The Rise of Satellite TVs and the Use of Social Media response

Please respond to "Who needs democracy if we can pick our favorite girl" and "'Democratic Entertainment'," two pieces on the Super Girl phenomenon on the Hunan Satellite TV and through the promotion of social media. How can these analyses of the Super Girl phenomenon serve as an entry point for your understanding of more recent media events such as "Voice of China", "I am a Singer," and "Sing My Song"? Use quotes with page numbers to support your analyses. Due Wednesday April 23 by 10 pm, comments to two other responses due by 11:59 pm. I look forward to reading your final response for this semester!

Popular Cultural Icons response

Linsanity movie poster, caamedia.org

After being criticized during the May Fourth Movement and throughout the Maoist era, there is a revival of interest in Confucius in the past decades in China, with Yu Dan, a professor of communication from Beijing Normal University, as the contemporary spokeswoman for Confucius in the modern times. Read selection of Yu Dan's bestselling Confucius From the Heart with the article "Capitalizing the Big Man" in mind. What made Yu Dan and her  Confucius "pop icons," side by side with Yao Ming and Jeremy Lin (riding the tide of the Chinese craze over the NBA), in contemporary China? Please respond to the two readings with quotations from both (add page numbers) to illustrate your argument. Response due April 15 by 10 pm, comments to two other responses due by 11:59 pm.

"New Year Films" response

Please respond to Yomi Braester's article on "filmmaker as cultural broker" in relation to Shujen Wang's article on Big Shot's Funeral, as both focus on the popular cultural phenomenon of "New Year Films" and its best representative, director Feng Xiaogang. What does these articles inform us about commercial filmmaking in contemporary China? What interests you most in these articles? What makes least sense? Feel free to continue discussing some of the key issues raised in previous class sessions and previous readings. Use quotes with page numbers to document your sources and to support your arguments. Due Wednesday April 9 by 10 pm, comments to two other responses due by 11:59 pm. I look forward to reading your wonderful analyses!

Popular Cultural Sites response

"New Heaven and Earth" (Shanghai Xintiandi)
Photo Source: Chinatouristmaps.com

Please respond to Yaming BAO's article on Shanghai Popular Culture in your web response due Wednesday April 2 by 10 pm. First summarize the author's argument, then raise a question (a muddy point or your criticism of the essay) that you would like to see discussed in class. Feel free to relate this essay to the case of Ai Weiwei, Bird's Nest, and his creation and use of popular cultural sites, be it physical or virtual. Feel free to cite from the rich variety of reading materials available on Blackboard. Comments to two other responses due April 2 by 11:59 pm. I look forward to reading your responses! 

Experimental Theater as Popular Entertainment response

Please respond to Rhinoceros in Love (2008 version, written by LIAO Yimei and directed by MENG Jinghui). A 2003 adaptation of an earlier version is available here for study purpose only. This experimental play has been performed for more than 1000 times in China and has been widely performed outside by students of Chinese worldwide. Why is it so popular? Use textual evidence from the reading to support your argument. Due Wednesday March 26 by 10 pm. Comments to two responses due by 11:59 pm. 

 

Pop Music Industry response

Please focus on "The ABCs of Chinese Pop" and "Rethinking Mainland Chinese Rock" for Wednesday's extra credit response. What do you find most interesting in these readings? Choose one of the pop music artists (or groups) mentioned in the readings such as Wang Leehom, Cui Jian, Jay Chou, Tang Dynasty, Coco Lee, etc., and attempt an explanation of his/her/their popularity. Use quotes (with page numbers) from readings to support your argument. Due Wednesday March 12 by 11:59 pm. 

Martial Arts Fiction and Film response

Please read the essay on Ang Lee's film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon for Tuesday and the essay on the Jin Yong Phenomenon for Thursday. Martial arts fiction and film have occupied an important position in Chinese popular culture and are still central to many forms of popular media. The author proposes a reading of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon as a work of "diasporic cinema" in the first essay. Was the author convincing in making this argument? What might be some of the most interesting evidences you can locate after reading it? The second essay on the Jin Yong Phenomenon starts with the film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and argues for a broader approach beyond martial arts fiction in the long and varying traditions of Chinese story-telling, Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies fiction, and New Literary movements. What interests you most in this essay? How might it relate to issues we've discussed in this class so far? Use textual evidences (quotes with page numbers) to support your responses. Due Wednesday March 5 by 11:59 pm for one extra credit. 

Comical Trauma response

Please discuss and compare the comical elements in Devils on the Doorstep and The Marriage of Young Blacky. According to the readings, how did the 2000 film approach trauma in a comical way? And how did the 1943 story presenting the comical amidst ongoing historical trauma? What do these two visual and textual examples tell us about its director JIANG Wen and writer ZHAO Shuli as unique popular cultural phenomena in their respective times? Use quotes with page numbers from the two readings to support your response. Due Wednesday February 26 by 10 pm; comments to two other responses due the same day by 11:59 pm. I look forward to your responses!

Popular Romance Then and Now response

Please read "The Confidence in the Game" with the extreme popularity of Guo Jingming and Amy Cheung (Zhang Xiaoxian) in mind. Although this short story and Guo's popular novels (and Cheung's popular "lover's talk") are nearly 90 years apart, there is much to be said about the connection between popular romances then and now. 

Please choose a short quote from "The Confidence in the Game" (include page numbers), and analyze its significance in contributing to the story's popularity in 1920s' Shanghai. 

From what you've learned reading the first chapter of Guo Jingming's Tiny Times 2 and his many interviews, and visiting the Amy Cheung websites, what elements from the 1920s' story might still be prominent in today's popular romances? Due Wednesday Feb. 19 by 10 pm, comments to two other responses due by 11:59 pm the same day. I look forward to reading your responses! 

Painted Skin response

Cover of a Painted Skin illustrated booklet based on PU Songling's story, photo credit: www.mtime.com

 

A film still from Painted Skin II (2012), photo credit: www.mtime.com

After careful reading of the short story "Painted Skin" collected in PU Songling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, what strike you as the most ingenious changes in later adaptations (1993, 2008, 2012)? What are the elements in the original story that you find most capable of "making it popular" in contemporary times? Support your answer to both questions with quotes and page numbers (whenever possible) from the story and the two film reviews (The Illuminated Lantern Review on the 1993 film and the China Beat Review on the 2008 film). Feel free to raise your own question and discuss things interest you most. Due Wednesday February 12 by 8 pm, comments to two other responses due Wednesday by 10 pm. I look forward to reading your responses!

The Butterfly Lovers response

Painting of the Butterfly Lovers
image credit: letthejourneybegin.worldpress.com

Reading questions for "Is it Clothes that Make the Man?": What keywords did the author focus on and what conclusion did the author draw in the essay? What fascinates YOU most about the story of the Butterfly Lovers?

Please feel free to respond to the above questions (with quotes and page numbers) and raise your own questions for class discussion. Due Wednesday 2/5 by 10 pm, comments to two other responses due by 11:59 pm.

The White Snake response

Photo source: usa.chinadaily.com.cn

Please read Wilt Idema's "Old Tales for New Times" for Tuesday and my "White Snake as New Woman" for Thursday. Respond to both readings in a well-written two-paragraph response. What might be the most interesting findings from these pieces? Use short quotations and page numbers to support your observations in the first paragraph of your response.

Do some research on the relevance of the White Snake theme in contemporary Chinese popular culture. Write a reflective paragraph explaining why old tales such as the White Snake are still so prevalent today using evidence from both readings and any external materials. Due Wednesday Jan. 29 by 10 pm; short comments to two other responses due the same day by 11:59 pm. I look forward to reading your responses! 

Welcome to Popular Culture in Modern China!

Welcome!! This will be our class blog where I will post weekly reading questions for you to post your reading responses by 10 pm on Wednesdays starting January 29. Your comments to two other responses will be due by 11:59 pm the same day. Your midterm paper (and update) and final paper/project (and update) will also be due here, as links to your own blogs.

For our first day of class today, I will clarify my expectations for you in this class, and will highlight the importance of finishing assigned readings BEFORE coming to class, active participation in class with the aid of reading notes, writing thoughtful reading responses with quotes and page numbers, and working on your academic writing skills based on close reading of textual and audio/visual materials. This is a 400 level class and will involve intensive reading and writing. Please come to see me if you are freshmen or sophomores, or need help with academic reading and writing.  

We will then go over important aspects of the syllabus, get to know each other a little bit, and watch a short TED talk relevant to popular culture in modern China. Looking forward!