Youth Culture in Chinese Language Film
This book explores the vigorous film cultures of mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong from the perspective of youth culture. The book relates this important topic to the wider social, cultural and institutional context, and discusses the relationship between the films and the changes that today are transforming each society. Among the areas explored are the differences between the three film industries, their creation of new types of screen hero and heroine, and their conflicts with traditional Chinese attitudes such as respect for age. The many films discussed provide fresh perspectives on the ways in which young people are coping with gender, sexuality, class, coming of age, the pressures of education and major social shifts such as rural-to-urban migration. They show young adults in each society striving to construct new value systems in a complex, rapidly changing environment.
Xuelin Zhou is a senior lecturer in Media, Film and Television at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia Series
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com.
IndonesiaMalaysia Relations
Cultural heritage, politics and labour migration
Marshall Clark and Juliet Pietsch
Chinese and Japanese Films on the Second World War
Edited by King-fai Tam, Timothy Y. Tsu and Sandra Wilson
New Chinese-Language Documentaries
Ethics, subject and place
Kuei-fen Chiu and Yingjin Zhang
K-popThe International Rise of the Korean Music Industry
Edited by JungBong Choi and Roald Maliangkay
China Online
Locating society in online spaces
Edited by Peter Marolt and David Kurt Herold
Multimedia Stardom in Hong Kong
Image, performance and identity
Leung Wing-Fai
Television Histories in Asia
Issues and contexts
Edited by Jinna Tay and Graeme Turner
Media and Communication in the Chinese Diaspora Rethinking Transnationalism
Edited by Wanning Sun and John Sinclair
Lifestyle Media in Asia
Consumption, aspiration and identity
Edited by Fran Martin and Tania Lewis
The Internet and New Social Formation in China
Fandom publics in the making
Weiyu Zhang
Youth Culture in Chinese Language Film
Xuelin Zhou
Green Asia
Ecocultures, sustainable lifestyles and ethical consumption
Edited by Tania Lewis
Eastern Westerns
Film and genre outside and inside Hollywood
Stephen Teo
Singapore CinemaNew Perspectives
Edited by Liew Kai Khiun and Stephen Teo
First published 2017
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2017 Xuelin Zhou
The right of Xuelin Zhou to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Zhou, Xuelin, author.
Title: Youth culture in Chinese-language film / Xuelin Zhou.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. | Series: Media, culture and social change in Asia ; 47 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016009861 | ISBN 9781138678064 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315559124 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Motion pictures--China. | Motion pictures--China--Hong Kong. | Motion pictures--Taiwan. | Motion picture industry--China. | Motion picture industry--China--Hong Kong. | Motion picture industry--Taiwan. | Motion pictures--Social aspects--China. | Motion pictures--Social aspects--China--Hong Kong. | Motion pictures--Social aspects--Taiwan. | Youth in motion pictures.
Classification: LCC PN1993.5.C4 Z5765 2017 | DDC 791.430951--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016009861
ISBN: 978-1-138-67806-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-55912-4 (ebk)
To Grace, Roger, Angel and Matthew
Without the support of various institutions and people over the years, this project would not have got off the ground. I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to the University of Auckland for an Arts Faculty Research Development Fund grant (2007) and a sabbatical leave in Semester 2, 2009; to the Department of Film, Television and Media Studies and the School of Social Sciences of the University of Auckland for a PBRF fund respectively in 2012 and 2015 to purchase film stills; to Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation (Taiwan) for an International Scholarly Exchange grant (20078).
For encouragement and help from friends and colleagues, I am grateful to Laurence Simmons, Paul Clark, Gina Marchetti, Annie Goldson, Misha Kavka, Allan Cameron, Nabeel Zuberi, Margaret Henley, Tim Signal, Peter Simpson, Nick Perry and Duncan Petrie.
I owe a big Thank You to Roger Horrocks, who read and commented on an earlier version of the manuscript. My special thanks also go to Peter Sowden and Sabrina Lacey at Routledge for their consistent efficiency and support; and to Steph-anie Donald, the series editor of Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia, for her interest in this project. The comments and suggestions from Routledges anonymous reader have been invaluable for revision.
The professional attitude and cooperation from the staff of Hong Kong Film Archive and Taiwan Film Institute (the former Chinese Taipei Film Archive) have made my research there a pleasant experience.
Sections of an earlier version of the book were presented at Shanghai University, the University of Hong Kong and the University of London. I am thankful to the questions and feedback I received from the audiences. Part of an earlier version of was published by Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies in 2008 and 2009. I thank the Journal for permission to reprint the material here.
I am also thankful to the following institutions and people for permitting and organising the reproduction of film stills and posters: Central Motion Picture Corporation, Chi & Company, Chinese Film Archive, Hoker Records Co., Ltd, Hong Kong Film Archive, Lightway Development Limited, Mei Ah Entertainment Group, Scholar Multimedia Co., Ltd, Taiwan Film Institute, Cheung See Yin, Lin Ching-chieh, Shi Chuan (River Stone) and Howard Hao-Chun Yang.
