turn from the twentieth century to the twenty-first” (Yang, 3). Although many of the essays focus on Taiwan and Hong Kong experiences, I will obviously focus mainly on Mainland specific ones. However, since one of the TV dramas I am considering, “Pink Ladies,” is based on a Taiwanese cartoon, these other essays will also have relevance. The use of Taiwanese and Hong Kong stars in Mainland shows is also an interesting phenomenon which has transnational relevance.
Yuan, Elaine J. and James G. Webster. “Channel Repertoires: Using Peoplemeter Data in Beijing.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 50(3), 2006: 524–536. 21 May 2008 [6]
Although this work focuses on an analysis of specific Peoplemeter data provided by CSM Media Research, I think I could expand their idea to examine the data that exists for the shows I will be studying in my research. If CSM Media Research would be willing to provide the data that relates to these shows, it would allow me to get a sense of the audience size/popularity of the various shows.
Filmography
Close to You, Make Me Warm (靠近你， 温暖我) Year: 2006. Film director: Zhang Jiandong, Jiang Wei. Writers: Peng Sanyuan, Raohui, Wu Haiyan, Zhu Yan. Starring: Xu Qing, Mei Ting, Ke Lan. Producer/distributor: 北京小马奔腾影视文化发展有限公司 (Beijing Galloping Horse Film &TV Production Co., Ltd.). Episodes: 26.
The Chinese TV drama Close to You, Make Me Warm follows the lives of three women in contemporary China: Fang Kezhou, who is in a loveless marriage, grappling with her marital obligations and her developing interest in another man; Ding Aiyu, who has fallen in love with a married man; and Xie Xiangmei, who is extremely successful in her career, but unsuccessful in her search for love. The series plays with negative female stereotypes, such as the “other” woman (the di san zhe), and the overly masculine and aggressive woman who sacrifices family for career.
Plenty of summaries are available in Chinese about the drama, such as: http://www.storyparty.com/Story_Detail.aspx?ID=28483
Feels Like I’m Falling in Love (好想好想谈恋爱) Year: 2004. Film director: Liu Xingang. Writers: Xu Hongtao, Li Qiang. Starring: Jiang Wenli, Na Ying, Luo Haiqiong, and Liang Qing. Producer/distributor: 沈阳同乐传媒. Episodes: 32 This series follows the lives of four women in Beijing, and is loosely based on HBO’s Sex and the City (SATC) series. Nanfang Daily actually has an interesting article comparing the two (http://www.southcn.com/ent/yulefirst/200411100986.htm). Looking at this series is interesting for two reasons – first of all, I can apply the argument found in the “The Multiple Proximities of Telenovelas and Audiences” article, and look at how both this drama and Pink Ladies (粉红女郎), one based in Shanghai, play with the SATC series. Secondly, by working with the two series in their own right, I can examine the pressures the women face in the show as they try to find love and happiness in their careers. The stereotype of the overly masculine and aggressive career woman appears in these two series as well.
Pink Ladies (粉红女郎) Year: 2003. 国家广电总局. Writers: Zhu Deyong (Ron Zhu, Taiwan - based on his comic books) Starring: Hu Bing, Liu Ruobing (Rene Liu, Taiwan), Liu Yi, Zhang Yan, Zhang Shi, Chen Hao, Chen Kun, and Xue Jianing. Producer/distributor: 中国国际电视总公司. Episodes: 39
Plenty of summaries are available about the dramas, such as: 好想好想谈恋爱: http://ent.sina.com.cn/v/f/hxhxtla/ 粉红女郎: http://www.cctv.com/teleplay/xjkt/2003-04-15/2766.shtml English: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117902464.html?categoryid=1723&cs=1
